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The
Desert Fox:
The Story of Rommel
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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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5
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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This
1951 Hollywood biopic isn't truly a 'cult' film
but it is highly unusual in an historical sense.
Looking back, it seems incredible that less than
six years after the end of World War II an American
studio would produce a sympathetic film
about one of the most skilled and cunning of Adolf
Hitler's field commanders. There are two main
reasons for this. First, the commander in question,
Field Marshal Rommel, was the most respected of
all Hitler's generals by the Allies. Second, with
the Cold War heating up the rearmament of West
Germany became a critical issue for American-led
NATO. The United States and its allies now saw
the Germans —
bitter foes only a few short years earlier, demonized
as enemies of civilization —
as an essential bulwark against the Soviet Union.
(Exactly as many German military men had prophesized
in the final months of the Third Reich.) It was
time to undo all the wartime propaganda and promote
a new concept of "The Good German". The story
of Rommel seemed tailor-made for such a purpose.
Before I get to the movie, a bit about the man
himself. Erwin Rommel (1891-1944) was a fascinating
figure, certainly one worthy of a major biographical
film. He was arguably the quintessential tank
general of World War Two. Audaciously bold, Rommel
believed in speed, shock, and surprise as the
keys to victory — the essence of Blitzkrieg. While
by no means a grand strategist, on the tactical
and operational levels he was almost without peer.
Rommel's central maxim: a commander must always
be at the head of his troops, regardless of personal
danger, so that he can react to fluid situations
and make snap decisions on the spot. He was a
glory-seeker and publicity hound who shamelessly
courted the Nazi propaganda machine to enhance
his own celebrity and prestige, much to the disgust
of the 'old school' officers of the Army's General
Staff. The disdain of these Clausewitz-worshipping
theoreticians (mere pencil pushers to a dynamic
figure such as Rommel) was equally returned. He
had never led mechanized units before he became
a tank division commander in 1940, an appointment
he owed solely to Hitler. Hard on subordinate
officers but beloved by the rank and file, Rommel
practiced a form of chivalrous warfare that won
both the respect and admiration of his enemies,
particularly the British. He was an evangelical
Christian who neither drank nor smoked, though
his blunt vocabulary could often include swear
words when angered. In Libya and Egypt, at the
peak of his generalship, German and Italian troops
under his command routinely defeated Allied forces
three times their number despite near-constant
supply problems. It was here, during the campaign
in North Africa, that Rommel's enduring military
legend was born, the legend of the Desert Fox.
He was a supreme battlefield gambler, willing
to stake all on a hunch, a trait which brought
him startling victories but inevitable defeat.
Rommel was fearlessly brave in combat. Even when
promoted to field marshal after his brilliant
capture of Tobruk in 1942, he continued to expose
himself to death at the front — an inborn characteristic
of his leadership style. Yet it was Rommel's political
naiveté which ultimately cost him his life.
Sounds
like it could make for one hell of a war drama,
doesn't it?
Not in
this case. Don't expect the sweep or epic scope
of say, Patton. The
Desert Fox was made
on the cheap, making extensive use of World War
II stock footage rather than re-create any battles.
It's my main beef with the movie. Very little
is shown of Rommel in action. He's either back
at HQ, conferencing with his subordinates or fellow
generals, arguing with Hitler, or at home in Germany
with his family. And this is a movie about perhaps
the most dynamic battlefield commander of the
20th Century, famous for leading from the front,
not back in the rear with the gear. (In April
'41 for example, during the first German assault
on Tobruk, Rommel —
then a three-star general —
took personal command of an infantry battalion
and led it under heavy fire in an assault on an
enemy defensive position.) The movie's emphasis
on his falling out with and eventual opposition
to Hitler shortchanges the very essence of what
made Rommel a giant of modern military history
and a living legend. The bulk of the film is about
his 11th Hour conversion into the "Good German"
acceptable to the victorious Allies, not the famous
battles in which he sometimes kicked their asses
while outnumbered and outgunned. Basically, there's
not enough desert in The
Desert Fox. Not much
action, either, though the film opens with the
failed British commando mission to kill him at
the start of Operation Crusader (Nov. 1941).
