What's the Difference between Operation Mincemeat the Book and Operation Mincemeat the Movie?
| In the Book |
In the Movie |
Ewen Montagu
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Ewen Montagu
Portrayed by: Colin Firth
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Charles Cholmondeley
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Charles Cholmondeley
Portrayed by: Matthew Macfadyen
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Jose Antonio Rey Maria
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This Character does not appear.
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Jean Leslie
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Jean Leslie
Portrayed by: Kelly Macdonald
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Hester Leggett
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Hester Leggett
Portrayed by: Penelope Wilton
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Ian Fleming
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Ian Fleming
Portrayed by: Johnny Flynn
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John Godfrey
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John Godfrey
Portrayed by: Jason Isaacs
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Bernard Spilsbury
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This Character does not appear.
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Bentley Purchase
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Bentley Purchase
Portrayed by: Paul Ritter
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This Character does not appear.
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Teddy
Portrayed by: Jonjo O'Neill
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Commodore Edmund Rushbrooke
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This Character does not appear.
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Operation Mincemeat Book vs Movie
| In the Book |
In the Movie |
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There is much detail on how Martin's briefcase ends up in the hand of German military intelligence, including the actions of Karl Kuhlenthal, Adolf Clauss and Colonel Alexis von Roenne. Many details of the progress of the caper were only known after the war. |
The briefcase arrives at admiral Moreno's office in Madrid. A British officer eavesdrops on the German spies conversations and talks to a Colonel Cerruti about the case. British Intel seems to be constantly updated with the status of the Martin briefcase. |
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Teddy is not in the book; no threats against Jean. The book goes into extensive detail about possible actions by van Roenne to to deceive Hitler about the intentions of the Allies relating to Operation Mincemeat. The possible actions of van Roenne are only known after the war and not by Montagu. |
A man named Teddy encounters Jean at her place; he knows about her photo used for Major Martin. He is a German operative and demands to know more about Operation Mincemeat or he will kill her. Cholmondeley suspects that Von Roenne sent Teddy to find out if Operation Mincemeat is real. Cholmondeley suspects that Von Roenne will pass along the Operation Mincemeat letters as real to deceive Hitler.
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Godfrey is long gone from Operation Mincemeat by this time and Montagu and Cholmondeley have a free hand in the operation. |
Montagu and Cholmondeley brief Godfrey about the leak involving Jean. They think the German operative (Teddy) is part of an anti-Hitler plot to push Hitler towards Greece so the Allies can invade Sicily. Godfrey says he would have Montagu and Cholmondeley drawn and quartered if he could. Godfrey says Churchill will not postpone the Sicily invasion. |
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The book makes it clear that other deception operations were in the works and while Operation Mincement may have worked well, they do not know for sure as there were so many other variables. |
After the invasion starts, the team gets a message from Churchill saying “Mincemeat swallowed, rod, line and sinker.” The operation is portrayed in the film as the last remaining deception operation to convince the Germans that the Allies will invade Greece instead of Sicily.
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This does not happen in the book. |
Cholmondeley says he struck a deal with Godfrey; that he would spy on Montagu in exchange for bring his dead brother home. Cholmondeley and Montagu argue about Ivar Montague's possible treason with the Russians and Montagu's behavior towards Jean. |