Watch The Secret War of Harry Frigg For Free
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...
Release : | 1968 |
Rating : | 6.3 |
Studio : | Universal Pictures, |
Crew : | Camera Operator, Director, |
Cast : | Paul Newman Sylva Koscina Andrew Duggan Tom Bosley John Williams |
Genre : | Comedy War |
Watch Trailer
Cast List
Related Movies
Reviews
Very disappointing...
Sorry, this movie sucks
Don't listen to the negative reviews
what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.
If you want a good light-hearted laugh, this is it. Always looking for the angle, Harry Frigg is CON-MAN #1!!! Who else can be an imprisoned private and then demand to be made a general, and not just a one star either. Paul Newman's facial expressions really make the character come alive. I really liked two scenes in the movie. The first is when the real generals try to decide if he is legit or not and asks Andrew Duggan to join him in the chimney as he describes an incident involving "Ike" while at West Point. The second is when be BREAKS INTO the concentration camp at night, enters the barracks in a German uniform and utters his line with a thick German accent, "Cheese und crackers, something is r-r-rotten in here!!". The plots and sub-plots lead to a very funny film for any age to view.
This was a fun, light comedy with Paul Newman and a number of other familiar faces (Tom Bosley, James Gregory, Jacques Roux, etc).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.
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.
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!