Monty vs. Rommel

IT WAS GORE Vidal who called Ronald Reagan “the Acting President,” and it would be lacking in insight to regard this barbed tribute as merely disparaging. Another screen actor, David Niven, was serving in British Intelligence during World War II when he discovered a lieutenant in the Pay Corps named M.E. Clifton-James. James was another actor who, in addition to his painfully acquired thespian skills, possessed one special attribute that fitted him for a new role on a wider stage: he bore an uncanny resemblance to General Sir Bernard Montgomery, the designated ground forces commander of the forthcoming Allied invasion of Normandy. Niven noticed this. Since it was vital to distract German attention from the presence of the commander, organizing his invasion forces on the English Channel coast, Clifton-James was duly dressed up as “Monty’s double” for highly-publicized visits to Gibraltar or Algiers—anywhere but southern England.