The man who never was
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The man who never was |
| Original title | The Man Who Never Was |
| Country of production | United Kingdom |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1956 |
| length | 103 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Ronald Neame |
| script |
Nigel Balchin Ewen Montagu (lit. template) |
| production | André Hakim |
| music | Alan Rawsthorne |
| camera | Oswald Morris |
| cut | Peter Taylor |
| occupation | |
| |
The Man Who Never Was (The Man Who Never Was) is the title of a British feature film from 1956 directed by Ronald Neame , who after the eponymous 1954 book by Ewen Montagu was filmed. Montagu also has a cameo as Air Marshal in the film .
The film, which largely sticks to the real events of Operation Mincemeat described in the non-fiction book , tells how during the Second World War the British secret services prepared and carried out a deception that was supposed to convince the Axis powers that Operation Husky ( the Allied invasion of Sicily) would take place elsewhere.
background
When Operation Mincemeat a corpse that had been procured use was to him the fictitious Major William Martin of the Royal Marines to make. The body was handed over to the sea near Huelva, Spain . A briefcase was tied to it with a chain. Inside were bogus letters from senior officers suggesting that the Allies would attack Sardinia and Greece . After the body was washed ashore and found, Spaniards sympathizing with the Germans handed the documents to an Abwehr agent , who took photographs, which he passed on to the Wehrmacht High Command . The deception was so successful that two weeks after the Allies landed in Sicily, the Germans were convinced that it was a diversion and that the actual attack on Sardinia and Greece would take place.
When the British Secret Service was able to confirm the resounding success of Operation Mincemeat, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was informed by a telegram that consisted of only three words: "MINCEMEAT SWALLOWED WHOLE".
The real name of the deceased was never officially revealed. It was not until 1996 that the historian Roger Morgan found the answer while researching the National Archives. The stranger was Glyndwr Michael , an insane tramp from Wales who lived as a beggar in London. He had died after taking rat poison .
The body was buried under the fictional name William Martin in the Huelva cemetery. He is now also remembered on the tombstone under the name Glyndwr Michael .
Television series
The Man Who Never Was was also the title of a 1966 television series produced by the American broadcaster ABC . However, the series starring Robert Lansing and Dana Wynter has no direct reference to the 1956 film (or Montagu's book). Only a single season was produced.
Lansing plays a double role in the series. On the one hand he embodies Peter Murphy, an American spy, on the other hand Mark Wainwright, an influential millionaire and playboy, with exactly the same appearance as Murphy. One evening, Murphy is followed when Wainwright stumbles drunk out of a bar in front of him. Surprised by the extreme physical resemblance, he cannot prevent Wainwright from being killed in his place by the enemy agents who pursue Murphy. Although Wainwright's wife sees through the mix-up immediately, she lets the spy Murphy slip into the role of her late husband, as this not only benefits her financially, but also because she is moved by the kind treatment by Murphy compared to her abusive husband is.
Web links
- The Man Who Never Was at the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Discovery Channel : The Deception of the Axis Powers by "The Man Who Never Was " , Nugus / Martin Productions, 1998
- ↑ Operation Mincemeat - The Man Who Never Was on the BBC's h2g2 website.
- ↑ TV sleuth pins down 'the man who never was' in The Age