Others say...

"An outdated look at the Field Marshall's descent"
For those unaware (just in case), Field Marshall Erwin Rommel was one of the most successful General Officers in the German Army during World War II, and a favorite of Hitler. He was a very successful junior officer during World War I while fighting in France and was again instrumental in France's fall during the Second World War. Though he was a German celebrity due to his North Africa accomplishments, he fell from Hitler's favor as the Field Marshall's North Afrika Korp suffered reverses. Eventually Rommel's obedience to Hitler's command, unknown to Hitler, became questionable.

The film focuses exclusively on Rommel's gradual dissent. The dialog has a few bits of wit thrown in and examines the conundrum of the General officer in regards to duty versus moral responsibility. Should he strictly follow orders that violate his better judgement as a Commander and also a Citizen. In particular the film displays conversations between Rommel and his wife, fellow officers, and close friend, the Doctor. The film begins with a Commando raid action sequence that is laughable in terms of tactical validity and really sets a bad tone for the film. Commandos dart from room to room spraying rounds from their automatic weapons at German Soldiers who run indiscriminately towards the firefight. Other times, a Commando fires a burst, turns his back to the enemy, and runs away with no regard to his pursuers, until shot in the back. Fortunately, the film does not repeat similar action scenes, but occasionally throws in a highlight of actual War footage to tie the chronological story together. However, these scenes are fairly tedious since there is no powerful soundtrack or video content involved. I was happy when the film returned to dialog, which represents the lion's share of the movie. Most scenes, which would appear natural on a Broadway stage, show Rommel and the other characters expressing their displeasure with Hitler's meddling in the arena of strategic and tactical battlefield command.

In no way is the film suspenseful or dramatic. Dialog is generally "canned." With Victorianesque accent, Rommel speaks to his wife, "Darling, I love you." His wife replies, "Yes Darling, but not now." "Darling, I must speak to Hitler" and on an on in this uncomely, non-Germanic tone. Historically, the movie is shallow. From a biographical standpoint, the movie is extremely brief. Action is ridiculous and virtually nonexistent. In a few brief moments, the viewer is invited to ponder Rommel's position, such as the final conversation with the Doctor. These moments, accompanied by views of Rommel's black, leather trench coat, tend to salvage the movie.

I believe there is a distinctly, small number of War fans that will enjoy this movie. Those that have a nostalgia for the old black and white picture, paralleled by good and bad characters, and sequenced with a tightly woven, transparent story will enjoy "The Desert Fox." I would recommend reading one or two of the prominent books on Rommel. This movie is in no way essential to understanding or enjoying the knowledge of one the modern era's greatest Commanders.


"The legend from the desert fox cames alive again"
Excellent perfomance from a part from the past World War II, Rommel was allways an interesting man

"The Fox, After The Desert..."
1951's "The Desert Fox" stars James Mason in what became a signature role as Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, justly famed and charismatic Commander of the German Afrika Corps during World War II. Oddly, the movie isn't about Rommel's exploits in North Africa. Instead, the dramatic thread is Rommel's growing disenchantment with Adolf Hitler as the tide of the war begins to turn against Germany in 1942.

The movie opens with an unsuccessful British commando raid on Rommel's headquarters in North Africa. An ailing Rommel then makes his appearence, returning from Europe to rally his troops as the Battle of Al Alamyn begins. Rommel's tactical wizardry is not enough to defeat an overwhelming British force; when Rommel requests permission to save his army by withdrawing, Hitler directs him to fight to the death. Thus begins the erosion of Rommel's confidence in Hitler.

By 1943, Rommel has been assigned to bolster German defenses in France against a threatened Allied invasion. He has also been quietly approached by a conspiracy that intends to remove Hitler and sue for peace. Rommel, a duty-bound soldier, is horrified by the thought of treason. However, he fails to wrest useful military guidance from a raving Hitler as the Allied invasion of France gets underway in June 1944. The reluctant Rommel then makes a fateful commitment to the conspiracy.

Rommel is seriously injured in Normandy and is in hospital when a bomb wrecks Hitler's headquarters but fails to kill Hitler. Hitler's revenge is swift and brutal. In the dramatic climax of the movie, Rommel's involvement in the plot becomes known and he is confronted with a terrible choice.

