O Homem que Nunca Existiu

This is a great movie about WWII. I know we don't have scenes of battles and violence, but maybe this is one of this movie's advantages. I don't think blood and shots are really necessary to make a film about a war. Wars are not only made of guns and soldiers, but also of officers who make plans and articulate attacks while they're in secret rooms using every kind of ways to confuse the enemy. In this movie it is decided that British forces would use a corpse with false documents attracting Nazis attention to Greece while the Allied Forces would land in Italy. Easy, but fascinating plot! Watch it!

My rate 8/10

Based on "Operation Mincemeat" during World War II, this film is an excellent example of a spy movie that is interesting without being gimmicky or melodramatic. An excellent cast is headed by the redoubtable Clifton Webb. The elaborate plot to trick Nazis by using a corpse masquerading as a dead Royal Marine officer is amazing in its detail. The film is all the more astonishing because it is based on the actual ruse to deceive the enemy into thinking that the invasion of Italy would take place in a location other than where it actually happened. A good film for espionage lovers.

There is a book out this year (2010) by Ben Macintyre that sheds new light on Operation Mincemeat, based on some declassified documents. The movie does a good job of portraying the story for the screen. Macintyre reveals that the "body" that was dumped in the sea was a young impoverished Welsh coal minor who, either as suicide or out of hunger, ate some rat poison spread on bread in a London tenement as a vermin trap. When the body was recovered by the Spanish fisherman, the "papers" were almost given back to the British. They had to fabricate radio traffic on "compromised" lines to draw the attention of the Germans to the documents. "Oh, yoo-hoo! Look over here!" Lastly, the "papers" had the good fortune to fall into the hands of a Colonel in German intelligence who was a member of the German Resistance. He doubted their authenticity, but sold the Nazi hierarchy on their genuineness. He was hung by the SS in July of 1944 after the failed plot against Hitler.

Just some interesting historical amplification for a fine 50-year old movie.

The story is true, which gives it power and makes it more interesting. But what really captivated me was the utterly superb directing. Each scene is so well balanced, and then flows with such continuity into the next, and on and on. You almost feel as if you are right there witnessing it all.

But that's not all. The lighting, color, props, nuances, everything in the film, are in perfect harmony at all times. But what of the actors? They indeed render excellent performances. But they, too, are so masterfully directed, they never fail in conveying the mood and tone, even the undertone, from start to finish.

Then Gloria Grahame has a weepy scene where she evolves ever so masterfully from recall of emotional trauma, to reliving the trauma, to gradually bringing out true tears at the most perfect "rate of flow." I have never seen better crying! Knowing that she has also played light comedy reveals even deeper dimensions of her acting ability, to see her go from straight-faced to really weeping, then genuine prolonged sobbing.

Even if the story were not captivating, the directing and photography will catch your eye and you will not be able to flip the channel until this production masterpiece is over.

It's around Labor Day of 1943, the Afrika Korps has been kicked out of North Africa, what to do next for the Allies. In point of fact the next logical thing to do was what was done, invade Sicily and clear the route to the Suez Canal and take the pressure of the embattled British forces in Malta.

But there were policy differences because Americans wanted a cross channel invasion back then as the quickest way to defeat Hitler. So the Germans did in fact have to be vigilant on all fronts.

The Man Who Never Was is a true story on a particular intelligence gambit that was tried. A dead body was washed up in neutral, but Axis led Spain. A body selected for the occasion and dropped deliberately by the British showing alternate plans to the Axis.

Not being complete dummies the Germans naturally think to check it out and they send an agent in, a Nazi sympathizer from Ireland played by Stephen Boyd.

The whole idea was cooked up by Admiral Ewen Montagu played here by Clifton Webb who drops his usual acerbic manner and delivers a very good performance against type. Boyd's no fool and it becomes a battle of wits when the Allies learn of his presence in London.

In fact a certain sad, but serendipitous event in the life of Gloria Grahame who is Webb's secretary's roommate plays a key role in the proceedings.

The Man Who Never Was is a very good wartime espionage drama that still holds up very well for today's audience.