Rommel, el Zorro del Desierto

For meritorious service above and beyond the call of duty to his country, Rommel was advised in the end to 'off' himself. No trial necessary, as he was guilty until proved innocent, and why waste everyone's time. But, of course, he was working for the original 'wild and crazy guy'.

"The Desert Fox" is an excellent biopic and is an idealized version of Rommel's military career, particularly as it pertains to Germany's WW II Afrika Corps. It is one of James Mason's best pictures, right behind "Odd Man Out" and slightly ahead of "A Star Is Born". It is a sympathetic portrayal of a man torn between loyalty and love of country, and perhaps a man a little slow on the uptake regarding current internal military affairs. Supporting acting was in very capable hands and there was chemistry evident between Mason and his wife, played by Jessica Tandy. Good script, good direction - hard to find a flaw in this one, which played on FMC the other morning.

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.

The story of the final years of the respected World War II German general, Erwin Rommel (James Mason).

I really didn't know much about Rommel going in to this film, and I don't know if I know all that much more coming out of it. Apparently he was British? And he answered to a silly Hitler that seemed liked a caricature of the real thing? I joke, but it is amusing how movies used to make no attempt whatsoever to get people's nationality correct.

Beyond that, the film is actually fairly decent because it operates more or less as a one man show for James Mason. And Mason is a joy to watch (and an even bigger joy to listen to). Not a bad story, either, although I am not sure how openly people were calling Hitler "evil" and trying to overthrow him.

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.

Although a very well crafted and watchable film that stays close to the historical characters and events, without the usual Hollywood treatment of such period war movies - action heroes, love interest, bangs and explosions etc., however there is some strange castings. Notably Manfred, Rommel's son, who looks like a 1950's geeky American college kid. Jessica Tandy, a much underrated actress is superb. Mason could act the pants of any other actor and shines in this film, as indeed he did playing the same role in The Desert Rats. Richard Boone in a rare non-cowboy role makes me wonder why he never prospered in mainstream cinema. For once Hollywood manages to make a factual film without distorting history in order to get bums on seats and sell popcorn.