Abbatescianni, Davide (10 December 2019). "John Madden ready to shoot Operation Mincemeat". Cineuropa . Retrieved 19 December 2019. Smyth, Denis (16 June 2010). Deathly Deception: The Real Story of Operation Mincemeat. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-161364-7– via Google Books. Now, the film's arrival in UK cinemas (before it comes to Netflix in North and Latin America in May) coincides with the return to UK stages of a hit musical about the very same story, also called Operation Mincemeat. The show, devised by theatre company SpitLip, started life on the London fringe in 2019 and has since played several sell out runs at increasingly larger spaces. Lentz, Robert J. (10 January 2014). Gloria Grahame, Bad Girl of Film Noir: The Complete Career. McFarland. p.201. ISBN 9780786487226– via Google Books.

The fact of much of the acting company having had what is now called 'lived experience' [of destitution] added authenticity and power," he adds. The exact identity of the "man who never was" has been the centre of controversy since the end of the war. On the one hand, certain accounts claim the true identity of "Major William Martin" was a homeless, alcoholic rat-catcher from Aberbargoed, Wales, Glyndwr Michael, who had died by self-administering a small dose of rat poison. However, in 2002, authors John and Noreen Steele published the non-fictional account of The Secrets of HMS Dasher, about an ill-fated escort carrier that exploded and sank in the Firth of Clyde around the time Operation Mincemeat had commenced. The Steeles argued that "Major Martin's" body was actually that of seaman John Melville, one of the Dasher's casualties. Further, it has been reported that the accuracy of this claim was verified by the Royal Navy in late October 2004, [3] and a memorial service was held for Melville, in which he was celebrated as one whose "memory lives on in the film The Man Who Never Was... we are gathered here today to remember John Melville as a man who most certainly was." There is some circumstantial evidence that also supports the identity of the body used as being Melville's. [4] However, in fact, Professor Denis Smyth, a researcher at the University of Toronto, has counter-argued that Glyndwr Michael was indeed the real "Major Martin". To support his claims, Smyth published the contents of a secret memo and an official report, both authored by Ewen Montagu himself, confirming the Glyndwr Michael story. [5] It's a story so fantastic and macabre that it feels like the product of a writer's imagination. In 1943, at the height of World War Two, British Intelligence agents hatched an elaborate scheme to convince the Germans that the Allied forces were planning to invade Greece rather than Sicily. The plan, code-named Operation Mincemeat, involved planting forged documents upon a dead body before setting him adrift in neutral Spanish waters, with the aim of the papers ending up in German hands. In addition, other notable historical figures are briefly included in the film, with Alexander Beyer as Karl Kuhlenthal, Nico Birnbaum as Colonel Alexis von Roenne and Pep Tosar as Admiral Moreno.

What to know

Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. New British film Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary story of two intelligence officers who changed the course of World War II. They saved tens of thousands of lives and helped break Hitler’s deadly grip on Europe by recruiting the skills of the most unlikely of secret agents - a dead man.

Colin Firth leads the cast as Naval Intelligence Officer Ewen Montagu. He is joined by Kelly Macdonald as Jean Leslie, Matthew Macfadyenas Charles Cholmondeley, Penelope Wiltonas Hester Leggett, Johnny Flynnas James Bond authorIan Fleming, Lorne MacFadyen as Roger Dearborn, and Jason IsaacsasNaval Officer John Godfrey. Weekend Box Office Results: Five Nights at Freddy’s Scores Monster Opening Link to Weekend Box Office Results: Five Nights at Freddy’s Scores Monster Opening The Man Who Never Was, 1956 film based on Ewen Montagu's book of the same name about Operation Mincemeat Because for all the ethical murkiness, and the sense of getting swept up in their own deception, they pulled it off. The Allies invaded Sicily as planned, but the Germans remained convinced it was a diversionary tactic. "It's a really important moment in history," stressed Macintyre, "because unlike most espionage stories, and I say that with all due humility, as I've written a lot of books about spies, this one really did make a difference, this one actually strategically altered the course of the war."The film includes a scene in which Michael's sister chastises them for their callousness in using him in this way. It also shows his gravestone in Huelva, Spain, which now bears both the names Glyndwr Michael and Major William Martin, affirming that he served his country, which Ashford feels that he did. SpitLip did not want to shy away from those questions either, but fundamentally they wanted to celebrate what Montagu achieved, and its sheer audacity. During these events, the Allies are determined to launch an all-out assault on Fortress Europe. But they face an impossible challenge: to protect a massive invasion force from entrenched German firepower and avert a potential massacre. This article is about the 1956 film. For the 2022 film based on the same operation, see Operation Mincemeat (film). For the memoir by then-Lt. Cmdr. Ewen Montagu, see The Man Who Never Was (book). It falls to the two intelligence officers Ewen Montagu - played by Colin Firth - and Charles Cholmondeley - played by Matthew Macfayden - who dream up an inspired and improbable disinformation strategy. Their idea is to fool Nazi Germany into thinking their plan is to invade Greece and Sardinia instead - by dressing up the corpse of a homeless man as a Royal Marine and planting bogus documents on him that point towards the fake invasion.

