The Secret War of Harry Frigg

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The Secret War of Harry Frigg is a 1968 comedy film, directed by Jack Smight and starring Paul Newman.

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Harry Frigg (played by Paul Newman) is a private in the U.S. Army, who is forever escaping from military prisons.

Several brigadier generals from the Allied forces (U.S., British, French, etc), are unexpectedly taken prisoner by the Germans while in the shower - which is a public relations disaster.

Headquarters devises a plot to free these generals by sending in jail escape expert Harry Frigg, who is promised a cushy job after the war. Frigg agrees, and is promoted from private to major-general, so that he can pull rank on the mere brigadiers. Frigg feigns capture, and is imprisoned in the same jail as the brigadiers, who are sceptical of his rank, because he is unknown to them. "Must be a field promotion from captain". However, he has been given a few personal secrets about the brigadiers, which proves his authenticity.

Frigg's plan to free all the generals is put on hold when he becomes romantically involved with the countess who owns the castle where they are imprisoned. The escape plans are reactivated when Italy surrenders and the Germans take over the gaol. Frigg eventually frees them all, and ends the war as a technical sergeant in change of a radio station, using the countess's castle as its base.