The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel (1951)

Directed by

Henry Hathaway

Genre

war film, biographical film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 28m

Rated

NR

Rating

6.7 of 10 from 115 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A biographical film about German field marshal Erwin Rommel during World War II. It focuses on his military career and his role in a plot to remove Hitler from power.

measuredsomberhistoricalcontemplativeseriousrestraineddramaticblack-and-white

What happens

The Desert Fox (released in the United Kingdom as Rommel—Desert Fox) is a 1951 American Twentieth Century-Fox biographical war film directed by Henry Hathaway and starring James Mason in the title role of German field marshal Erwin Rommel in World War II. The script is based on the book Rommel: The Desert Fox by brigadier Desmond Young, who served in the British Indian Army in North Africa. Young portrays himself. The film played a significant role in the creation of the Rommel myth, which held that Rommel was an apolitical, brilliant commander, opposed Nazi policies and was a victim of the Third Reich because of his participation in the conspiracy to remove Adolf Hitler from power in 1944. The black-and-white format facilitated the use of large sections of actual documentary footage from World War II throughout the film. Finnish president and field marshal Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim's personal Mercedes-Benz 770, a gift received from Hitler, was used as a prop car during the film's shooting. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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