''I Was Monty's Double'' (aka ''Hell, Heaven or Hoboken'') is a 1958 film made by Associated British Picture Corporation (ABPC). It was directed by

John Guillermin John Guillermin (11 November 192527 September 2015) was a French-British film director, writer and producer who was most active in big-budget, action-adventure films throughout his lengthy career. His more well-known films include ''I Was Monty ...

. The screenplay was adapted by

Bryan Forbes Bryan Forbes CBE (; born John Theobald Clarke; 22 July 1926 – 8 May 2013) was an English film director, screenwriter, film producer, actor and novelist described as a "Renaissance man"Falk Q. . BAFTA. 17 October 2007. Retrieved 9 May 2013 and ...

from the autobiography of M. E. Clifton James, an actor who pretended to be General Montgomery as a decoy during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

Plot

A few months before the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

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 Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. 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 The Royal Army Pay Corps (RAPC) was the corps of the British Army responsible for administering all financial matters. It was amalgamated into the Adjutant General's Corps in 1992. History The first "paymasters" have existed in the army before t ...

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 North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...

, 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 Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

, 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 Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. I ...

for his cover as Montgomery's aide-de-camp, "Jimmy" arrives at

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, 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 Marius Re Goring, (23 May 191230 September 1998) was a British stage and screen actor. He is best remembered for the four films he made with Powell & Pressburger, particularly as Conductor 71 in '' A Matter of Life and Death'' and as Julian Cr ...

), 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

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s 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

* M. E. Clifton James as himself and General Montgomery * John Mills as Major Harvey * Cecil Parker as Colonel E. F. Logan *

Patrick Allen John Keith Patrick Allen (17 March 1927 – 28 July 2006) was a British actor. Life and career Allen was born in Nyasaland (now Malawi), where his father was a tobacco farmer. After his parents returned to Britain, he was evacuated to Canada ...

as Colonel Mathers * Patrick Holt as Colonel Dawson *

Leslie Phillips Leslie Samuel Phillips (20 April 1924 – 7 November 2022) was an English actor, director, producer and author. He achieved prominence in the 1950s, playing smooth, upper-class comic roles utilising his "Ding dong" and "Hello" catchphrases. ...

as Major Tennant *

Michael Hordern Sir Michael Murray Hordern Commander of the Order of the British Empire, CBE (3 October 19112 May 1995)Morley, Sheridan"Hordern, Michael Murray (1911–1995)" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004, online e ...

as Governor of Gibraltar *

as Karl Nielson * Barbara Hicks as Hester Baring *

Duncan Lamont Duncan William Ferguson Lamont (17 June 1918 – 19 December 1978) was a British actor.Brian McFarlane (Ed): ''The Encyclopedia of British Film'' (BFI/Methuen • London • 2000) p397''Picture Show Who's Who on the Screen'' (Amalgamated Pre ...

as Wing Commander Bates * Anthony Sagar as Guard Sergeant * John Gale as Flight Lieutenant Osborne * Kenneth J. Warren as Flying Officer Davies * James Hayter as Sergeant Adams *

Sid James Sidney James (born Solomon Joel Cohen; 8 May 1913 – 26 April 1976) was a British actor and comedian whose career encompassed radio, television, stage and screen. He was best known for numerous roles in the Carry On film series. Born to a mi ...

as Desk Clerk Y.M.C.A. *

MacDonald Parke MacDonald Parke (1891 – 1960) was a Canadian film and television actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media ...

as American General *

John Le Mesurier John Le Mesurier (, born John Elton Le Mesurier Halliley; 5 April 191215 November 1983) was an English actor. He is perhaps best remembered for his comedic role as Sergeant Arthur Wilson in the BBC television situation c ...

as disgruntled officer * Vera Day as Angela * George Eugeniou as Garcia * Patrick Connor as Soldier in Tent (uncredited) *

Sam Kydd Samuel John Kydd (15 February 1915 – 26 March 1982) was a British-Irish actor. His best-known roles were in two major British television series of the 1960s, as the smuggler Orlando O'Connor in '' Crane'' and its sequel ''Orlando''. He als ...

as Soldier in Cinema *

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

as man on train *

Allan Cuthbertson Allan Darling Cuthbertson (7 April 1920 – 8 February 1988) was an Australian-born British actor. He was best known for playing stern-faced military officers in British films of the 1950s and 1960s. Early life Cuthbertson was born in Perth, ...

as Guards Officer

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 James David Graham Niven (; 1 March 1910 – 29 July 1983) was a British actor, soldier, memoirist, and novelist. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance as Major Pollock in '' Separate Tables'' (1958). Niven's other roles ...

