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. 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."

Although the main thrust of the film is historically accurate, the filmmakers made some omissions and additions that were not in MacIntyre's book, including the creation of a fictional sub-plot involving a love triangle between Montagu, Cholmondeley and Leslie. [9] Release [ edit ] 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. N'Duka, Amanda (22 October 2019). " 'Boardwalk Empire's Kelly Macdonald Joins Colin Firth In WWII Drama 'Operation Mincemeat' ". Deadline . Retrieved 10 January 2020. 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." Ritman, Alex (14 December 2021). "Warner Bros. Postpones U.K. Release of Colin Firth WWII Drama Operation Mincemeat as Omicron Soars (Exclusive)". The Hollywood Reporter . Retrieved 14 December 2021.The BBC's radio comedy show, The Goon Show, made a send-up of the story of The Man Who Never Was (based on the book) and incorporated most of the regular Goon Show characters. Written by Spike Milligan and Larry Stephens, the first version of the script formed two-thirds of the episode broadcast on 31 March 1953, before the film's release, with the first third comprising a separate sketch. Like most of these early episodes, this no longer exists. It was announced in May 2019 that the film would be directed by John Madden, and Colin Firth would star. [3] Kelly Macdonald joined the film in October. [4] In December, Matthew Macfadyen, Penelope Wilton, Johnny Flynn, Tom Wilkinson, Hattie Morahan, Simon Russell Beale, Paul Ritter and Mark Gatiss were added to the cast. [5] Jason Isaacs was announced as part of the cast in March 2020. [6]

The film is based on an extraordinary and true story. It is an adaptation of the nonfiction book of the same name by Ben Macintyre. Fittingly, this true story in which fiction plays a part has frequently been fictionalised. In 1950, Duff Cooper, a former cabinet minister, published the novel Operation Heartbreak, a thinly veiled version of events. When challenged that in doing so he was divulging official secrets, Macintyre explains, Duff reasoned that "Winston Churchill was telling the story after dinner every night, so why shouldn't he tell it?" This gave Montagu the impetus to write his own version of the story, publishing The Man Who Never Was in 1953, (later the basis of a film of the same name, which added further fictional layers to the tale), which he claimed was the true version, though he altered some details – most notably that the family of the deceased man gave them their permission to use his body, which was not the case.

It's 1943. The Allies are determined to break Hitler's grip on occupied Europe, and plan an all-out assault on Sicily; but they face an impossible challenge -- how to protect a massive invasion force from potential massacre. It falls to two remarkable intelligence officers, Ewen Montagu (Colin Firth) and Charles Cholmondeley (Matthew Macfadyen) to dream the most inspired and improbable disinformation strategy of the war -- centered on the most unlikely of secret agents: a dead man. Operation Mincemeat is the extraordinary and true story of an idea that hoped to alter the course of the war -- defying logic, risking countless thousands of lives, and testing the nerves of its creators to breaking point. Records the default button state of the corresponding category & the status of CCPA. It works only in coordination with the primary cookie. The film is set in 1943, with the Allies determined to launch an all-out assault on Sicily in a bid to weaken the Nazi’s stranglehold on occupied Europe. But they face an almost impossible challenge - how to protect their massive invading force from potential massacre. On 10 July, the Allied invasion of Sicily begins. News arrives that the Allies suffered limited casualties, the enemy is retreating, and the beaches have been held. Afterwards, Cholmondeley admits he received his brother's remains in return for spying on Montagu. Feeling sympathetic and relieved that Operation Mincemeat was a success, Montagu offers to buy Cholmondeley a drink even though it is eight in the morning. 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. The impact of song has been sharpened by the pandemic. "It hits doubly now that everyone's been through something where they might have yearned for a loved one for upwards of two years or lost a loved one and never said goodbye," reflects David Cumming, who plays Cholmondeley, as a sweetly geeky newt-fancier. Love film and TV? Join BBC Culture Film and TV Club on Facebook, a community for cinephiles all over the world. Admiral Lord West (16 April 2022). "The double deception behind Operation Mincemeat". The Telegraph.

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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." 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 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. The Man Who Never Was was entered into the 1956 Cannes Film Festival, [1] and Nigel Balchin's screenplay won the BAFTA for that year. [2] Plot [ edit ] 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.