Hell, Heaven or Hoboken (1958)
"I Was Monty's Double" (original title)

The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General Montgomery to mislead the German's about his intentions before the North Africa campaign.

Director:

John Guillermin

Writers:

Bryan Forbes (screenplay), M.E. Clifton James (book)

Stars:

John Mills, Cecil Parker, Patrick Allen

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
John Mills	...	Major Harvey
Cecil Parker	...	Col. Logan
Patrick Allen	...	Col. Mathers
Patrick Holt	...	Col. Dawson
Leslie Phillips	...	Major Tennant
Michael Hordern	...	Governor of Gibraltar
Marius Goring	...	Nielson
Barbara Hicks	...	Hester
Duncan Lamont	...	Wing Cdr. Bates
Anthony Sagar	...	Guard Sergeant (Villa)
John Gale	...	Flight Lt. Osborne
Kenneth J. Warren	...	F / O Davies (as Kenneth Warren)
James Hayter	...	Sgt. Adams
Sid James	...	Porter Y.M.C.A. (as Sidney James)
Brian Weske	...	Despatch Rider

Storyline

The incredible but true story of how an impersonator was recruited to impersonate General Montgomery to mislead the German's about his intentions before the North Africa campaign.

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Plot Keywords:

british intelligence | stage performance | impersonation | mistaken identity | decoy | 

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Genres:

Drama | History | War

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

17 April 1959 (Finland)

Also Known As:

Hell, Heaven or Hoboken

Filming Locations:

Governor's Residence, Gibraltar

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The screenplay omits David Niven's part in the real operation - it was he, working for the Army's film unit as a Lieutenant-Colonel, who first made contact with M.E. Clifton James. His role is taken in the film by Major Harvey.

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Goofs

Rather than being dubbed Operation Hambone, the project's real title was Operation Copperhead.

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Quotes

[A civilian has just bumped into Clifton-James outside a cinema]
Civilian: Who do you think you are?
[Storms off]
Maj. Harvey: Yes, who do you think you are? Monty?

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Crazy Credits

The story you are about to see is the story of one of the boldest deceptions of our time in which Meyrick Clifton James, late of Her Majesty's Pay Corps, re-enacts his own real-life role. The Producer is deeply grateful to H.E. The Governor and Commander-in-Chief and those member of the Administration and Services at Gibraltar in March 1958, who rendered their invaluable assistance in the reconstruction of certain scenes of this film.

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Connections

Referenced in Twilight's Last Gleaming (1977)

User Reviews

B.B. (Before Bond)

It's hard not to imagine that Bryan Forbes who wrote the script for this 1958 film was not influenced by the James Bond character who first appeared in the Ian Fleming book "Casino Royale" published in England in 1953. As the first Bond film was not released until 1962, the character John Mills plays --cheeky, disrespectful of authority, as adept with women as he is in intelligence work-- is either a predecessor to 007 or an affectionate borrowing from Fleming's novel. Up until then, British men were usually depicted on screen as stiff-upper lip, decent chaps who did their jobs without complaining; surely never distracted from defending the Empire by a pretty face. Mills, with his enormous charm and good looks, introduced a new type of Brit to cinema audiences --sexy, funny and sometimes outrageous-- a character which Sean Connery was to play to perfection many years later.