The Man Who Never Was Overview:

The Man Who Never Was (1956) was a War - Drama Film directed by Ronald Neame and produced by Bob McNaught.

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The Shadow of the Tower (1972) s01e10 – The Man Who Never Was

on Oct 30, 2019 From The Stop Button

I was unprepared for The Man Who Never Was, even acknowledging the anthology nature of the show, which has had great successes, could also have great failures. And the episode is most definitely a failure. But because of casting. It?s a strange episode in general?lots of flashbacks, lots of seventie... Read full article


The Shadow of the Tower (1972) s01e10 – The Man Who Never Was

on Oct 30, 2019 From The Stop Button

I was unprepared for The Man Who Never Was, even acknowledging the anthology nature of the show, which has had great successes, could also have great failures. And the episode is most definitely a failure. But because of casting. It?s a strange episode in general?lots of flashbacks, lots of seventie... Read full article


Robert Lansing as The Man Who Never Was

By Rick29 on Dec 20, 2018 From Classic Film & TV Cafe

Robert Lansing as Murphy. With an enemy agent hot on his trail, spy Peter Murphy (Robert Lansing) ducks into a late-night Berlin bar. As he ponders his next move, he hears a loud drunkard and turns around to see a man who could be his twin. Murphy goes up to the building's roof and watches the man... Read full article


The Man Who Never Was (1956)

By Beatrice on Mar 25, 2016 From Flickers in Time

The Man Who Never Was Directed by Ronald Neame Written by Nigel Balchin from a book by Ewen Montagu 1956/UK Sumar Productions First viewing/Netflix rental Here’s an OK true-life WWII thriller. The Allies have defeated Germany in North Africa. ?Everyone expects that the army will advance thr... Read full article


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Quotes from

[The military needs a dead body for counterintelligence.]
Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu: I can assure you that this is an opportunity for your son to do a great thing for England.
The Father: My son, sir, was a Scotsman. Very proud of it.
Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu: I beg your pardon?
The Father: Never mind. We're used to that. You English always talk about England when you mean Britain.


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Facts about

Average Shot Length = ~15.7 seconds. Median Shot Length = ~14.4 seconds.
In the film, Montague selects a man who had died of pneumonia, because the corpse would need to present with similarly damaged lungs if it had really drowned. There is also a very emotional scene where the man's father is persuaded to allow his son to be used for the deception. In fact, a Welsh vagrant, with two dead parents was used, having committed suicide from rat poison. It was judged to make it almost impossible to tell that this, rather than drowning, was the real cause of death. For years, the identity of "the man who never was" was a closely guarded secret, until it was discovered he was called Glydwr Michael. His grave in Spain uniquely carries both his fictional, and real names.
The quote that opens and closes the movie, "Last night I dreamed a deadly dream, beyond the Isle of Sky, I saw a dead man win a fight, and I think that man was I" is from the song "The Battle of Otterburn," Child Ballad #161 and appears in a manuscript dated circa 1550. The original reads, "But I hae (have) dreamed a dreary dream, Beyond the Isle of Skye; I saw a dead man win a fight, And I think that man was I."
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Also directed by Ronald Neame




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Also released in 1956




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More "World War II" films



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