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 | WWII In Africa | Nazi Uniform | Italian Army | Nazi Soldier

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:

Luther Adler, who gives a very convincing portrayal of Hitler in the film, was Jewish.

Goofs:

Miscellaneous: In the opening raid scene, one of the German soldiers is seen briefly carrying an American Thompson submachine gun.

Quotes:

Field Marshal Erwin Johannes Rommel: [Hitler just sent an order not to retreat from El Alamein] It's an order, Bayerlein, a military order from General Headquarters. A clear, straight, stupid, *criminal* military order, from General Headquarters.
Gen. Fritz Bayerlein: [upset] And what are you going to do? *Double* the *insanity* by *obeying* it? We've got the best soldiers in the German Army here. They may be just hanging on now, but they're still a force, they're still *fighting*! If we take them out now, they can fight again tomorrow. But this! This is sheer madness! It's out of the Middle Ages. Nobody had said "Victory or Death" since people fought with bows and arrows. Why, this is an order to *throw away an entire army*!
[...]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Kahlekuningas (2002)

A great, well-acted film, ruined somewhat by endless stock footage

As a character drama, "The Desert Fox" is a superb film; well-written, intelligent dialogue, likeable and well-developed characters, and no ridiculous, hammy "foreign accents" by the film's mostly British and American actors (except for maybe Luther Adler as Hitler); I would've given this flick a nine, or maybe even a ten, if it hadn't been for the stock footage.

I know this wasn't meant to be a battle-heavy picture, but the continual use of stock footage to supplement for action (esp. the three and a half minute long stretch of D-Day footage) is grating. I had to take off at least a star for that.

Otherwise, this is a great film; well-acted, well-written, and realistic. Mason is good (if not terribly exciting) as Field Marshall Erwin Rommel, my second-favorite military hero in history (after Winfield Scott Hancock, from whom I got my screen name), and the supporting cast is superb as well, standouts being Leo G. Carrol as the somewhat cynical and humanistic yet rigidly loyal Field Marshall Von Rundstedt, and Luther Adler, who (in what is essentially a cameo) portrays Adolf Hitler perfectly - a man who is evil (by most everyone's standards) and flamboyant, with his exaggerated hand movements, eccentric military tactics, and his sudden fits of temper (his dialogue scene with Rommel before he decides to join the plot against Hitler for good) - but also a human side - he listens to his subordinates (though doesn't always agree with them), and he even gets to crack a joke about Herman Goering ("When you are fat you do not move so fast") - both Hitler and Goering had appealing senses of humor, though Goering was obviously the more public joker. You can sense, even in Adler's minimal screen time, how Hitler got to be so powerful.

I give this film eight stars for reasons stated above.