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Cedric Hardwicke, Eduard Franz, Everett Sloane, George Macready, James Mason ...( see more  see more... ) , Jessica Tandy , Leo G Carroll , Luther Adler , Richard Boone

What a difference a few years can make. The Desert Fox, released six years after the end of World War II, is a solemnly respectful tribute to Erwin Rommel, Germany's most celebrated military genius. J...( read more  read more... )ames Mason's portrayal of this gallant warrior became a highlight of his career iconography. The film itself is oddly disjointed: a precredit commando raid to liquidate Rommel is followed by a flashback to the field-marshal's lightning successes commanding the Afrika Korps—-a compressed account via documentary footage and copious narration (spoken by Michael Rennie, who also dubs Desmond Young, the Rommel biographer and onetime British POW appearing briefly as himself). The dramatic core is Rommel's growing disenchantment with Hitler (Luther Adler), his involvement in the plot to assassinate der Führer, and his subsequent martyrdom. Mason's Rommel returned two years later for a flamboyant, mostly German-speaking cameo in The Desert Rats, a prequel focusing on the battle for Tobruk. --Richard T. Jameson

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68% liked it

1,294 ratings

Unrated, 88 min.

Directed by: Henry Hathaway

Release Date: October 17, 1951

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DVD Release Date: May 20, 2003

Stats: 66 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (66)

  • jjnxn
    September 10, 2008
    jjnxn
    James Mason is fine as always and Jessica Tandy is stalwart as his wife but the picture itself is rather uninvolving.
  • 01MovieMan
    April 30, 2008
    01MovieMan
    some historical movie
  • blacksnake2
    March 4, 2008
    blacksnake2
    Action Commando Raid opening sequence is top notch (Notable for having a clean shaven Richard "Paladin" Boone as a Nazi Afrika Korpsman with an arrogant attitude) but the film devolves into a biopic from the British point of view, basically giving respect to the guy that gave the...( read more)m several good kicks in the slats and was never a hardcore Nazi. Rommel was more the pure warrior, and his WW1 history is not covered here, which skews the story somewhat. Rommel had a series of books about his exploits in WW1 as a (true and actual) "Stormtrooper" Commando and was famous long before the "Ratzis" took over, which is why A.H. sought to exploit his reputation for their own twisted purposes (and also explains why they had to ice him later). Still, a wwell made movie worth some 2AM popcorn time...
  • casca6987
    May 10, 2007
    casca6987
    not bad version on the Desert fox
  • p2jdobson
    March 10, 2007
    p2jdobson
    Stick to what you believe in!
  • tron52rps
    January 26, 2007
    tron52rps
    One of the last true "Professional Soldiers"
  • gibbmemoby
    March 23, 2006
    gibbmemoby
    BRILLIANT!!! James Mason is a genius!!!

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The Desert Fox Trivia

  • The Military career of a real-life German general in World War II.  Answer »
  • Hitler's greatest field commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel has been defeated at El Alamein. This film stars James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke and Jessica Tandy. What's the name of this WWII film?  Answer »
  • Hitler's greatest field commander Field Marshal Erwin Rommel has been defeated at El Alamein. This film stars James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke and Jessica Tandy. What's the name of this WWII film?   Answer »
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