While the songs draw on everything from Beyoncé to sea shanties for inspiration, and it features the best dancing Nazis since The Producers, the show stays true to the spirit of the story. "We really loved how much they loved creating the fiction," says SpitLip's Natasha Hodgson, who plays Montagu. "We really wanted to get across the joy of creation and story and narrative because that's what we were doing too." Matthew Macfadyen of "Ripper Street" fame plays Montagu's partner, Charles Cholmondeley. Funnily enough, both Firth and Macfadyen have portrayed Jane Austen's esteemed heartthrob character Mr. Darcy onscreen — Firth in the 1995 BBC "Pride and Prejudice" miniseries, and Macfadyen in the 2005 film version. There's a real sense that these people lived vicariously through their creation. "These were people who were unable to take part in the actual war on the battlefield, either because they were too tall, like Cholmondeley, or too old, like Montagu, or they were women like Jean and they imagined themselves into a kind of parallel underground war," says Macintyre. "There's something touching and remarkable about the idea of a hidden hero." Netflix y Warner se reparten el estreno del último gran rodaje internacional de Málaga". Diario Sur (in Spanish). 4 March 2021 . Retrieved 5 March 2021. This unhappy element of the story is something that SpitLip was conscious of when writing their show – so that, while the musical is based on the version of events presented by Montagu and his team, "it was important [for us] to shine a light on the less ethical aspects of it," explains Cumming.Speaking about the plot, director John Madden said: "In the context of WW2 narratives, the story ofOperation Mincemeatis unique — a bizarre and seductive cinematic blend of high-level espionage and ingenious fiction, where the stakes could hardly be higher." Who's in the cast of Operation Mincemeat? The story has actually been told before, too. It was the basis for the 1956 film The Man Who Never Was, which was adapted from the memoirs of intelligence officer Ewen Montagu. In 1943, the United Kingdom is entrenched in World War II. Lieutenant Commander Ewen Montagu, a Jewish barrister, remains in England while his wife Iris and their children travel to safety in the United States. Montagu takes a break from practising law when he is appointed to the Twenty Committee. His secretary, Hester Leggett, comes with him.

The logic-defying plan risks the lives of thousands of soldiers and tests the nerves of its creators to breaking point. But will it succeed? Is Operation Mincemeat a true story? The Radio Times wrote, "the picture may appear overly reverent by today's standards. But this is still a crucial wartime spy tale that is well worth watching." [9] The Goon Show parody [ edit ]

Operation Mincemeat is out in UK cinemas now and released on Netflix in North and Latin America on 11 May; SpitLip's Operation Mincemeat is at London's Riverside Studios, London, from 28 April until 9 July N'Duka, Amanda (22 October 2019). " 'Boardwalk Empire's Kelly Macdonald Joins Colin Firth In WWII Drama 'Operation Mincemeat' ". Deadline . Retrieved 10 January 2020. This was part of the appeal for writer Michelle Ashford, who adapted Macintyre's book for the screen, having read and loved it when it was first published. "It's almost like a Valentine to spy stories," she says. "And how ironic that the creator of James Bond was actually one of the architects of the story."