Imitation General (1958) on Netflix

Plot summary

A big battle in World War II leaves Brigadier General Charles Lane, Master Sergeant Murphy Savage and Corporal Chan Derby stranded in territory held by the Germans. Lane installs himself in a farmhouse that belongs to Simone, a Frenchwoman who is annoyed at the arrangement, and he spots a gap in the American lines that he intends to plug with any stragglers he can collect. The general is then killed while saving Murph. When Corporal Terry Sellers arrives, he assumes Murph, who is carrying the general's helmet, is Lane. Murph decides to keep the pretense going, taking on the general's identity so that the disorganized soldiers will follow someone, with reluctant assistance from Derby and Simone, and he must avoid Private Orville Hutchmeyer, a soldier who knows him and bears him a grudge.