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.

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 Italians while in the shower - which is a public relations disaster. This is compounded by the fact that the Generals are being held in an Italian Villa, and are unable to escape because, being all of the same rank, none is in command and they are forced to plan by committee, with predictably ineffective results.

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 allows himself to be captured, and is imprisoned in the same jail as the Brigadiers. While they are initially skeptical of his rank, 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 (Sylva Koscina) who owns the castle where they are imprisoned. The escape plans are reactivated when Italy surrenders and the Germans take the generals to a high-security prison camp. Frigg eventually frees them all, and ends the war as a Second Lieutenant in charge of a radio station, using the Countess's castle as its base.