Product Description

Clifton Webb stars in this fascinating account of a daring intelligence operation designed to mislead the Nazis prior to the 1943 Allied invasion of Sicily. In an effort to convince the Germans to redeploy their defenses, Lt. Commander Montagu (Webb) creates a false English officer and fabricates letters that indicate the British intend to land in Greece. Montagu than plants these documents on a dead man and orchestrates the "discovery" of this "officer" on the coast of Spain, Knowing the papers will fall into German hands. What follows is a taut cat-and mouse game as British Intelligence waits for Berlin to respond, then races to stay one step ahead of the Nazi agent dispatched to determine if the dead man is genuine. This true story of ingenious deception is a riveting tale of wartime espionage.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4790 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-06-07
• Rating: Unrated
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
• Original language: English, German, Latin, Spanish
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 103 minutes

Amazon.com
A real beauty of a true story provides the basis for The Man Who Never Was, a gripping World War II picture that has no combat scenes, no great vistas of troops. The time is 1943, as the Allies prepare the invasion of Sicily and desperately need a diversionary ploy to make the Germans suspect another invasion target. The solution is simple but ingenious: a dead man's body will be left in the sea to float ashore on the coast of Spain; made to look like a British pilot, he will be carrying papers suggesting an Allied attack on Greece. When the papers fall to the Nazis, they'll swallow the bogus story…or will they? The film's final third tracks an Irish spy for the Axis (Steven Boyd, in one of his first roles) as he travels to London to investigate loose ends.

Clifton Webb gives a crisp, disciplined performance as Ewen Montagu, the officer in charge of the scheme. The film errs only in some melodrama involving Gloria Grahame, the histrionic roommate of an Intelligence worker. Other than that, director Ronald Neame brings his steady, classy approach to bear on a good yarn, and saves special grace for the treatment of the unfortunate dead man who unwittingly loaned his body to a stunt that saved hundreds, if not thousands, of lives. The film's final haunting shots capture the ethereal shiver of its title. --Robert Horton

Customer Reviews

The Man Who Never Was
A true war time adventure.Clifton Web did a great performance.A clever plan to fool the Germans.

Tales of British wartime Derring-Do!
It IS a true tale and a lot of the detail is correct - till about half way through when an "Irish spy" arrives in the UK on behalf of the Germans. Not needed in the real world story - the twist is needed to add some tension at the end of the film.

Clifton Webb acts like Clifton Webb - that is to say like a plank of wood! However for the period it is well done.

Spot the pennant number on a Castle Class frigate in the background of one scene and then go and watch "The Cruel Sea". Guess the Admiralty "lent" the British cinema the same ship in more than one movie!

Topical (early 2008) because as of late the identiy of the "body" used in the real war has become subject of fresh debate.

Cheers for The Man Who Never Was
I had always tought of clifton Webb as that weird guy who starred only in The Stars And Stripes For Ever, A 1950's verson of The Titanic and Cheaper By The Dozen. He comes a accross as a brilliant ex attorney, an Hercules Poirot type almost, trying to think one step ahead of the Gerries in this wonderful espionage thriller.
True there are no big battle scenes but how all the pieces come together and the tension that builds when the German spy comes to check on things was masterful. Everything fits.
I had read the book on this tale at 15 and now at 42 have seen the film for the first time and give it 4 + stars.