I Was Monty’s Double (1958) - film review

England, 1944.  The German High Command are apprised of the Allies’ intention to launch a full-scale invasion of France but remain in the dark as to where the attack will commence.  In an attempt to draw German forces away from the Normandy coast, the place where the D-Day landings will take place in a few months’ time, British Intelligence is tasked with launching a campaign of misinformation.  By chance, intelligence officer Major Harvey encounters a man who is the spitting image of General Montgomery and conceives a fantastic plan.  If this man, a former repertory actor named M. E. Clifton James, can be persuaded to impersonate Montgomery, he could mislead the Germans over the Allies’ invasion strategy.  Unfortunately, James, who is currently serving in the Royal Army Pay Corps, has little confidence in the plan, and even less confidence in his own ability.  With no other option, Harvey and his superior Colonel Logan persuade James that he is the right man for the job.  Disguised as a colonel, James is sent to Montgomery’s headquarters to observe the general’s habits and mannerisms.   He is then sent to Gibraltar, to give the performance of his life...

I Was Monty’s Double recounts one of the most incredible episodes in World War II.  So convincingly did an obscure British actor pass himself off as General Montgomery that Hitler diverted a panzer division and 50,000 troops to southern France in anticipation of an invasion from the north coast of Africa.  The scam depleted the German forces in the north of France and doubtless saved the lives of thousands of Allied troops in the course of the Normandy landings.  This film is a fitting tribute to M.E. Clifton-James, the man who made this possible, adapted from his own autobiographical account and featuring Clifton-James as both himself and Montgomery.

Scripted by Bryan Forbes (who would later become a notable film director in his own right), I Was Monty’s Double takes a certain amount of dramatic licence, presumably because its makers did not feel Clifton-James’ story was sufficiently far-fetched or exciting.  The most significant departure from the truth is the inclusion of an entirely fictitious attempt by the Germans to abduct the Montgomery double and his subsequent rescue by a trigger-happy John Mills.  The film also fails to mention that it was the actor David Niven who brought Clifton-James to the attention of British intelligence, whilst he was serving at the War Office.   Although he was pushing sixty when he appeared in the film, Clifton-James convincingly manages to play himself as a man in his mid-forties and still bears an uncanny likeness to Montgomery.

Bryan Forbes’ humorous screenplay and John Guillermin’s light touch direction make this one of the most enjoyable of British war films, one that is far more concerned with character than action exploits.   M.E. Clifton-James had only a couple of minor screen credits to his name prior to this film but he manages to hold his own against such film heavyweights as John Mills, Cecil Parker and Marius Goring.  Clifton-James’ humility and understated charm make him an instantly likeable individual and the apparent ease with which he manages to shed his self-effacing modest persona to become the inspiring leader of men Bernard Montgomery is testament to his great skill as an actor.  Despite the abundance of talent that surrounds him, Clifton-James rightly steals this film and leaves us in no doubt as to the debt he is owed for his small part in the defeat of Fascism.

© Alex Sullivan 2010

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