inspectors71 An infuriatingly uneven biopic, Henry Hathaway's The Desert Fox, is so poorly made that one might be tempted to ignore the topic of Erwin Rommel, a brilliant and chivalrous Wehrmacht commander who was more loyal to his men and patriotic toward Germany than a follower of Hitler.The internal conflict is classic, cut from the same basic cloth as Brutus in Caesar.You would think this film would be riveting. It's not. Even though James Mason is magnificently Prussian as Rommel, and there are several other great performances, we're left with a clunky and truncated story of the man George Patton called a "magnificent bastard."That's a great name for Rommel. Born and bred to an ethic of an earlier time, Rommel became an anachronism to the new and improved concept of warfare in World War II.Yet, if you don't know anything about Erwin Rommel--and you're willing to accept that he has been romanticized by history and Hollywood-- this film is something of a good start.

gordonl56 THE DESERT FOX – 1951 James Mason is really top flight in this film about the WW Two German commander, Erwin Rommel. A very watchable film considering how little actual combat scenes are in the production.Most of the film deals with his growing dislike of Hitler and his mob. It suggests that Rommel was involved in the plot to kill Hitler. From what I've read on the subject, there seems to be little solid proof either way. The failure of the assassination, lead to the death of several thousand of those involved. Rommel was forced to commit suicide in order to save his family.Mason keeps this one rolling with help from Cedric Hardwicke and a great bit by Luther Adler as Adolf Hitler. Veteran director Henry (True Grit) Hathaway handles the story with a nice even pace.It is really about time that someone made a film about his World War one battles that won him the Blue Max. Or something on his dash to the coast in the Battle of France as well as his early battles with the Afrika Korps.Having said that, don't let that stop you from watching this one. It is a film well worth the time investment.

edwagreen Disappointing film, not because of the usually great James Mason, but more rather due than a completely lackluster script.George MacReady was always known to be sinister in films but in this one we see no evidence of that. He is rather bland as a Nazi army officer. Jessica Tandy was completely miscast in the role of Frau Rommel. She is rather droll and lacks sincere compassion at the end when her husband learns his fate.Jewish actor Luther Adler is briefly shown as Hitler and he does a masterful job. The contortions on his face tell the whole story of an insane leader in desperation and denial by 1943.The film lacks total excitement and even the plot itself is staged too quickly. We needed to see the preparation in the failed attempt to assassinate the German misery.

sddavis63 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.