Watch The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel For Free

Awesome Movie

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

A good docudrama of Edwin Rommel's military career during WWII, from his role as the 'Desert Fox', to his responsibility for beefing up the Atlantic coastal defenses against the expected large invasion force from the UK, then detailing his thoughts about deposing Hitler by some means, after the successful Allied penetration into France. His probable peripheral involvement in the Stauffenberg bomb plot, and the subsequent fatal consequences are emphasized....... James Mason makes an excellent largely expressionless Rommel, while Luther makes an excellent ranting Hitler. Leo Carroll makes a perceptive Marshall Von Runstedt, while Edward Franz plays the briefcase bomber: Col. Stauffenberg. Desmond Young gives an introduction and occasional narration.......With the given title, seems like the screenplay should have placed some emphasis on the doings of the Afrika Corp before the 2nd battle of Al Alamein. Several highlights from this period are briefly incongruously acknowledged in the finale. Thus, the beginning mostly talks about the abandonment of the Afrika Corp by Hitler, and his demand that they sacrifice themselves to the last man, instead of being withdrawn to fight another day, or surrendering. Occasional stock footage of actual battlefield film are inserted here and later. The subsequent film of two years later: "Desert Rats", deals exclusively with the tank warfare in North Africa: the British units being dubbed "Desert Rats", to Rommel's "Desert Fox". That film is generally regarded as inferior to the present film. Time permitting, the film might have begun with a brief dramatization of Rommel's previous role in the conquest of France and the Low Countries, as a primer for his subsequent tactics in the desert......The discussion between Rommel and Von Runstedt highlights the inadequacies of the Atlantic defenses against a major invasion force, and the frustration in getting supplies and personnel to strengthen it. Rommel and Hitler were both undecided where the invasion would take place, sometimes imagining that there would be a preliminary invasion at Normandy, followed by a major invasion at Calais. Rommel seems to have generally supported Hitler, even in his most inadvisable directives, aside from his decision to desert the Afrika Corp to their own fate. Rommel was concerned that a successful removal of Hitler from power might unleash a civil war within Germany. However, there is some evidence that he knew of and supported the infamous assassination plot, and hence deserved his charge of treason, and death sentence. He might even have been the frontrunner as a replacement for Hitler. Hitler was smart in his handling of the situation, reporting that Rommel died of his wounds from a strafing by a British fighter, rather than from an enforced suicide. The assassination attempt is well dramatized. See it at YouTube.

The story of the final years of the respected World War II German general, Erwin Rommel (James Mason).I really didn't know much about Rommel going in to this film, and I don't know if I know all that much more coming out of it. Apparently he was British? And he answered to a silly Hitler that seemed liked a caricature of the real thing? I joke, but it is amusing how movies used to make no attempt whatsoever to get people's nationality correct.Beyond that, the film is actually fairly decent because it operates more or less as a one man show for James Mason. And Mason is a joy to watch (and an even bigger joy to listen to). Not a bad story, either, although I am not sure how openly people were calling Hitler "evil" and trying to overthrow him.

