Benito Mussolini Mussolini was rescued from captivity in the Gran Sasso raid by German paratroopers and "Waffen-SS" commandos led by Major Otto-Harald Mors. Adolf Hitler, after meeting with the rescued former dictator, then put Mussolini in charge of a puppet regime in northern Italy, the Italian Social Republic (, RSI), informally known as the "Salò Republic". In late April 1945, in the wake of near total defeat, Mussolini and his mistress Clara Petacci attempted to flee to Switzerland, but both were captured by Italian communist partisans and summarily executed by firing squad on 28 April 1945 near Lake Como. His body was
The Man Who Lived at the Ritz the author's style, a "savor vivre" learned in Paris, perhaps, which makes these various modes cohere." "People" noted that "the ending ... is melodramatic, but the yarn is as easy to read as it will be to sit through the inevitable movie version". "The Man Who Lived at the Ritz" was adapted into a four-hour 1988 television miniseries starring Perry King as Philip. Directed by Desmond Davis with a teleplay by Gordon Cotler, it costarred Joss Ackland as Hermann Göring and Leslie Caron as Coco Chanel. Other cast members included Cherie Lunghi as Lili Gloebocka, David McCallum as Charlie Ritz,