A lot of films based on a ‘true story’ are a bit naff and disappointing when you dig into the real story behind them.
In the case of this film though, that couldn't be further from the truth.
Guy Ritchie’s newest film, focused on Henry Cavill leading a set of nazi hunters in World War 2, has an absolutely bonkers true story behind it that rivals the film.
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Check out the trailer here:
Having Henry Cavill and Alex Pettyfer portraying you is about the highest compliment someone could possibly receive.
The only thing that may top it? The fact that their characters, Gus March-Phillips and Geoffrey Appleyard, are considered by historian Brian Lett to have provided inspiration for James Bond.
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The pair led a military operation called ‘Operation Postmaster’, a black op intended to sabotage Nazi U-Boats.
Ian Fleming, the author who created 007, was a liaison between the Royal Navy and the Special Operations Executive (SOE) behind Postmaster.
The author of Churchill’s Secret Warriors, which inspired the film, confirmed: “Gus March-Phillips, as the dashing English gentleman, was one of the inspirations for James Bond.”
There is a sequence of the Guy Ritchie adaptation, called Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare, in which they throw costume parties to distract the Germans while the men steal a cargo ship.
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According to the author, Damien Lewis, the real story is even wilder.
He said: “The officers’ party was actually set at a café overlooking the harbour.
“It was the only venue available, so the British agents onshore sat the officers looking away from the harbour with a bunch of (prostitutes) so they were captivated.”
This wasn’t the only insane move by the SOE in Postmaster portrayed in the film which is hard to believe.
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One of the main characters, Alan Ritchson’s Anders Lassen is known as ‘The Danish Hammer’ and goes around killing Nazis with a bow and arrow.
If you think that’s too wild to be true you’d be right! He was called ‘The Viking’ not ‘The Danish Hammer’.
He did indeed kill Nazis with a bow and arrow though.
You can also add to that a number of wild sequences in the film true to real life - such as a train heist in which they steal a briefcase full of classified information by putting a slightly larger briefcase on top of it in a Russian Doll style.
The more you read about the real methods behind the men that inspired this film, the more wild stories that come about – showing that if anything, the film is the tamer version of history.
Topics: Guy Ritchie, Henry Cavill, World War 2, James Bond, TV and Film, Film
Michael Slavin