Que Delícia de Guerra

In 1943 five senior Allied officers, two American, two British and one French, are taken prisoner by the Italians in North Africa. Because of their exalted rank, the five are kept in a luxurious prison camp, a converted villa in Northern Italy belonging to an aristocratic family. Because all five hold the same rank, one-star General (or its British equivalent, Brigadier), none is in command. They periodically discuss escape plans, but are never able to agree among themselves, and because of their agreeable surroundings have no real desire to escape.

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.

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.

The film starts in England March 1943 , when non-conformist Private Harry Frigg (Paul Newman) escapes from the guard house but he is detained again , previously he had escaped from prison dozens of times. Tunisia , April 1943 , allied generals are captured , it is a propaganda nightmare for the Allies. The generals are all one star and refuse to take orders from each other in order to scheme a getaway. Northern Italy , May 1943 , the group of American and European generals in prison at a luxurious Italian mansion . London August, 1943 , Major General (James Gregory) assigns Harry Frigg a dangerous mission as part a scheme . He is promoted to two stars Major General and ordered to get the generals out once he is trapped. Harry is parachuted to Northern Italy and imprisoned at the lush palace where are the generals . Harry is willing to escape, but then he meets a gorgeous countess (Sylva Koscina) and falls in love with her . At the beginning the generals suspect Harry Frigg of being a spy in their midst .

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.

I was pleasantly surprised by this film and its similarities with television wartime sitcoms like "Hogan's Heroes" and "Mash". Paul Newman is funny and clever while playing a role that casts him as a underachieving army soldier who ends up being the only hope for several generals who were captured and held prisoners. The supporting cast does an admirable job as well. The film is rated "R" , for what reason I haven't a clue. The movie is tame by todays rating system and contains nothing harsh or unsuitable for younger family members. It is fun and entertaining as long as it is taken lightly.

Paul Newman as Harry Frigg is a goldbricking screw-up of a soldier who has one undeniable talent. Busting out of stockade. Seems as though the man cannot stand confinement.

That talent is put to good use by General James Gregory to affect the escape of five Allied Brigadier Generals who were captured in a Turkish bath in Tunis. Two British, two American, and one Free French general. The biggest Italian victory since the seizure of Albania.

Since these five guys seem willing to sit out the war in an Italian prison camp and being of equal rank can't get together on a plan of action, the idea Gregory has is to send in an escape specialist, the best the United States Army has, with the rank of a two star general and get an escape organized. Of course it's Paul Newman.

Of course when Newman is dropped into Italy and put in that prison camp for generals only, he finds it quite unlike any stockade he's ever been in. Prison as run by Colonel Vito Scotti a former hotel manager in Genoa. All the luxury of a Club Med vacation and for Newman, the attraction of Countess Sylva Koscina whose palace is being used for this prison camp for generals.

During the course of the film, the Allies have taken Sicily, and land in Salerno and Italy switches sides. The Nazis come and prove to be a gang of real party poopers.

The Secret War of Harry Frigg is a mildly amusing comedy. Paul Newman does the best he can with it, though he's not really cast well in this part. The premise is unusual however and my favorite performance is here is that of Vito Scotti. Man really knew how to be a good jailer.

Curiously enough some of the same premise involving Italy's deposing Mussolini and switching sides was the basis for another film about allied prisoners, Von Ryan's Escape. Of course that one involved far more prisoners and had a lot less laughs.

Paul Newman never really had a big comedy triumph until he made Slapshot. But this one while not great, is droll and amusing in its own way.