BY LEE PFEIFFER
Kino Lorber has releaseda Blu-ray edition of "The
Secret War of Harry Frigg", a long overlooked and largely forgotten 1968
WWII comedy starring Paul Newman. The film''s release was sandwiched in
Newman's career during a particularly productive time following the
releases of "Cool Hand Luke" (which gained him an Oscar nomination), the
critically acclaimed western "Hombre", his directorial debut with
"Rachel, Rachel" (4 Oscar nominations) and his mega-hit "Butch Cassidy
and the Sundance Kid". "Frigg" is a completely lightweight affair done
on the cheap with California locations substituting for Italy. The film
casts Newman in his trademark role as an anti-Establishment wiseguy.
When we first see him, he's a lowly private serving in Italy at the
height of the Allied invasion. Frigg is a malcontent whose rebellious
nature results in him spending most of his time in the brig. He's gained
a reputation as an escape artist but never succeeds in staying free for
very long. Frigg is summoned to meet General Homer Prentiss (James
Gregory), who offers him an audacious deal. Seems that five Allied
generals were captured by Italian troops in a Turkish bath. The Allies
can't afford them to be interrogated for long and Prentiss wants Frigg
to parachute behind enemy lines posing as a general in the hopes that
he, too, will be captured. The scheme is to have Frigg imprisoned with
the other generals and then develop an escape plan for all of them.
Frigg agrees after working out some perks he will get from carrying out
the high-risk plot. Upon landing in Italy, he is summarily captured as
planned. He is taken to a lavish country villa where the other generals
are being held. Frigg is pleasantly surprised to find that the Italian
officer who serves as a warden, Col. Ferrucci (Vito Scotti), is a
likeable, charming man who treats his prisoners as honored guests and
lavishes them with amenities. Still, the real generals impose upon
Frigg, who they think is their superior officer, to orchestrate an
escape plan. However, Frigg becomes accustomed to Ferrucci's constant
supply of gourmet food, fine wine and expensive cigars. He is even more
enamored when he meets the owner of the villa, a beautiful countess
named Francesca (Sylva Koscina). Frigg discovers a secret passageway
that leads outside the compound but which also conveniently goes into
Francesca's bedroom. Before long, he's also enjoying plenty of sexual
perks. By the time Frigg is motivated to actually plan an escape, it's
too late. A German officer (Werner Peters) arrives at the villa to
announce that Italy has just surrendered and that German troops will now
occupy positions formally held by Italian troops. He summarily takes
charge of the prisoners and also arrests the hapless Ferrucci, who
ironically had just been promoted to the rank of general. The group is
taken from luxurious surroundings to a harsh prison camp where they are
monitored constantly and deterred from escape by an electrified fence
and a mine field. Nevertheless, Frigg is unfazed and sets about planning
his most ambitious escape.
"The Secret War of Harry Frigg" was directed by Jack Smight, a competent
if workman-like director whose best film was the 1966 crime flick
"Harper" which starred Paul Newman in one of his signature roles. Alas,
their reunion doesn't present the same kind of payoff the first movie
did. Aside from a weak screenplay, much of the blame for the film's
failure to work lies with Newman himself. Instead of playing Frigg as a
sophisticated con man, Newman portrays him as a blue collar simpleton
from New Jersey whose only talents are conning the military brass and
seducing women. The role of a virtual idiot does not suit Newman well.
He was able to play a rough-around-the-edges protagonist as boxer Rocky
Graziano in the 1956 film "Somebody Up There Likes Me" because the
character wasn't cartoonish. By 1968, however, Newman was an iconic
screen presence and it was simply impossible to accept him as a lovable
moron. The first half of the movie is pretty tepid but the second
chapter improves significantly when Frigg and his companions are
imprisoned by the Germans. With Newman giving a rare dud performance,
the supporting cast carries the show and fortunately it includes some
first rate second bananas: Charles Gray, John Williams, Tom Bosley and
Andrew Duggan among them. The scene stealers are Vito Scotti and Werner
Peters, both of whom deliver deft comedic performances. Sylva Koscina,
one of the most charming Italian imports to Hollywood during this
period, is largely used as window dressing and her character's reunion
with Frigg at the film's finale seems as forced as it is absurd. "Frigg"
is not without its modest pleasures but it never reaches the genuine
laughter level found in the average episode of the similarly-themed
"Hogan's Heroes".
The Kino Lorber Blu-ray is a vast improvement over Universal's previous bare bones DVD release. It includes a fun commentary track by film historians by Nat Segaloff and Daniel Kremer as well as the original trailer.
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