Summaries

Synopsis

During World War II the British army is attempting to retrieve an Enigma machine from Germany. Having failed in previous attempts, they decide to send four men undercover to the factory that makes the devices in Berlin. Unfortunately, the factory is populated entirely by women (as all German men have been sent to fight at the front), and they only have men to send. American Steeven O'Rourke (Matt LeBlanc), British transvestite Tony Parker (Eddie Izzard), genius decoder Johnno (David Birkin), and the reluctant Major Archie Hartley (James Cosmo) (fat and of jolly nature and the Dejure lead of the team) are sent to infiltrate the factory dressed as women.

Steeven O'Rourke had actually managed to steal an enigma machine from Germany and had brought it into a German tank right up to British occupied borders. But British rules clearly stipulated that all enemy hardware of non-military nature to be destroyed. The border commander adjudged the machine to be a typewriter and destroyed it with a machine gun. Steeven O'Rourke ended up biting him and was sent to military prison.

Col Aitken (Edward Fox) recruits Steven to be part of the team (since he was in prison, he cannot be given the lead role) and says since his antics, Germans have withdrawn the machine from all vulnerable border outposts. All ships and submarines are scuttled before they fall into enemy hands. Hence, they have to hit the factory where the machines are assembled. The team is all men, since no women are sent on combat missions yet.Tony is tasked with training the team to behave like women. Even after intense training and heavy makeups, the unit looks nothing like women. But Aitken gives the go-ahead to the mission.

Dropped in the wrong area (due to bad weather, they were 10 miles off course), the team must first try to find their bearings. When they reach the location on the map, they find that the factory is a decoy. They reach the town library, where the head librarian is supposed to be their contact. But he turns out to be a Nazi, who calls in the Gestapo. Romy works in the library and is an allied sympathizer. Hauptsturmfuhrer (Karl Markovics) is a Nazi officer and pursues Romy romantically. Romy allows the Brits to escape from the library.

Aided by Romy (Nicolette Krebitz), Steven gets invited to a party with Hauptsturmfuhrer, who knows the location of the factory. The General, Hauptsturmfuhrer's boss gets attracted to Steven (in his lady makeup and dress). The general takes Steven up to his room, where Steven assaults him, steals secret papers and sets his room on fire.

Meanwhile Tony and Johno venture to a club where Tony's ex-wife performs for German soldiers. Tony also hooks up with an old flame, a gay German by the name of Franz and brings him back to their hideout. Steven is furious at these events as they jeopardize the mission. He heads out alone to communicate with HQ and gather more intel.Johno decodes the documents brought by Steven, but can't figure out the location of the factory, only a code as fairyland. The gang puts their heads together to figure out that the factory has been disguised as a toy manufacturing plant, hence the code-word. Meanwhile Steven returns empty handed and is astonished at what the team accomplished without him.

During an air raid, Romy almost has sex with Steven, but then Hauptsturmfuhrer comes calling and takes Romy away (so she can "service" him). The next morning, Romy can't return on time and the team proceeds as per plan without her. Steven leaves Romy a note, against his own rules (nothing in written). The gang is delayed in leaving town due to an air raid. Meanwhile Hauptsturmfuhrer returns to Romy's place and finds the note left by Steven.

The team reaches the toy factory. Steven and Johnno enter the factory as ordinary German women. Tony goes to the front of the factory and entertains the troops with an impromptu stage performance, including patriotic German songs. Hauptsturmfuhrer's warning note reaches the factory just as Steven is able to take a fully assembled machine out. Johno is caught when he enters the men's bathroom and pees standing up. But Steven intervenes and saves him by killing the Nazi soldier. They all escape in Franz's car.

They manage to retrieve the Enigma machine, against the expectations of the British army. Just before they leave Germany, they realize they were tricked-the British government already had the device, but wanted to make the Germans think they were still after it. They were specifically chosen as the team most likely to fail.Leaving Germany with an Enigma machine would, in fact, destroy the usefulness of the machine, as the Germans would know it was stolen and switch to a different code system. Archie volunteers to be captured with the machine to allow the mission to "fail".After he is captured, the team retrieves him (& Romy) and returns safely to England in a stolen German plane, leaving the Germans with the impression they have all the Enigma machines, and the British are still desperate to obtain one.