In 1951, the details of Rommel's fate were not widely known. The movie very nicely mixes live action and documentary footage to tell the real story with minimal dramatization. Mason is superb as Rommel; a young Jessica Tandy plays his supportive wife. Leo Carroll has a nice turn as aging Field Marshal Von Rundstadt, Rommel's nominal boss in Normandy, who is fired for defying Hitler. Luther Adler is frightening as the slowly deteriorating Hitler.

This movie is highly recommended to fans of the World War II genre. Those interested in a longer look at the Desert War should seek out 1953's "The Desert Rats" in which Mason reprises his role as Rommel for the siege of Tobruk.

"The Fox Roams Africa & Europe."
"The Desert Fox" (1951) is a very special movie. It was the first American or British film, up to my knowledge, that focuses on a German military with a benevolent point of view.

The story centers on Marshall Rommel's two last years of life.

The broad background for the film is as follows:
It starts when WWII was nearing the turning point and German armies were starting to get stalled.
Next step the German Generals start to receive, whatsoever the circumstance, Hitler's invariable order: stand and die.
Next step a significant number of Generals will rejoin a pre-war conspirator's nucleus in order to get Hitler deposed or physically eliminated.
Next step the Generals try to kill Hitler and fail.
Next step Hitler retaliates imprisoning and killing over a thousand suspects.

Rommel is sick and hospitalized when first approached by Dr. Strolin insinuating him to join an anti-Hitler movement. Rommel refuses strongly to do such.
After his final African defeat, he is put in command of the Atlantic Wall defenses with Allied disembarkment in the immediate future.
Following D-Day Rommel obtains an audience with Hitler and exit it convinced that the Fuehrer is out of his mind, deciding to join the assassination plan.
Rommel is wounded by an Allied plane three days before the failure of the killing attempt. In the aftermath he is denounced as a conspirator and obliged to commit suicide.

James Mason impersonates Rommel with conviction and flair. In the other hand Luther Adler's Hitler is almost cartoonish; at least it seems so after seeing Bruno Ganz characterization.
B & W cinematography in charge of Norbert Brodine is very good.

A good biopic movie specially recommended for viewers interested in the period and for general public too.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.



"ROMMEL"
One word ........ OUTSTANDING!!!!! Anyone that considers themself to be a WWII buff MUST have this DVD. It's not a shoot em' up war movie ,It's about the man and his convictions . It's about one the greatest miltary minds in history.If you don't have this in your collection BUY IT NOW!!!

 

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  The Desert Fox

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What our customer's say!

"Excellent quality", Having just returned from El Alamein in northern Egypt where much of this action took place I wanted to recall this very important event and further my interest in Rommel.

A true story, but not one we American's are as familiar as the Brits, since we didn't really have a roll in actualy fighting. Good British, German and Italian history mixed in with action everyone can enjoy.

Having rented "The Desert Fox" years ago, I was not at all disappointed in my re-done purchase.

GH Cincinnati, OH

"Rommel's home", I am writing from memory here -- of the film from three months ago, and a walk from Herrlingen to the Rommel home twenty years ago.

Although the IMDB listing says the filming took place in California, the exteriors of the home match my memory of the actual house. The driveway entry's gateposts, the curve of the driveway, the the shape and stone appearance of the front of the house, even the front doorstep.

I'll have to watch again to see if Mason was actually present in those exterior shots, or did he stay in California?

The house was briefly used as a U.S. military HQ, and then became an orphanage, I remember reading, after the war.

When I walked up the hill from Herrlingen toward the Rommel driveeway on my left, the gate was shut, but then a car approached it, and a young woman opened it, just as she saw me.

She did not want to disappoint a visitor from so far away, and so delayed her errands to show me in to the house.

I stood inside in the portico, looking up the stairway to the right, and she explained that three young families, each with two children, had cooperatively purchased the home. I believe she said each family occupied one floor of the house, though I don't recall it being tall enough for three stories.

I did not intrude further, and went back outside, where she pointed out the bomb shelter (against possible Allied air attack) to the right of the driveway (the uphill side when facing the house), up against some (birch?) trees.

