Apparently using doubles as decoys to fool the enemy is nothing new. It takes place even now.

During World War 2 there were several Winston Churchill lookalikes in good employment.

I first saw this film as a kid and thought it was fantastically entertaining. The film takes place a few months before the D-Day landings are due to take place.

The British government wants to have a campaign of misinformation and spread rumours that the landings might take place at a locations other than Normandy

Clifton James was an actor who had an uncanny resemblance to General Montgomery and is enticed by John Mills to impersonate the man himself in order to dupe the Germans.

The film is a straightforward adaptation of James real life story although more tension and humour has been added as well as a kidnapping storyline at the latter part of the movie which did not actually occur.

Also in real life James was fond of a drink and smoke unlike the real Monty.

It is a shame that Clifton James did not get more acting roles after the war although this film does mark his contribution to the war effort.

This is a wonderful war film--mostly because it is NOT about fighting and shooting--we certainly have had a lot of that sort of film. I like films that show a different side--the seldom-known acts of heroism such as the film "Dam Busters" or "The Man Who Never Was". In "Hell, Heaven or Hoboken" (a badly renaming of "I Was Monty's Double"),you have the true story about a regular enlisted man and actor who was chosen to imitate General Montgomery--the leader of the British forces during WWII. The plan was to have the double go on a tour of North Africa around the same time as the Normandy invasion in Northern France--so that the Germans would assume the assault would come from the South as well as much later. This film is about the formation and execution of this ultra-top secret plan. It's filled with tension and is very, very watchable--much of it due to good writing, direction and excellent acting (it sure didn't hurt having John Mills and Cecil Parker along with the real-life double, M.E. Clifton-James in this leading role).

I say watch this interesting film--it's a dandy. However, I did have one problem with the film--albeit a minor one and one more for history buffs like myself. The film used a lot of stock footage--most of it reasonably good. However, some of it was way too grainy and scratchy and made the film look cheap in spots--such as the footage of Bf-109s and Spitfires scrambling. Also, SOME of this real-life story is NOT real-life--such as the very exciting finale involving Nazi commandos! Still, a lovely little film and there's an awful lot to like!

I WAS MONTY'S DOUBLE is another feather in the cap of director John Guillermin, who seemed to make some of the classiest films of the time (NEVER LET GO, EL CONDOR and THE TOWERING INFERNO are all established favourites of mine). This one tells the true story of a real-life soldier and actor who ends up impersonating General Montgomery in a real-life mission during WW2 due to his uncanny resemblance to the British army leader. A star-studded cast, plenty of wry humour and interesting situations make this a surprisingly engaging kind of biopic, one which only lapses into fantasy for a final-reel splash of excitement which closes the picture beautifully. With stiff upper lips all round, it's John Mills and Cecil Parker who are the scene-stealers with their continued double act lightening the mood considerably.