Nel 1943, un gruppo di militari alleati catturati non riesce a concordare un piano di fuga, il quartier generale degli alleati sviluppa un piano e invia un uomo che sperano venga catturato, ... Leggi tuttoNel 1943, un gruppo di militari alleati catturati non riesce a concordare un piano di fuga, il quartier generale degli alleati sviluppa un piano e invia un uomo che sperano venga catturato, per coordinare la fuga dei prigionieri.Nel 1943, un gruppo di militari alleati catturati non riesce a concordare un piano di fuga, il quartier generale degli alleati sviluppa un piano e invia un uomo che sperano venga catturato, per coordinare la fuga dei prigionieri.
- General Cox-Roberts
- (as Charles D. Gray)
- Stockade Inmate
- (non citato nei titoli originali)
Recensioni in evidenza
This is a warlike comedy with funny moments , bemusing situations and quite entertaining . Likable performance of Paul Newman as silly Private promoted general to help escape other generals from the custody of the Germans. Agreeable screenplay by Peter Stone , also producer . The screenwriter dabbles a comic battle of sexes between an illiterate Newman and a high-class countess . Wonderful Sylva Koscina as cultured countess who establishes a lovely and enjoyable relationship with Paul Newman . Top-drawer acting by secondary all cast as the generals as John Williams , Charles Gray , Andrew Duggan and Tom Bosley . Colorful cinematography in Techniscope by Russell Metty and appropriate musical score by Carlo Rustichelli .
The motion picture is professionally directed by Jack Smight , American filmmaker with a penchant for the bizarre , macabre and extravagant entertainments . He began working for television in the early 50s . After successful ¨Harper¨ also with Paul Newman , in 1966 he realized the quirky caper titled ¨Kaleidoscope¨ . His best movie resulted to be ¨No way to treat a lady¨ , a very black comedy .Being continued by more peculiarities as ¨The Illustred man ¨. It's followed by the barely-released ¨Rabbit run¨, as he went on in TV films as ¨The screaming woman¨ , ¨The longest night¨ and ¨Frankestein: the true story ¨ . After that he directed unconvincing Sci-fi , as big war movie as ¨Midway¨ and one of ¨Airport¨ series . ¨The secret war of Harry Frigg¨ is an acceptable and passable film , a rare Newman film that turned to be such conspicuous lack of success what was a flop at box office ; however , nowadays is best considered.
The villa is under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Ferrucci (Vito Scotti). The five generals cannot agree on an escape plan General Homer Prentiss (James Gregory) of Army Public Relations decides to enlist the services of Private Frigg (Newman) in arranging the generals' escape Frigg, it seems, is a rebel and consummate escape artist who lands constantly in the stockade and he might well apply his rare skills to release the generals
Frigg is promoted to Major General, and is sent in to lead them out But once at the villa, he falls for the beautiful Contessa (Koscina), and keeps delaying the escape
Newman is amusing as the silly officer who must pass himself off as a cultured general who is too modern and cool in his role
If you are looking for a nice comedy, the film is humorous and, as usual, Sylva Koscina is so lovely to look at
Newman plays a private promoted to a 2-star general in order to rescue five 1-star generals who have been captured in WWII Italy. There is a haphazard love story that is nonetheless fairly sweet, and several entertaining one-liners that make the movie very enjoyable.
Some stereotypes are a bit heavy-handed, but it's all in good fun and not really offensive to anyone, except maybe Nazis. Too bad for them...
Probably my favourite movie, although not the best I have ever seen. I'd recommend it to anyone.
The Allied High Command, however, have other ideas, and decide to infiltrate a two-star General into the camp. The idea is that because he outranks the others he will have the authority to order them to escape. The High Command cannot, however, risk a real two-star General, so a private named Harry Frigg is temporarily promoted to that rank. Frigg makes a most unlikely senior commander; he is a malcontent who has a problem with authority, and the most prominent feature of his military record is the number of times he has been court-martialled, generally for insubordination, and the length of time he has spent in military prisons. What makes him suitable for this assignment, however, is that he has a genius for escaping from those prisons. (Paul Newman had a friendly rivalry with Steve McQueen, and I wondered if Frigg was intended as a comic version of McQueen's "cooler king" character from "The Great Escape").
Frigg allows himself to be captured by the Italians, and is assigned to the same prison as the others, and enthusiastically sets about making escape plans. He discovers a secret passage which might be useful, but loses his enthusiasm for escaping when he discovers that the passage leads to the private quarters of the villa's owner, the beautiful Countess Francesca, with whom he falls in love. Things take a turn for the worse, however, when Italy changes sides after the overthrow of Mussolini and the officers are transferred to a much harsher German-run camp.
The idea of a comedy set against the backdrop of World War II, or any other war for that matter, might strike some people as inappropriate unless it were to be made as a satirical, anti-war comedy along the lines of "Catch-22". During the war itself, however, humour played an important part in Allied propaganda, generally used to mock the Nazis and their allies, and this was as true of the cinema as any other medium. ("To Be Or Not to Be" is a well-known humorous war film from this period). This tradition continued after the war, particularly in prison-camp dramas like "The Colditz Story" which often contained a strong vein of humour. "The Secret War of Harry Frigg" essentially draws upon this tradition of finding humour even in serious situations and of sending up the Nazis at the same time. (The German Commandant, von Steignitz, is a blustering bully, but it is impossible to take him seriously). Newman is an actor I normally associate more with serious drama, but he did try his hand at comedy occasionally, most famously and most successfully in "The Sting". I wouldn't rate "Harry Frigg" quite as highly as that masterpiece, but he makes an attractive hero and the film is a very watchable and amusing comedy. 7/10
Some goofs. Von Steignitz rips up a copy of the Geneva Convention in front of the captured officers. In fact, the Germans generally respected the Convention as far as the Western Allies were concerned- the Eastern Front was another matter- because it also protected German prisoners held by the British and Americans. An epilogue to the story, set "six months later", shows the villa in Allied hands; as the main story takes place in the summer and autumn of 1943, this must mean that the epilogue is set in the spring of 1944, when Northern Italy would still have been controlled by the Germans and their pro-Mussolini Italian allies.
Lo sapevi?
- QuizThis was known as "Meanwhile, Far From the Front" when first announced in 1967.
- BlooperThe Countess's clothing and hairstyles are more of the 1960s than the 1940s.
- Citazioni
Gen. Homer Prentiss: General, you can't pin stars on a Private.
Capt. Stanley: How do you know? It's never been done.
- ConnessioniReferenced in I Simpson: The Secret War of Lisa Simpson (1997)
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Dettagli
Botteghino
- Lordo Stati Uniti e Canada
- 7.700.000 USD
- Tempo di esecuzione
- 1h 50min(110 min)
- Colore
- Proporzioni
- 2.35 : 1