When she closed the gate behind us and drove away, I turned left and walked up the hill, the route Rommel took in his last moments.

The right side of the road had several newer homes, on an uphill slope, looking out over the valley and river below. This same hillside appears bare, I recall, in the film.

On the left side of the road, the side opposite the houses, there is now a bench (concrete?) with a plaque, I believe, commemorating Rommel's death there. I sat there for a few moments. I believe photos of that site are availabe to view online.

I need to see the film again to be certain, but I now recall seeing that same spot in it, without the bench, or with a cruder wooden one (?) Ah, memory!

Anyway, among the praises in your wonderful reviews here, I want to include praise for this film's conscientious effort to utilize or duplicate the actual Rommel home in Desert Fox.

The Rommel story is of course the mirror we hold up to ourselves in times of turmoil.

How would I have acted, given a career involvement in military expertise, as I realized the madness of the rulers and the insanity my country had fallen into? Would I have withdrawn my skills from such wrong uses?

All of the recent fatuous praise of U.S. soldiers who don't think for themselves, and just "do their jobs," hmmmm....

And "loyal" U.S. civilians, who've allowed the displacement of four million Iraqi refugees, among them 10,000s of young teen girls selling themselves in neighboring countries for the survival of their families, without an "American" finger lifted to help them.

Where is the shame now among us that the German people were expected to learn and display when confronted with the ovens up the road?

In this Republic, especially, the "job" of Citizen comes first, and we have been slow, slow, slow to do it.

The Rommels present the many-layered story of sane people trying to exist in insane times, much like the parallel sad story of Robert E. Lee.

We have even more apt lifetime examples generalship, such as Eisenhower, eager to teach the rest of us to keep War as the last resort, not the first.

We gather here to learn from history, and its significant characters, so as not to repeat or perpetuate their misery.

The final coda of Manfred's long and successful career as Stuttgart's mayor indicates that these were, indeed, normal, honorable people that any of us could aspire to equal, and yet, sadly, living in a time of such evil, they could neither prevent much of the evil, nor keep it from marking their own family with its touch.

The death mask of Rommel, the photo of which I recall seeing in The Rommel Papers, casts upon us a final look of contempt which speaks many volumes.

Without going into the complex layers of bitter disappointment that might have produced such a look, I might add that I hope this soul has since found peace in understanding how an immature humanity could fail to live up to the high principles he held, and arrived at forgiveness for himself in not penetrating the fog of life's accumulated experience enough to see what he was really up against, and to escape it with his family in time.

"The Desert Fox", The Desert Fox is a tight little film about Rommel that's directed by Henry Hathaway. I'm sure it's not 100% accurate but what film can be in only 88 minutes? Hathaway certainly glorifies Rommel as an honorable man that was only being a good soldier. Once again, not being a historian, I'm not sure of its accuracy but I don't think I've ever heard the person of Rommel being disparaged. There have been many facts about different German officers of that period that are common knowledge, many of them are never shown in a good light. The exception seems to be Rommel.

The movie is based upon the biography written by Brigadier Desmond Young who had been captured in Africa. He only saw Rommel from a distance one time in the desert & from this, after the war, he researched the background of the Desert Fox. The movie doesn't focus on Rommel's (James Mason) role in the Africa Corps. It focuses more so on the later period when he was a part of the Normandy defenses & his involvement in the assassination attempt on the leader of his nation. None of this is presented in much depth & in the end Ididn't feel any sorrow in the demise of Rommel.

Frau Rommel (Jessica Tandy) is presented as the dutiful wife though there is a hint that she was the catalyst in getting Rommel involved in the plot. Dr. Karl Strolin (Cedric Hardwicke) approaches Rommel about the plot. At this point we are told that Rommel has harbored secret feelings about the situation that he had revealed to his wife. Rommel sees it as an act of treason even though it's the right thing to do. This inner conflict causes Rommel to be hesitant about the consequences.

There's not a lot of action in the movie, it's more of a character study about a man who must make an extraordinary decision. The movie has authentic film footage interspersed throughout. The film even has the part where the satchel bomb was placed in the bunker by Col. Von Stauffenberg (Eduard Franz) to kill the infamous leader (Luther Adler). There are a couple of scenes with Field Marshall Von Runstedt (Leo G. Carroll), one of which reveals where Von Runstedt's sympathies might lay.

