Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall is a 1973 British comedy film adaptation of the first volume of Spike Milligan's autobiography. It stars Jim Dale as the young Terence "Spike" Milligan, while Milligan himself plays the part of his father, Leo. Dale was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles for his performance.
Outline
The film is based on the first volume of Milligan's war memoirs. Although it broadly follows Milligan's book, some scenes were created specifically for the film and all of the character names (apart from the Milligan family) are fictional.
Aspiring jazz musician Terence "Spike" Milligan reluctantly obeys his call-up and joins the Royal Artillery regiment at Bexhill-on-Sea, where he begins training to take part in World War II. But along the way Spike and his friends get involved in many amusing - and some not-so amusing - scrapes.
Cast
Jim Dale as Spike Milligan
Arthur Lowe as Major Drysdale
Bill Maynard as Sergeant Ellis
Tony Selby as Bill
Geoffrey Hughes as Larry
Jim Norton as Pongo
John Forgeham as Wally
Windsor Davies as Sergeant McKay
Spike Milligan as Leo Milligan (Spike's father) Pat Coombs as Florence Milligan (Spike's mother) Bob Todd as Bill Thompson, the Referee at the boxing bout Gregory Phillips as Desmond Milligan (Spike's brother) Alvar Liddell as himself (news broadcaster) Robert Longden as Heavenly Bliss