Carl Colby Discusses His Film 'The Man Nobody Knew' (omg!)
"The Man Nobody Knew" is a fascinating documentary by Emmy-winning filmmaker Carl Colby. But unlike Colby's past projects, which include "Zeffirelli's Tosca" and "Legends in Light," this movie tells a very personal story. The "man" who is the subject of the doc is Colby's own father, who spent his entire career working covertly for the U.S. government.
The film explores William Colby's rise from a World War II OSS officer to Director of the CIA. All the while his family was enthralled by the jet-setting lifestyle but in the dark about who this man really was. By the end of his time with "The Company" William Colby came clean and exposed some of the CIA's deepest, darkest secrets, resulting in his dismissal and ending his career. In a recent exclusive interview, Carl Colby discussed why he took on this project and what he knew about his dad's job as a kid.
Carl Colby Was Inspired by the Events of 9/11 to Make the Film
Colby had not intended to make a film about his father but on September 11, 2001 all that changed. After watching the Twin Towers fall to the ground, he saw an interview that changed his path. "Wolf Blitzer was interviewing James Baker, who had been Secretary of State. And Blitzer asked him how this happened and Baker said, 'I trace this back directly to the Senate and House hearings in the 1970s when Director William Colby was forced to reveal the CIA's Family Jewels and we lost all the capability to do covert actions and clandestine activities.'"
Colby said he then began seeing images on TV of "CIA operatives sporting beards and wearing turbans and they're riding camelback across the Afghan plains with the Northern Alliance fighting the Taliban. And I thought 'That kind of looks like OSS.'"
This connection inspired him to take a closer look at his father's career. "I started making what I thought was going to be a professional portrait about my father, a biography from a very serious war fighting point of view. And in Washington that's fine. But then when I started to ask the deeper questions, it was like there was like a divide. Some people, particularly women, were like. 'Go for that, that's much more interesting.'"
Carl Colby Started By Interviewing His Mother
And so "The Man Nobody Knew" began to take shape. And the best place for Colby to start his exploration was with the women who, theoretically, knew his father the best. "My first interview of real substance was with my mother And that opened up things to me. First of all she expressed the fun of the CIA life."
He recalled the pop culture memories of his childhood. "In the old days it was Bond. It was James Coburn. It was 'I Spy.' It was all very cool. And JFK and RFK loved the spies."
But he thinks this glamour is lacking in today's depictions of the covert lifestyle. He told a story of meeting Matt Damon after a screening of "The Good Shepherd." Damon knew of his father, and in fact, has studied him for his role. He asked Colby's opinion on the film and Colby stated, "It was very, very good. Great film, all the detail is perfect. But there was one thing missing. It's so grim."
Colby recounted a scene that he depicted in his film, where his parents were out for an evening of socializing in Italy and his mother turned to her husband and said, "Who are we tonight, Bill?" Colby noted, "It's kind of an excitement to that." He then went on to say, "But then of course there's the dark side when it starts to unravel. And what is he really doing? And is it moral? And is it right?"
Carl Colby Was Fascinated with His Father's Job
Colby was unaware of his dad's profession as a young child. His family moved from country to country always providing him with a new adventure. He remarked, "As a kid I growing up, I was Jerry Mathers, just I wasn't living in L.A. I was living in Saigon. I was living in Rome." But he admitted his naivete came to a halt one day by a swimming pool with a friend. He described Cercle Sportif, a notorious club in Saigon. "There would be French planters there, American Colonels, obviously some CIA people, French prostitutes. It would be like if the Beverly Hills Hotel in the old days was open to kids as well. You'd see a few things in the cabanas."
He continued, "I was on the diving board at the Cercle Sportif and one of my best friends who must have known something I didn't know, says, 'You know your dad's a spy.' I said, 'No, he works for the Embassy.'" But Colby's curiosity was piqued and he went home and asked his father straight out. His father's reply was, "Let's just keep that our little secret."
But Colby felt he now had a mission. "I'm helping protect him. And then little things would come up every few months that I'd say, 'God I went on this hunting trip with Mr. X. It was incredible. He's such a great shot.' And he'd say, 'Very Interesting. Don't ever mention his name again.' So I realized he must be deep cover, not a good idea to blab about him. So that's not doing too much but I'm part of the family now. It's not 'The Sopranos,' but somewhat similar."
'The Man Nobody Knew' Is a Morality Tale
While the film is a biography of his father, Colby pointed out at its essence is a morality tale. He noted, "One of the major themes of the movie is the Catholicism. It sets the tone... My mother is setting the standard. And you had best behave and measure up to that standard."
He continued, "Once my father kind of confessed all of what the CIA has been up to and then was fired for basically telling the truth, I think he didn't have a mission any more. So he didn't need her. He didn't need us and what do you think our question was? Was it ever real? Were we just a cover? Were we just cut outs, a convenient mask? And I think it drew us together but that's an ever-present feeling I get and frankly sometimes it was the hardest thing to think about because I think the answer was, 'Yes, it was a cover.'"
And this realization was a difficult pill for Colby's mother to swallow - after all those years of marriage to recognize it was a sham. Colby acknowledged, "My mother went through a wrenching experience after the divorce because, "What does it all mean?" And yet I think not just her faith, but her faith in humanity kind of overrode this. And so this is her epiphany. I called her up yesterday and said, 'It's playing in New York From around 11 o'clock in the morning until about 10:30 at night you're on screen somewhere in Manhattan.' And she was like, 'That's great.' So she gets her revenge."
'The Man Nobody Knew' is premiering in Los Angeles at the Landmark Nuart on Friday, October 14. It will also be playing in art houses across the country in through the end of the year. Check local listings for dates and times.
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