The Other Man (1964 TV programme)

"The Other Man" was a British television drama written by Giles Cooper OBE and directed by Gordon Flemyng, starring Michael Caine, Sian Phillips and John Thaw. It was made by Granada for the ITV network, and broadcast on 7 September 1964.

Production

Prior to transmission, the nature of the storyline was not publicised, ["The Yorkshire Post" 7 September 1964.] the only hint being the cover of that week's "TV Times", which showed the image of a British passport, but with the addition of a Swastika and the German phrase "Deutsches Reich." [ [http://www.vintagetimes.org.uk/tvt/1964-09-06/ VintageTimes: 06 September 1964 ] ] Running in two parts from 20:00 to 20:50 and 21:05 to 22:35, with a news broadcast in between, "The Other Man" was at the time the longest single drama broadcast by ITV. It had a cast of over 200, including extras and 60 speaking parts. ["The Yorkshire Post" 8 September 1964.]

Synopsis

During the opening of a British army regimental museum, one person present mentally speculates on what might have happened had past events taken a different course. This alternative history follows the life of George Grant (Michael Caine), a young army officer, as Britain capitulates to Germany in 1940 to avoid bombing.

There follows a Nazi-directed reorganisation of Britain's domestic and foreign policy, a brutal reconquest of India, and a gradual complicity in racial atrocities and the building of a Channel tunnel using slave labour.

Remaining a professional soldier, Grant gradually but inevitably compromises himself under the new regime, via three tests of his humanity, after accepting a posting connected to the building a road from India to the Russian frontier. First he is confronted with an old friend in a Jewish working party; then he must try and execute a fellow officer for Communist treason; before finally having to denounce his former superior officer.

Grant's seeking of emotional solace with a prostitute is interrupted by a Cossack attack, during which he tries to get himself killed.

He regains consciousness a year later and discovers that his shattered body has been rebuilt using the same advanced transplant surgery that is used to keep alive the leading Nazis - including Adolf Hitler - and "heroes of the Reich" like Grant himself. Rebuilt with a new leg, a new arm, new internal organs, and a new eye, he is told that the parts came from live "donors."

The narrative closes with both the "real" Grant and his Nazi-serving alter ego delivering essentially the same speech about "why we are here today" at the ceremony first seen at the beginning of the play.

Background

Writer Giles Cooper had himself served as a British army officer with the West Yorkshire Regiment in Burma during the Second World War. He subsequently adapted "The Other Man" as a novel.

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0401706/ IMDB entry on "The Other Man"]
* [http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/521563 BFI entry on "The Other Man"]