Accomplished
British actor James Mason (20,000
Leagues Under the Sea) portrays Rommel. He
does a fine job, though I feel he's a bit too
mannered and not rough enough around the edges.
Rommel was a product of the lower-middle class,
with a 'common' touch that appealed to the enlisted
men under his command; Mason cuts a distinctly
aristocratic figure throughout. Supporting players
Jessica Tandy (as Rommel's devoted wife Lucie),
Sir Cedric Hardwicke (an anti-Hitler conspirator),
Attack of the
Puppet People's John Hoyt (Hitler toady Field
Marshal Keitel) and Tarantula's
Leo G. Carroll (Field Marshal von Rundstedt) are
all quite good. A youthful Richard Boone (I
Bury the Living, The
War Lord) has a small role as Rommel's personal
aide. Adolf Hitler is played by Luther Adler,
whose performance borders on parody. Fortunately
the other actors don't attempt German accents.
Narration by Michael Rennie (The
Day the Earth Stood Still) keeps us abreast
of the war's major events.
The Desert
Fox is a very talky film, a series of vignettes
spaced between stock footage. While by no means
a bad movie, it ultimately fails to live up to
its subject. It gets the general outline correct
but flubs the details, many of them critical.
Since it skirts all but the last two years of
his life it conveniently leaves out that, before
finally turning against him, Rommel idolized
Hitler. He owed his career to him. Even allowing
for dramatic battlefield victories, one doesn't
rocket from colonel to field marshal within three
years without favoritism from on high — in Rommel's
case, very high. (During this time Rommel
was signing letters to his closest friends "Heil
Hitler!" and even intimated that Jesus Christ
had sent Hitler to Germany as its savior.) It
was Der Führer's good fortune that Rommel
was a 'kiss-up' who actually possessed great skill
and extraordinary leadership qualities. Rommel
was apolitical and never joined the Nazi party,
but up until late 1942 he fervently believed in
Hitler because the dictator had made Germany strong
and respected again. As a patriot he felt that
some of the more unsavory aspects of the Nazi
regime were worth tolerating in the interest of
the greater good. This aspect of Rommel's character
has always fascinated me: a good and chivalrous
man, a brilliant soldier, so blinded by patriotism
and love of country that he refused to see the
evil that had overtaken his homeland until it
was much too late. It's a universal lesson that's
just as important today as ever.
Rommel's story fully deserves
the grand-scale Patton
treatment: a $100 million budget, three-hour running
time, the works. (I think Ed Harris would be a
good choice for the role.) But that's not likely
to ever happen. The Desert
Fox, inadequate as it is, will have to
do. As a brief sketch of the man's final two years
it's okay, but there's simply too much that's
been glossed over or left out. A trip to the library
or bookstore is your best bet should you really
want to learn about his life and his battles,
both won and lost.
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budget title retailing for $10 in retail stores,
The Desert Fox has
been released as part of the Fox War Classics
line of DVDs. No real effort was made at restoring
the film but the print used for the 1.33:1 fullscreen
transfer is quite good considering its age. There's
some minor speckling here and there but that's about
it. (Naturally, the many sequences composed of stock
footage fare the worst.) The mono audio track is
clear and more than adequate to the task. The disc
also features a separate Spanish language track
should you wish to hear Hitler ranting in español.
(The Spanish track uses different music in many
scenes, which sounds distorted. Dialog's okay, though.)
A few extras are tossed in for good measure: the
original U.S. theatrical trailer, the Spanish language
trailer, and trailers for five Fox War Classics
titles, among them The
Blue Max (also featuring Mason) and The
Enemy Below. 5/23/03 |
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