This is a pretty solid attempt to portray a soldier's great dilemma - balancing loyalty to the state and obedience to orders with the higher calling of loyalty to what's right and just. Erwin Rommel was one of the great German generals of World War II (a hero in Germany and respected by the Allies.) In the end, he also became involved with the conspiracy against Hitler. The movie shows us some of that development, beginning with his incredulousness at Hitler's orders that the Afrika Korps stand and fight to the last man in Africa rather than withdrawing to fight another day. According to the movie, it was this "stand and fight to the last man" attitude of Der Fuhrer that finally pushed Rommel over the edge. That makes Rommel consistent with what I know of most of the leaders of the "resistance" (such as it was) to Hitler. The opposition wasn't political; it wasn't based on a rejection of Nazi ideology or distaste for Hitler's racial policies - it tended to be based simply on the belief that Hitler was leading Germany to defeat in the war. That's the overarching sentiment portrayed here. That being the case, Rommel may not have been the sympathetic character this movie makes him out to be - maybe he just had the smarts to realize that Germany was fighting a losing war. There's also no mention of his performance during the German invasion of France in 1940, in which Rommel - as a panzer commander - received some German criticism for both his tactics and his tendency to exaggerate his achievements.James Mason was very good as Rommel. His portrayal was believable, although I wish there had been more exploration in the story of where Rommel came from rather than simply starting us abruptly in Africa. Made only 6 years after the end of the war, the movie is also somewhat courageous in presenting a German general (even one who was unsympathetic to Hitler) in such a sympathetic light. I didn't find this to be structured particularly well. There was too much narration involved, which seemed put an end to any flow the movie might have been trying to develop. Some scenes (particularly of the Allied landings on D-Day) featured a little too much patriotic American and British and French music as the troops went ashore (frankly, listening to the Marine Fight Song or The Marseillaise in a movie about Rommel seemed a bit silly.)It's an interesting movie, but doesn't seem to completely capture the man it portrays.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was a complicated man, both more and less than the romanticized figure that Desmond Young's biography and the movie based on it present us with. Like Oliver Cromwell, he should really be seen as he was, warts and all.Rommel (James Mason) was vain, for one thing. He'd won the Pour le Merit in World War I and made sure he wore it. He was sensitive. His letters to his wife, Lucie (Jessica Tandy), are filled with admiration for the flowers that abounded in Libya during the Spring. He had a slight but distinct sense of humor. The Italian General Ettore Bastico became Bombastico in Rommel's lexicon. And a more thorough investigation of the man suggests he wasn't very political after all. He may not have even had a clear idea of the plot.But the war in Northern Africa was a peculiar war from beginning to end. The chivalry shown by Rommel and Desmond Young at the beginning is thoroughly believable. The British managed at one point in the see-saw battle to capture an Italian aristocrat. When the Italian government offered money for the man's return, the offended POW refused to be released, claiming the offer wasn't high enough. I know. That has nothing to do with the movie but I thought it was pretty funny.The story itself, at least as rendered here, is probably familiar to those with any degree of historical maturity. Rommel is "the desert fox," constantly outwitting the Allies in North Africa, until the Afrika Korps is bled white by lack of supplies. Back in Germany Rommel is contacted by conspirators in the plot against Hitler, the "July plot," including an old friend played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, he of the magnificent voice. Rommel reluctantly joins the plot, although exactly what his role was is never made clear. There is a reference to his "leadership," but apparently all he wanted to do was make peace with the British, French, and Americans in order to fight the Russians more efficiently. In any case, his involvement is discovered. (After the attempt on his life, Hitler had 5,000 people executed, some by hanging them from meat hooks and filming them while they strangled to death in nooses made of piano wire.) Rommel is permitted to take poison in order to preserve his reputation and insure the safety of his family.James Mason does pretty well by the role. Too well. A few years later he was to reprise the role but, after the criticism this earlier film received for treating Rommel too sympathetically, Mason reverted to the stereotype, a sneering Nazi with an atrocious accent. As his wife, Jessica Tandy, Broadway's first Blanche Dubois, has a face that combines plainness with nobility. She's a fine actress but isn't on screen that much. As von Runstedt, Leo G. Carroll is more grim and sarcastic than usual. Luther Adler as Hitler is plain hilarious. There must be more subtle ways of suggesting megalomania. George MacReady, a nice guy from Providence, Rhode Island, is a Prussian-looking man whether he likes it or not.But it's pleasing to the eye to see so many actors strutting around in those great German uniforms -- the medals, the riding breeches, the leather boots. It must be wonderful to be a man like Rommel, who can enter a crowded office and crisply -- without even looking at him -- tell his aide to "clear this room." Who wouldn't love to be able to do that? I mean, to clear a room without using a gun.Fun, too, to see the occasional news footage of artillery firing and tanks blowing up. By the end of the African campaign, the Afrika Korps was so short of fuel that, if they had a dozen tanks, they were draining half of them to keep the other half moving. There is nothing about Kasserine Pass and the American debacle there -- not in 1951 there isn't.The director was Henry Hathway, "a man's director," who gave directions loudly and drank voluminously. The music follows Max Steiner's Mickey Mouse model. The action on screen is imitated by the score. Listen to it when the parachutists leap from their airplanes.This movie really ought to be seen, especially by those unfamiliar with World War II or without perspective on any war at all. It raises interesting philosophical dilemmas. Okay, you're a soldier and you follow orders. But suppose the order are given to you by someone who is insane or close to it? It might be called "The Captain Queeg Problem." Anyway, it humanizes the enemy instead of demonizing him, which might prompt some viewers to think twice about killing those who disagree with us.