The Desert Fox

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Starring: James Mason
Rated: NR (Not Rated)
Type: DVD
Directed By: Henry Hathaway
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: 2003-05-20
James Mason delivers a strong performance in this fascinating portrait of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. In the early 1940's, Rommel's juggernaut Afrika Korps dominated North Africa. But as the tide turned and he came to the painful realization that his Fuhrer, to whom he hd sworn allegiance, was destroying Germany, his ingrained sense of duty pushed him into a conspiracy against Hitler. Co-starring Jessica Tandy as Rommel's wife and Cedric Hardwicke as another anti-Hitler conspirator, The Desert Fox is an intimate look at one of the most respected military tacticians of modern times.

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.