, at that time serving as a lieutenant-colonel at the War Office.

Production

When James agreed to impersonate Montgomery, he was never to mention it under army regulations. However, after Operation Copperhead was mentioned in the book ''My Three Years with Eisenhower'', James asked for permission to write a book, which was granted. The book was published in 1954. In June 1956 it was announced film rights had been bought by Todon Productions, the company of Tony Owens and Donna Reed, based on England; the key executive there was Maxwell Setton, who had been a wartime executive officer. Todon wanted Laurence Olivier to play Montgomery and Stephen Watts was writing the treatment. Frederic March was named as another possibility for the lead. In mid June it was announced that Clifton James would play himself and Montgomery, with Olivier the leading choice for the other main role. Permission from Montgomery and the War Office was conditional upon script approval. A deal was signed with Columbia to distribute. In August 1956 the film was listed on Todon's slate which also included ''Town on Trial'', directed by John Guillermin and starring John Mills, who would make ''Monty's Double''. Other films to be made included ''The Long Haul''. In September Michael Rennie was mentioned as a lead. In July 1957 it was announced Ken Hughes would direct. Producer Maxwell Setton took the film for Rank, who agreed to finance, but Sir John Davis, head of Rank, wanted Bryan Forbes' script vetted by head of production Earl St. John. Setton then took the project to Robert Clark at ABPC, who agreed to finance. Setton had to change the nationality of Marius Goring's spy character from Spanish to Swedish to enable the unit to film in Gibaltar. Newsreel footage puts the real Field Marshal Montgomery in many scenes, but "for a few key moments, James stands in for the real Monty." In January 1959 Associated British signed a deal with NTA for them to distribute this and ''Ice Cold in Alex'' in the US.

Reception

The film was a success at the British box office. James went on a tour to promote the film. ''Variety'' described it as "excellently acted and directed....the film has several moments of real tension. Even with a somewhat fictionalized ending, there is a documentary flavor about it which is absorbing. Plenty of-news footage has been woven into the pic and it has been done with commendable ingenuity. Bryan Forbes’ taut screenplay is liberally spiced with humor...James shows himself to be a resourceful actor in his own right... An extraordinary story told convincingly and compellingly." Film reviewer Stephen Vagg wrote that the film was "splendidly entertaining. The script was written by thespian-turned-scribe Bryan Forbes, and there’s some lovely "actor" character stuff in the film, eg. James thinking he’s being hired for a film role and bringing along a scrapbook of his reviews, James having last-minute nerves, James getting up on stage and worrying about blowing it." Stephen Watts, who was involved in the operation, thought James "played himself with great skill and distinction." When Montgomery saw the film at a London cinema, audiences outside reportedly assumed he was Clifton James.

In popular culture

''I Was Monty's Double'' inspired a ''

Goon Show ''The Goon Show'' is a British radio comedy programme, originally produced and broadcast by the BBC Home Service from 1951 to 1960, with occasional repeats on the BBC Light Programme. The first series, broadcast from 28 May to 20 September 1 ...

'' episode entitled "I was Monty's Treble", referring to at least three doppelgangers.Wilmut, Roger; Grafton, Jimmy (1981). The Goon Show Companion – A History and Goonography. London: Robson Books. . 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 Ian David Hislop (born 13 July 1960) is a British journalist, satirist, writer, broadcaster, and editor of the magazine ''Private Eye''. He has appeared on numerous radio and television programmes and has been a team captain on the BBC quiz sho ...

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".

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

* Evans, Alun. ''Brassey's Guide to War Films''. Dulles, Virginia: Potomac Books, 2000. . * Halliwell, Leslie. ''Leslie Halliwell's Film Guide''. New York: Harper & Roe, 1989. .

External links

* * *
Was Monty's Double (1959); BFIReview of film
at Variety *
Complete text of original novel
at Internet Archive {{John Guillermin 1958 films 1958 war films British war films British World War II films World War II films based on actual events Films directed by John Guillermin Films scored by John Addison Films shot in Gibraltar Cultural depictions of Bernard Montgomery Films about lookalikes 1950s English-language films 1950s British films