The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)

Director:

Henry Hathaway

Writers:

Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)
Desmond Young (biography)

Release Date:

17 October 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Biography | Drama | History | War

Plot:

The life and career of the respected World War II German general.

Plot Keywords:

Rommel | General | Hitler | Nazi Soldier | WWII

Cast

James Mason	...	Field Marshal Erwin Johannes Rommel
Cedric Hardwicke	...	Dr. Karl Strolin
Jessica Tandy	...	Frau Lucie Marie Rommel
Luther Adler	...	Adolf Hitler
Everett Sloane	...	Gen. Wilhelm Burgdorf
Leo G. Carroll	...	Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt
George Macready	...	Gen. Fritz Bayerlein
Richard Boone	...	Capt. Hermann Aldinger
Eduard Franz	...	Col. Klaus von Stauffenberg
Desmond Young	...	Himself, Lt. Colonel Desmond Young

Also Known As:

Rommel, Desert Fox (UK)
The Desert Fox (USA) (short title)

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #13272) | New Zealand:G | Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | West Germany:12

Filming Locations:

Imperial County, California, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Several film reference books credit Dan O'Herlihy with playing the officer who leads the raid in the opening pre-credits sequence, but he does not appear in the film. The mistake is understandable since the actor playing the officer does bear a resemblance to O'Herlihy.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): During the scene when Rommel has returned to Africa by plane after having nasal diphtheria and is being briefed by his staff. General Fritz Bayerlein (George Macready) is asked has there been any new supplies, tanks, guns? Rommel then asks "and no petrol at all?" Bayerlein answers "Not a pint!" His reply should have been "not a litre!" - Germany was, and still is, on the metric system.

Quotes:

Gen. Fritz Bayerlein: Nothing yet, though?
Field Marshal Erwin Johannes Rommel: No, but he
[Hitler]
Field Marshal Erwin Johannes Rommel: knows the situation. I sent him the whole story last night. If there's anything he can do, he will.
Gen. Fritz Bayerlein: No matter what you say, to Berlin we're only a sideshow - and you know it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kahlekuningas (2002)

Catching Up with the Fox --- 56 Years Later!

The promotional materials for this movie in 1951 as well as now might give the impression the movie glorifies the enemy commander in World War II and goes against the brave Americans who served in Europe a few years earlier. This was why some theaters in 1951 (including my own neighborhood theater, the SILVER) refused to show it. Take a harder look and you'll find the story concentrates on General Rommell and other Germans who conspired to eradicate Adolf Hitler, failed, and paid with their lives. It also takes a hard look at Hitler's awful judgment in military decisions nearing the end of the war.

DESERT FOX was made by Hollywood's top talent. Written by Nunnally Johnson (the finest screenplay writer of the era) and directed by the always excellent Henry Hathaway, 20th Century-Fox not only gave this their finest, but followed it a year later with the Robert Wise directed DESERT RATS which told of the incredibly effective English and Australian units that held Rommell in check and prevented him from capturing either Cairo or the Suez Canal.

This was a patriotic Hollywood staffed with real men of character, many of whom were World War II heroes in private life. It stands in sharp contrast to the girlie-men linguine-spine cowards in Hollywood today. Now we have PEARL HARBOR --- which "justified" the Japanese attack --- and Steven Spielberg's god-awful SAVING PRIVATE RYAN --- which took the heroic true story of the Sullivan Brothers and turned their great deeds into spineless liberal mush.

Similarly, the SILVER, which declined to show an alleged anti-American film in 1951 is now under American Film Institute ownership and can be relied on to play every anti-American movie that comes on the market, while regularly downplaying or ignoring pro-American classics.

Both DESERT FOX and DESERT RATS are recent DVD releases. Good movies, deserving your attention.