casting PLF

By his own account Michael Powell, though not against having Dirk Bogarde in the lead, was not greatly pleased by his star's performance ("It's a wonder that Paddy didn't sue both Dirk and me"), and there is little physical resemblance between Bogarde and Patrick Leigh Fermor. It has only just occurred to me that a near ringer for PLF would have been Kenneth More, who might (who knows?) have produced a performance closer to Powell's ideas too. Having said that, at the time of filming Bogarde was probably 35 and More (a close contemporary of PLF) 41, while the historical events took place in 1944 when PLF was 29. So More might have been a shade old for the part. Still, judge the resemblance for yourself:

PLF
http://media.larena.it/media/2014/09/01_41_are_f1_1109_1_resize_597_33 4.jpg

More
http://www.leninimports.com/kenneth_more_new_gallery_5.jpg

I beseech ye in the bowels of Christ, think that ye may be mistaken.