IMDb > The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.1/10   1,482 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
No change in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Henry Hathaway
Writers:
Nunnally Johnson (screenplay)
Desmond Young (biography)
Contact:
View company contact information for The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
17 October 1951 (USA) more
Plot:
The life and career of the respected World War II German general. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
User Comments:
The Rommel Story more (39 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Create a character page for: ?

Additional Details

Also Known As:
Rommel, Desert Fox (UK)
The Desert Fox (USA) (short title)
more
Runtime:
88 min
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This film was supposed to feature George Zucco, but the actor had a stroke on the set and was committed to a sanitarium in San Gabriel, California until his death in 1960. more
Goofs:
Continuity: Narrator says Rommel was wounded June 17, 1944 the same day he met with Hitler. He later says he was wounded three days before the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt. He was wounded July 17th not as the narrator says June 17th. After the D-Day invasion, Rommel requests and gets a personal interview with Hitler for "June 17". Returning from meeting on "June 17", his car is strafed and overturns, severely injuring him (Rommel). Yet "three days later" it is "July 20". more
Quotes:
Field Marshal Keitel: Have you any better suggestions?
Field Marshal Gerd von Runstedt: Yes, one very much better. Make peace, you idiot!
more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Kahlekuningas (2002) more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful.
The Rommel Story, 28 August 2006
6/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Though The Desert Fox is good as far as it goes and James Mason is perfectly cast as Erwin Rommel, one would hope that a fuller biographical study might be done on the screen.

Erwin Rommel was one of a group of like minded military leaders in various countries who after World War I, rose to the top of their country's military establishment because they saw the value of the tank in any future war. Some of those people would be Charles DeGaulle in France, Dwight Eisenhower and George Patton in America, Marshal Tukachevksy in the Soviet Union and Rommel in Germany.

In 1942 Hitler as he was constantly doing sent Rommel in to bail out the Italians who up to that point had been running the desert campaign in North Africa. With less men and supplies, his tactical ability bedeviled the Allied command until The Second Battle of El Alamein.

The film starts with Rommel as desert warfare genius and then when he does become ill and is invalided out of North Africa, the Allies regain the initiative and beat his famed Afrika Korps. Rommel is then sent to Western Europe to supervise the defenses on the Atlantic.

There comes a point when Rommel does realize that his Fuehrer is destroying his country and becomes involved in the plot to kill him and overthrow the government. That is what most of the film deals with.

James Mason is a stalwart Rommel a perfect conception of the man they called The Desert Fox. In this mostly male film, Jessica Tandy has little to do but be loyal and supportive as Frau Rommel.

Luther Adler who among other parts he played in his long distinguished career was David Ben-Gurion. He goes the whole opposite way in his portrayal of a ranting and malevolent Adolph Hitler. How a man who took his Jewish heritage as seriously as Luther Adler did, prepare for the role of Hitler is beyond my scope. But then again, there were few actors as good as he.

Though Mason does a fine job given what limited material he had to work from, archives have been opened and we know a whole lot more about Erwin Rommel. Time for another biographical study.

Was the above comment useful to you?
more (39 total)

Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
Historical accuracy? mastafish
Captain Hermann Aldinger dcbarlow2000
General Maisel lbshearn
Factual Mistake: alexxhebert
Jackie Mason ? Jackie Mason ??????????????????? ??? abletonyallen
Michael Rennie n.debrabant
more

Recommendations

If you enjoyed this title, our database also recommends:
- - - - -
Valkyrie The Desert Rats The Great Escape Bitter Victory Patton
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
IMDb User Rating:
Show more recommendations

Related Links

Full cast and crew Company credits External reviews
IMDb Action section IMDb USA section Add this title to MyMovies

You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process.