"Garbo, The Spy" is the story of Juan Pujol Garcia, probably the most successful double agent in World War II. Garcia's job with British intelligence was to earn Germany's trust and feed their military all kinds of incorrect information. This included his insistence that D-Day would take place in the Pas des Calais rather than Normandy.
Garbo had a network of subagents, all fake people. Before going to London, he told the Germans that he was there - he was really in Lisbon, getting information from the library to send them.
The deception of Pas des Calais/Normandy was remarkable and is beautifully covered in a documentary called Ghost Army, which tells the story of fake units with fake tanks and fake radio calls that were set up to throw off the Germans.
"Garbo, The Spy," as you perhaps discern from the other posts, is somewhat unusual in its format. Personally I liked it. They used movies, real footage, cartoons, and interviews to tell Pujol's story. Possibly the closest to Garcia's story was the Alec Guinness film, "Our Man in Havana," from which several scenes were shown. Classic film buffs will also recognized Leslie Howard, Margaret Lindsay, and others.
Interestingly, Germany bought everything this guy was peddling and gave him the Iron Cross, and he was also brought to Buckingham Palace and given the Medal of Honor.
I say don't miss this, and the documentary footage of the Allies coming into Paris, the look on peoples' faces, and the liberated concentration camp survivors smiling and eating.
One person interviewed was Aline Griffith, the Countess de Romanones, who was an American model who became a spy in the OSS in Spain, eventually marrying Count Romanones. Her books - The Spy Wore Red, etc., make for fun reading.
Garbo had a network of subagents, all fake people. Before going to London, he told the Germans that he was there - he was really in Lisbon, getting information from the library to send them.
The deception of Pas des Calais/Normandy was remarkable and is beautifully covered in a documentary called Ghost Army, which tells the story of fake units with fake tanks and fake radio calls that were set up to throw off the Germans.
"Garbo, The Spy," as you perhaps discern from the other posts, is somewhat unusual in its format. Personally I liked it. They used movies, real footage, cartoons, and interviews to tell Pujol's story. Possibly the closest to Garcia's story was the Alec Guinness film, "Our Man in Havana," from which several scenes were shown. Classic film buffs will also recognized Leslie Howard, Margaret Lindsay, and others.
Interestingly, Germany bought everything this guy was peddling and gave him the Iron Cross, and he was also brought to Buckingham Palace and given the Medal of Honor.
I say don't miss this, and the documentary footage of the Allies coming into Paris, the look on peoples' faces, and the liberated concentration camp survivors smiling and eating.
One person interviewed was Aline Griffith, the Countess de Romanones, who was an American model who became a spy in the OSS in Spain, eventually marrying Count Romanones. Her books - The Spy Wore Red, etc., make for fun reading.