Montegreco, a small town on the Greek-Albanian border, is captured 31 different times in 1943 by Italian troops led by Colonel Di Maggio and by British troops under Colonel Henderson. Iride, the tavern hostess, and the other townspeople are indifferent to the hostilities and fraternize with both sides. Upon returning to the tavern to retrieve his pipe during an Italian occupation, Colonel Henderson is captured, but Colonel Di Maggio exchanges him for two prisoners and two cases of whiskey. Ordered to attack the village, the British capture Di Maggio, but Henderson effects his escape. As the German Army attacks the Greek border, Major Kruger orders the destruction of Montegreco; Di Maggio promptly arrests the German, but Di Maggio is sentenced to be executed by the SS for his illegal action. Henderson rescues him, and by September 8, the two men are fighting a common enemy.

Director:
Steno	Director
Cast:
Totò	as Colonel Di Maggio
Walter Pidgeon	as Col. Timothy Henderson
Scilla Gabel	as Iride
Adriana Facchetti	as Penelope
Nino Taranto	as Sergeant Quaglia
Francis Lane	as Sergeant McIntyre
Toni Ucci	as Mazzetta
Roland Bartrop	as Major Kruger
Gerard Herter	as German general
Cinematography:
Tino Santoni	Director of Photography
Writer:
Ruggero Grimaldi	Screenwriter
Sergio Corbucci	Screenwriter
Producer:
Gianni Buffardi	Producer

Opened in Rome in January 1963 as I due colonnelli; running time: 103 min. Steno is a pseudonym for Stefano Vanzina.