I Was Monty's Double (film)

I Was Monty's Double (aka Hell, Heaven or Hoboken) is a 1958 film made by Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC).[1] It was directed by John Guillermin. The screenplay was adapted by Bryan Forbes from the autobiography of M. E. Clifton James, an actor who pretended to be General Montgomery as a decoy during the Second World War.

I Was Monty's Double
Directed byJohn Guillermin
Produced byMaxwell Setton at Walton Studios
Screenplay byBryan Forbes
Based onI Was Monty's Double
by M. E. Clifton James
Starring
Music byJohn Addison
CinematographyBasil Emmott
Edited byMax Benedict
Distributed byAssociated British-Pathé Limited
Release date
  • 21 September 1958 (1958-09-21)
Running time
99 min.
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Plot

A few months before the D-Day landings during the Second World War, the British government decides to launch a campaign of disinformation; spreading a rumour that the landings just might take place at a location other than Normandy. The details of the operation (actually, there were several such operations) are handed to two intelligence officers, Colonel Logan (Cecil Parker) and Major Harvey (John Mills). They are initially unable to devise such a plan – but one night, Harvey sees an actor at a London theatre, putting on a convincing impression of General Bernard Montgomery.

Logan and Harvey discover that the actor is M. E. Clifton James (who plays himself in the film), a lieutenant stationed in Leicester with the Royal Army Pay Corps and that he was a professional actor in peacetime. He is called to London, on the pretext that he is to make a test for an army film, and a plan is devised that he should tour North Africa, impersonating "Monty".

'Jimmy' as Harvey calls him, is doubtful that he can carry off an impersonation of Montgomery, especially with his air of command, but with time running short and no options open to him, he agrees.

Disguised as a corporal, he spends some days at Montgomery's headquarters and learns to copy the general's mannerisms and style. After an interview with the general himself, he is sent off to tour North Africa.

Accompanied by Harvey, who has been 'promoted' to brigadier for his cover as Montgomery's aide-de-camp, "Jimmy" arrives at Gibraltar, where the governor, who has known the general for years, can't get over the likeness. To further foster the deception, a local businessman and known German agent, Karl Nielson (Marius Goring), is invited to dinner, knowing that he will spread the information. This happens quickly and their aeroplane is (unsuccessfully) attacked on leaving Gibraltar.

James and Harvey tour several places in North Africa and visit the troops. With only a few days to go before the landings, it is learned that the Germans have indeed been fooled and have kept large numbers of troops in the south, away from Normandy. His job done, James is put into "cold storage" at a heavily guarded villa on the coast.

But the Germans have been fooled more than Harvey realises. A team of German commandos are landed by submarine to kidnap 'Monty'. They kill his guards and are ready to embark with James, but Harvey gets wind of the kidnap and foils it at the last moment. They return quietly to London.

Cast

Comparison with book

The film broadly follows the account by James in his book of the same name, but according to James, there was no attempt to kidnap him. The German High Command did plan to have him killed, but Hitler vetoed the plan until he could be sure where the landings would actually take place.

Gibraltar was in reality a hotbed of German agents, and James/Montgomery was spied on by several operatives who were smuggled into Gibraltar specifically to discover what "Monty" was up to. James/Montgomery deliberately talked nonsense about non-existent operations and plans, in the hope that the spies would overhear and take such information seriously.

The intelligence officer who initially recruited James was David Niven, at that time serving as a lieutenant-colonel at the War Office.

Production

Based on Lieut. M.E. Clifton James' own story of his successful attempt to deceive the Germans regarding General Montgomery's pre-D. Day movements, I Was Monty's Double also includes well-received performances by Leslie Phillips, Michael Hordern as the governor of Gibraltar, "Rusty" Eastwood, Marius Goring as Karl Nielson and Barbara Hicks as Logan's formidably competent secretary, Hester Baring. In common with many British films from the period, cameos abound. Sam Kydd makes a brief appearance, and screenwriter Bryan Forbes appears as a young officer co-opted to help intercept the kidnappers. Near the end of the film, Forbes has a bit part as a young Lieutenant who assists Harvey in the beach rescue of M. E. Clifton James.

Newsreel footage puts the real Field Marshal Montgomery in many scenes, but "for a few key moments, James stands in for the real Monty."[2][N 1]

Reception

Film Historian Alun Evans in Brassey's Guide to War Films (2000) noted, I Was Monty's Double as, "... in itself interesting without all the trivia asides, with Bryan Forbes' screenplay from, yes, Clifton James, the actor's book, amusingly played by a stalwart cast."[4]

Film critic Leslie Halliwell in Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide (1989) described I WAS Monty's Double, "an amusing and intriguing first hour gives way to spy chases, but the overall provides solid entertainment."[5]

I Was Monty's Double inspired a Goon Show episode entitled "I was Monty's Treble", referring to at least 3 doppelgangers.[6]

The film was also spoofed in the comedy film On the Double, with Danny Kaye playing a double role.

The Private Eye comic strip, Battle for Britain was penned by Ian Hislop under the nom-de-plume Monty Stubble. When the comic strip ended, after the 1987 General Election and Stubble's death, his gravestone was shown to bear the inscription "I was Monty Stubble".

See also

Operation Copperhead

References

Notes
  1. On some US prints, the title is Hell, Heaven or Hoboken, taken from an address made by the title character to US officers.[3]

Citations
  1. Film credits and Variety film review; 5 November 1958, p. 7.
  2. Axmaker, Sean. "Film article: 'I Was Monty's Double' AKA'Hell, Heaven or Hoboken'." TCM, 2019. Retrieved: 8 August 2019.
  3. "Release Dates: 'I Was Monty's Double'." IMDb, 2019. Retrieved: 8 August 2019.
  4. Evans 2000, p. 101.
  5. Halliwell 1989, p. 502.
  6. Wilmut, Roger; Grafton, Jimmy (1981). The Goon Show Companion – A History and Goonography. London: Robson Books. ISBN 0-903895-64-1.

Bibliography
  • Evans, Alun. Brassey's Guide to War Films. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. ISBN 978-1-57488-263-6.
  • Halliwell, Leslie. Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. ISBN 978-0-06016-322-8.

Further reading
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