The official version of Rommel's death was that he died from his war wounds. The film makes it plain that Rommel was about to be put on trial for treason & it was obvious he was guilty. The messenger (Everett Sloane) makes it plain that Rommel only has one choice. Rommel wants to go to trial but his wife & son would suffer the consequences of this. Rommel is a hero & they would prefer he would go away quietly without making the noises that the German people would hear & respect. Rommel agrees to take the offer in order to protect his family.

The Desert Fox is a good film that gives James Mason a chance to show some of his acting skills. The real life Desmond Young portrays himself in the movie & is the narrator. The film is in very good condition & there aren't any significant bonus features though it does have a Spanish audio track & subtitles in English & Spanish.

"Trash", After being amazed at "The Battle of Brittain" DVD, I stupidly got a bunch of war movies from somewhere around the sixties. "The Longest Day" was also phenominal. Some others were "OK" This movie was the bottom of the barrel. Take note! "ALL" of the war movies have good ratings. Buyer beware!

"The Desert Fox", This is a great movie to add to your 'War Movie' collection. A presentation of the war from the German side. A glimpse into Hitler's
true character.



 
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"Another classic performance from Mason", This merits 4.5 stars. A very well made portrayal of Rommel.
Briefly covering his initial genius as a battlefield commander, and later when the war had turned, his gradual dissaffection with Hitler.

From what I have read it is not entirely accurate, but it gives a good impression of the man, and in the leading role James Mason is, as always, magnificent. He makes no attempt to do a fake German accent, and it would be unneccessary. At the end Mason (who knows whether this is true or not) shows Rommel to be a dignified and courageous man. Particularly good in a supporting role is Leo G Carroll as Field Marshall Rundstedt who's own disanchantment is a turning point in the film.

The film was made only 6 years after the end of WW2, but it is a fact that even Churchill praised Rommell. Whether this would have happened if he had remained completely loyal to Hitler is open to debate. Nevertheless this remains an engrossing film.


"General WWII history interest", This is an old black and white movie conceived generally around the person of German Field Marshall Erwin Romell. While it won't get anyone not interested in the particular subject area very excited based on the plot, it does give a rough glimpse of the historical involvement of Romell in WWII.

"James Mason in thie Role--Who Could Do Better?", Erwin Rommel was a soldier's soldier, despite what one thinks about the ideology of the Third Reich--which he, apparently, did not until much too late in the game (e.g., he remained ignorant of the true purpose of the KZs, Konzentrationslagers or Concentration Camps until very late in the war).

As Field Marshall Rommel, much propaganda value came from his initial African exploits which led to a lavish State funeral long after the top brass considered him a traitor following the July 20, 1944 assassination attempt. And, of course, he missed the prediction of the Normandy Invation, which would have been a lasting legacy and perhaps an outcome-changing realization. However, the Reich's Atlantic Wall was simply spread too thin, and by the time he was assigned to assess its strenghts and weaknesses, it was far too late in the game.

Nonetheless, James Mason was an ideal pick around 1950 to play Rommel, so shortly after the war, and in context, it is eerily documentary-like.

The life of his son Mannfred, who became mayor of a major West German city, would be of equal interest....

Recommended.

"Desert Fox", Personal life of Rommel rather than war strategy
Interesting but not exciting.

"Small scale, barely adequate biography of the famous General", The Desert Fox is a piecemeal biography of the famed WWII German General Erwin Rommel.

Understandably, so soon after the end of WWII, it focuses more on the his questioning of the leadership of Hitler than on this battlefield exploits.

Unfortunately the Desert Fox cannot hide its miniscule budget, with lots of stock footage and talk, talk, talk...it provides no sense of grandeur or sweep whatsoever. If you are looking for some big battle scenes you will be sorely disappointed.

The best thing about this film is James Mason but even he struggles to give Rommel three dimensions - hampered by a lightweight script that is barely adequate.

The only interesting aspect of this film is that is provides a very sympathetic portrayal of a "good" German soldier only 6 years after the end of the second world war.

If you want to see a good film about a famous general watch Patton.



 
 
 

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