THE turbulent life of Lord Haw-Haw, the notorious Nazi propagandist of the second world war, is to be made into a feature film.

With the working title Hitler’s English Accent, the movie is planned for release in January 2006 in time for the 60th anniversary of the death of Haw-Haw, whose real name was William Joyce.

The film has a budget of ¤15m and is being made by two independent British production companies. The script will be based on Mary Kenny’s recent biography, Germany Calling, which portrayed Joyce, who is buried in Galway, as a complex and often likeable character despite his abhorrent politics.

One of the challenges facing the film-makers will be to find an actor short enough to play the lead role — Joyce was only 5ft 1in in his socks. The production company says it is in negotiation with “a big Hollywood name”.

Producers may have considered actors who played the hobbits in Lord of the Rings, such as Elijah Wood or Sean Astin, but they are actually 5ft 6in and 5ft 7in. Ralph Fiennes has been mentioned but would seem to be out of the frame at 6ft 1in.

Kenny was “thrilled” that a film version was being made. “The story has so many dimensions. It’s about a crazy Irishman, the Irish Troubles, a family, a cat and dog marriage, the rise of fascism, and a long and very complex treason trial,” she said.

“He was a bad egg in many ways, a bit of s*** in fact, but he had a human side. His two daughters really loved their father. He was terrific company, the kind of Irishman you could sit with in a bar all day. He was also a very talented broadcaster and got a first at university.”

Joyce, who was born in New York and grew up in Galway, was hanged in Britain in 1946 — the last person to be executed for treason. A committed Anglophile, he turned his back on Ireland as a teenager and moved to Britain where he fell in with Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists.

Disillusioned with Britain’s opposition to the Nazis, he fled to Germany just a week before the war started in 1939. From there he began his infamous Germany Calling broadcasts, delivered in a distinctive nasal drawl, exhorting the British to rise up with Germany in a crusade against communism and ridiculing the British government.

Though he became a hate figure in Britain, his talent and wit as a broadcaster drew audiences of up to 9m Britons, much to the consternation of the authorities.

Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s propaganda minister, described Joyce as “the best horse in my stable”. He was captured in Denmark shortly after the war and put on trial in London, before his execution at the age of 39.

The film-makers say the star they have in mind for the lead role is a “dead ringer” for Joyce. Timothy Haas, the lead producer, said: “We’ve got our sights set on somebody who, if you met him, you would probably say Joyce was not hanged because he is here today. It is an extraordinary match.”

Haas said the production company is talking to a “top-drawer, Oscar-winning” director to direct the film. It will be shot in Ireland, Britain and Germany. There is likely to be cameo roles for actors playing Hitler and Goebbels.

The story will begin during the war of independence in Galway when Joyce was 15 and a hitman was dispatched to kill him because he was co-operating with the Black and Tans.

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