UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Baseshment I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

Forumrxes Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Jonah Abbott There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

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.

GManfred Really enjoyed "The Man Who Never Was", another good WW II picture made by the Brits even though it was released by 20th-Century Fox. Why do British WW II movies often seem better than our own? Let me answer that one; I think it's because they were fighting a home game, whereas we were 'on the road'. Try "Went The Day Well?" or "One Of Our Aircraft Is Missing" (both 1942), for movies with a realism that is palpable.This one is taut and suspenseful and superbly well-acted. Cinematographer/ Director Ronald Neame is very meticulous in laying out the elaborate plot and keeps the picture moving at a good clip, with help from an assortment of British stars. The star of this exciting espionage picture is...Clifton Webb? I don't know why he was chosen to star in a spy picture, but it works - he's very good. Another surprising acting job is turned in by Gloria Grahame, who also fits in to the plot. Somehow she usually manages to appear sympathetic and slutty at the same time, and here she doesn't disappoint. And her role is a crucial one.I'm not going to rehash the storyline but I just want to emphasize how refreshing it is in 2011 to see a movie for grownups. This type of movie is becoming nearly extinct - in fact, this one was produced in 1956. I knew it wasn't a new picture because there were no gratuitous sex scenes and no potty mouth dialogue - and there was a plot that could be followed by those of us over the age of 12.

ginobean Well worth watching -- all the more because it's based on what actually happened in real life during World War II.A couple issues bothered me, though. At one point, the Clifton Webb character goes, with his assistant, to wait for the spy at the bank. It wasn't clear to me what they would have done if the spy had actually shown up at the bank. This is never explained.Later, when the spy reveals his address to ascertain whether the identity of the dead man is true or not, the initial reaction of British intelligence is to try to pick up the spy.But the Clifton Webb character should have prepared for this in advance. Think of it this way -- a German spy comes to verify the authenticity of the dead man. If you try to engage with him in any way that might arouse suspicion, you've essentially blow the whole operation and given the game away. Best thing to do is to give him a wide berth until the Sicily invasion has commenced.Eventually, the Clifton Webb character realizes this, but only just in the nick of time.On reflection, my guess is that the real character, that Clifton Webb was portraying, probably did foresee the wisdom of not engaging with the spy and also kept British intelligence from interfering way in advance. In other words, the way it happens in the movie was done mostly for dramatic effect.For me these two points didn't ring true.Other than that, it was fun and exciting to watch.