The Secret War of Harry Frigg
When 5 allied generals are captured in Italy in WWII, it is a propaganda nightmare for the allies. The generals are all 1 star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to plan an escape. Harry Frigg is a private who has escaped from the guard house dozens of times. He is promoted to Major General and ordered to get the generals out once he is captured. Harry is willing to escape, but then he meets the countess...
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- Cast：
- Paul Newman , Sylva Koscina , Andrew Duggan , Tom Bosley , John Williams , Charles Gray , Vito Scotti
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Reviews
Waste of time
Excellent but underrated film
it is finally so absorbing because it plays like a lyrical road odyssey that’s also a detective story.
Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.
This must be the equivalent to WW2 escape movies as was the original '67 Casino Royale was to spy movies. i.e incoherent, non-sensical, long, pantomime acting and with no apparent plot.But, Boy! It is ridiculously entertaining, in a Pink Panther-ish way. Throw your preconceived ideas about Paul Newman (who looks schoolboyishly slightly, but endearingly, uneasy) the almost 'Allo, 'Allo (old comedy UK hit TV series set in occupied France) scenarios - but this is wartime Italy, making it more glamorous and picturesque. So, I'm not going to bore you with the details of the cast that includes beautiful women, hammed-up character actors from the UK and elsewhere mixed into a cocktail of chases, gun battles and amusing (rather than hilarious) dialogue.This is a wet Sunday afternoon movie-on-TV type, but without the slush and if you go make a cup of tea, do a spot of D.I.Y and walk the dog, you can come back into it and you'll be still be entertained.
Some of the movies I get to see on movie channels that play older movies are well worth the extra few dollars a month to the cable company. This was one of those movies. Not the greatest movie I've ever seen, but very entertaining, funny in a quirky way, well worth a look.
I admit this is not the best thing Paul Newman has done. But it's an entertaining little comedy that is charming and quirky in its own special way. There are plenty of familiar faces, particularly if you watched lots of television in the '60's and '70's. A move that's a bit rough around the edges but still well worth watching on it's own merits.
It occurs to me that I saw Joe Pesci do a walk on in this film. It was either in 'Harry Frigg' or another war related movie, perhaps the 'Dirty Dozen.' There's a knock at the door and a high officer, a General, perhaps, beckons and in he (Pesci) walks, stands at attention and delivers a terse, one line message, and departs. Help!