The Secret War of Harry Frigg Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

The Secret War of Harry Frigg Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 16, 2021

Jack Smight's "The Secret War of Harry Frigg" (1968) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber. The supplemental features on the disc include new audio commentary by critics Daniel Kramer and Nat Segaloff, as well as vintage trailer for the film. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Me? Major general? You sure you have the right guy?

The story of The Secret War of Harry Frigg is every bit as unbelievable as the ones from The Great Escape and Stalag 17. However, because The Secret War of Harry Frigg does not insist to be taken seriously, its fantasies are actually rather enjoyable.

Tunisia, 1943. Five Allied generals -- Pennypacker (Tom Bosley), Armstrong (Andrew Duggan), Mayhew (John Williams), Rochambeau (Jacques Roux), and Cox-Roberts (Charles Gray) -- are arrested in a public bath and then promptly transported to a secluded mansion somewhere in Northern Italy. When the news reaches London, General Prentiss (James Gregory) endorses a brilliant strategy to rescue them. The strategy would rely on Harry Frigg (Paul Newman), a rebellious private who has spent a lot of time in prison camps across the old continent and mastered the art of the escape, and the enemy’s willingness to accept him as a major general after he is ‘accidentally’ detained as well. If the trick works, Frigg will use his magic and figure out a plan to escape with the real generals. If the trick fails, he will get shot and General Prentiss and his assistants will go back to the drawing board to put together another brilliant strategy.

The stunned Frigg agrees to do the job, but after he is detained by the enemy and transported to the same mansion in North Italy, he suddenly discovers that his new rank comes with plenty of new perks, such as the ability to easily convince the real generals to agree with his ‘unorthodox’ opinions, which is why he chooses to keep them in the dark for as long as possible. Frigg even impresses the owner of the mansion, the beautiful widow Countess Francesca Di Montefiore (Sylva Koscina), who finds his exotic dining preferences and manners quite refreshing. Understandingly, Frigg’s desire to finish the job he was sent to do quickly dwindles and he decides to put it on hold. After weeks of fine food and wine, Frigg finally reveals his mission to the generals and they pick the perfect time to escape, but their plan is repeatedly foiled, first by the slightly loopy colonnello Ferrucci (Vito Scotti) and then by the highly opinionated and far less friendly major Steignitz (Werner Peters).

The Secret War of Harry Frigg is a very silly film, but because director Jack Smight allows its action, comedy, and romance to flourish without any trivial messages about heroism it becomes rather charming as well. The five generals for instance routinely look like old buddies from a private London club who have had a bit too much to drink, so their bickering is actually quite hilarious. The ways in which the beautiful Italian widow plays with Frigg and then makes him fall in love with her produce a few genuine surprises as well. And even though the self-professed Bach-lover Stegnitz emerges rather late, he quickly establishes himself as a refreshingly repulsive villain. (Ferrucci fails the test. He is just a clown who rehashes a few tired cliches about Italians and their role in WW2).

The entire cast is naturally loose and this is another reason why the film entertains as intended. Yes, the line that separates the good and bad characters is impossible to miss, but the fact that the war isn’t treated as the grand event that it is in other similarly-themed ‘serious’ films makes a huge difference. Indeed, the rivalries and conflicts remain very personal and this allows the cast to act and react without worrying about misrepresenting or abusing classic perceptions that period war films are expected to reinforce.

Smight teamed up with cinematographer Russell Metty, but his contribution to this film isn’t even remotely suggestive of his brilliant work in There's Always Tomorrow, Spartacus, and Touch of Evil. There are only a couple of rather nice looking but short sequences where Frigg and the Countess are seen together.

The Secret War of Harry Frigg Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, The Secret War of Harry Frigg arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Lorber.

The film has a dated appearance, but the good news is that it is free of problematic digital work. My guess is that the Blu-ray release was sourced from some sort of a remaster that was quickly struck around the time the folks at Universal Pictures launched the Vault Series. (This DVD release of The Secret War of Harry Frigg was produced in 2011, so I would not be surprised if it was confirmed that the current remaster was prepared around the same time). So, you should expect to see less than optimal delineation, clarity, and depth, especially during larger panoramic shots where the original cinematography produces different ranges of nuances. This does not mean that the visuals would look poor on your system, but they will have a dated appearance because of the many inherited source limitations. Grain exposure isn't as good as it should be, so this is another reason why a lot of the visuals would look 'thicker' on your system. Furthermore, there are different areas that reveal minor to moderate weaving -- usually around the center but sometimes around the edges of the frame as well -- though I personally did not find them overly distracting. The color scheme is stable, but there is certainly room for improvements in terms of saturation and balance. A few blemishes and small dark spots can be seen here and there, but there are no large cuts, debris, damage marks, or torn frames to report. So, what you are getting from this release is a dated but mostly decent presentation of the film that fits somewhere between the 3.00/5.00 and 3.25/5.00 marks. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

The Secret War of Harry Frigg Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

The lossless track is very nice. I was actually a bit surprised to hear how clean and nicely rounded it was because I assumed that in some areas the density fluctuations would have an effect on it. Perhaps there is a bit of room for optimizations in terms of dynamic balance, but overall I think that the lossless track is very solid.

The Secret War of Harry Frigg Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer - a vintage trailer for The Secret War of Harry Frigg. In English, not subtitled. (2 min, 480/60i).

• Commentary - new audio commentary by film historian and filmmaker Daniel Kramer and film historian and biographer Nat Segaloff.

The Secret War of Harry Frigg Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

If WW2 was fought by characters like the ones you will encounter in The Secret War of Harry Frigg most likely it would have never ended, or perhaps the wrong side would have won. Of course, this is the exact reason why Paul Newman's character puts his mission on hold for as long as possible -- 'fighting' the enemy in the Italian mansion is a lot better than what most tourist agencies could have offered their clients at the time. But at least this film does not demand to be taken seriously, which is why it manages to be charming and entertaining. I enjoyed it. Kino Lorber's release is sourced from a rather rough but mostly decent remaster that was supplied by Universal. If you want to have it in your library, wait for a sale. RECOMMENDED