UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Moustroll Good movie but grossly overrated

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Leofwine_draca THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS is an exemplary and atypical British WW2 film that brims with suspense and insight. It's also unlike any other war movie you'll see; the film is about spies and spying, but the plot itself - the efforts to convince the Nazis of the existence of the titular figure - is thoroughly unusual and thoroughly compelling. It best reminded me of ALBERT, R.N., a film with a similarly clever premise. Like ALBERT, R.N., it's also based on a larger-than-life true story. The film has a strong ensemble cast, all of whom give very convincing performances, particularly Stephen Boyd and Gloria Grahame in the latter part of the production. Few films get me on the edge of my seat these days, but THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS was one of them.

Uriah43 In order to put the Axis powers on the defensive the Allies decide to invade Sicily. However, recognizing the possibility of severe casualties, an elaborate plan is devised to trick the Germans into believing that, rather than invading Sicily, they are going to invade Greece instead. This will hopefully result in the Germans moving some of their army from Sicily to Greece. But first, the British need a corpse which has recently died of pneumonia for which they plan to put in the sea near the Spanish coast with the hope that the Germans will discover the body. Attached to his arm will be a briefcase with top secret orders detailing the mythical invasion of Greece. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was an entertaining World War 2 film which kept my attention from start to finish. I especially enjoyed the scene involving "Lucy Sherwood" (Gloria Grahame) and the Nazi spy named "Patrick O'Reilly" (Stephen Boyd) which carried a good balance of suspense and irony. In any case, this is a decent film for those who might enjoy a drama of this type and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly above average.

dougdoepke British Intelligence crafts a plan to use a dead body to mislead German Intelligence on plans to invade southern Europe.The movie amounts to a meticulous account of a British ruse to fool the Germans during WWII. Ordinarily, such a detailed narrative would be taxing, but not so here. Deceiving the Nazis requires maximum planning, no loose threads allowed. Thus we're drawn into the process of making sure no risk of exposure is left uncovered. After all, the lives of thousands of Allied troops are at stake. At first I thought the Gloria Grahame role (Lucy) was just an add-on for marquee purposes, but her thread is cleverly woven into the success of the overall plan. In fact, she has the only really dramatic role in the film. On the other hand, Clifton Webb gives a carefully controlled, quite persuasive performance as the plan's no-nonsense mastermind. Except for Grahame's two key emotional scenes, however, acting is secondary to the unfolding narrative. Story here is paramount, thanks to Ronald Neame's smooth direction. Has British Naval Intelligence in fact covered all possible slip-ups, or will Nazi agent (Boyd) manage to find a hole in the plan. All in all, it's an intriguing storyline based on a true WWII episode.

dbdumonteil William Wyler was so impressed by Stephen Boyd's performance that he cast him as Messala in his own "Ben Hur",a part which was very subtle in the first sequences.But you have got to be patient because he makes himself wait:however when he is on the screen,he makes the movie his,except in the scene with the two women in which Gloria Grahame matches him.This is an excellent spy thriller,with a first part verging on documentary;the second part looks like a poker game:at a time we think that Grahame lets the cat out of the bag but it is not so ;and the last picture is really moving ,worthy of Frank Borzage and masterpieces such as "three comrades ":the father got his wish,not only his dear son got a decent burial but he also helped to fight against the Nazis beyond death.