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The Man Who Never Was Review

What I liked: I think this is an excellent example of old movies. It isn’t too long (Gone with the Wind/Lawrence of Arabia). It isn’t boring (Thing from the Black Lagoon). It isn’t sappy (Little Women/Citizen Kane). It isn’t just weird (Dr Strangelove). It has a good story to tell and does so quite well. It is the story of the misinformation campaign prior to the allied invasion of the continent. The pace is much slower than if it were made today, there is plenty of British tea drinking, but I think this actually works quite well to capture the amount of time that went into planning. It was also impressive to see the level of detail that the orchestrators included about the fictional man. I was also impressed by the execution of the token love story. Normally, I find romantic side stories boring, unbelievable, and completely superfluous. This one was actually believable and played an important role in the plot without upstaging the real action. I liked the morse code action, though do think the spy should have been more careful. If you carefully lock your door when you are sending a message you should probably wait to open your door until you have actually put away your radio. I also liked the map showing troop movements. This is something that would utterly fail now but since it was made when they actually presented information like that, it added a layer of authenticity.
What I didn’t: the score. There were way too many flutes and violins happening and not enough drums and trumpets. I know the Brits are all about stiff upper lip but they really should have been more supportive of the secretary after she encountered the spy. I would be curious to know how closely the film followed real events.
Who should watch this: anyone on a old timey movie spree.
Would I watch it again? Yes
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