A good film for espionage lovers. The scene where such a man is located and Clifton Webb talks to the father is one of the most touching of the film, as is the poignant ending. One of the best WW2 movies I have seen! 9 out of 10 found this helpful. The always underrated Gloria Grahame lends the film an unexpected emotional pop, and all others are perfectly in character in executing a complex plan. The successful hoax was achieved by attaching " Top Secret " documents on a corpse deliberately left to wash up on a beach in Spain. 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. I have the feeling that this issue of this film on DVD is only a matter of months now. Was this review helpful? The wealth of detail is interesting in itself, and it is also used well in enhancing the realism of the story. This film is an example that occasionally truth can be stranger than fiction. Gripping in its adherance to detail, this film casts every role perfectly. 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. "Last night I dreamed a deadly dream..." etc.. I like this film very much indeed.
Clifton Webb was one of the best film actors of the twentieth century. The story was streamlined, and well told. This was one of the most audacious deception operations of WWII. I don't think blood and shots are really necessary to make a film about a war. An abandoned mine now resembles a post-apocalyptic landscape of derelict buildings and blood-red pools of water.
This is a well-crafted movie adaptation of a very interesting story of intrigue from World War II, adapting the historical events enough so as to make them work cinematically without changing the most important aspects of what actually happened. It was described as a "surreal" moment when the real Montagu addresses his fictional persona, played by Webb. To learn more or withdraw consent, please visit our Gloria Graham gives a fine, strong emotional performance in her role as Lucy Sherwood, a woman who unexpectedly becomes part of the plot. You almost feel as if you are right there witnessing it all. This movie is based on the book--a true account of a British plan to fool the Germans before the invasion of Sicily in 1943. >From the many movies about events at WWII it is one that stacked long in mind as it dealt in the quality of the gray matter of the counterintelligence and not about the brutality of the war. But what really captivated me was the utterly superb directing.
The gravestone reads, “William Martin, born 29 March 1907, died 24 April 1943, beloved son of John Glyndwyr Martin and the late Antonia Martin of Plot: San Marcos Section, Grave 14. The quotation of a few lines read from a poem conjointly with the view of the sea produced a strange effect on me - although the stories are completely different, I could see some similarities with The Day of the Jackal. Clifton Webb was an outstanding choice for the role of British Navy Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu, who is fully involved in the cunning scheme to fool the Nazis. A fan of 'blood and guts' movies would be well advised to look elsewhere...this well-crafted little gem is for the connoisseur. The scene in which the car suddenly stopped in the middle of London's traffic for a brain storming session where Clifton Webb who is playing Commander Ewen Montague is in his best.