Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was a complicated man, both more and less than the romanticized figure that Desmond Young's biography and the movie based on it present us with. Like Oliver Cromwell, he should really be seen as he was, warts and all.
Rommel (James Mason) was vain, for one thing. He'd won the Pour le Merit in World War I and made sure he wore it. He was sensitive. His letters to his wife, Lucie (Jessica Tandy), are filled with admiration for the flowers that abounded in Libya during the Spring. He had a slight but distinct sense of humor. The Italian General Ettore Bastico became Bombastico in Rommel's lexicon. And a more thorough investigation of the man suggests he wasn't very political after all. He may not have even had a clear idea of the plot.
But the war in Northern Africa was a peculiar war from beginning to end. The chivalry shown by Rommel and Desmond Young at the beginning is thoroughly believable. The British managed at one point in the see-saw battle to capture an Italian aristocrat. When the Italian government offered money for the man's return, the offended POW refused to be released, claiming the offer wasn't high enough. I know. That has nothing to do with the movie but I thought it was pretty funny.
The story itself, at least as rendered here, is probably familiar to those with any degree of historical maturity. Rommel is "the desert fox," constantly outwitting the Allies in North Africa, until the Afrika Korps is bled white by lack of supplies. Back in Germany Rommel is contacted by conspirators in the plot against Hitler, the "July plot," including an old friend played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, he of the magnificent voice. Rommel reluctantly joins the plot, although exactly what his role was is never made clear. There is a reference to his "leadership," but apparently all he wanted to do was make peace with the British, French, and Americans in order to fight the Russians more efficiently. In any case, his involvement is discovered. (After the attempt on his life, Hitler had 5,000 people executed, some by hanging them from meat hooks and filming them while they strangled to death in nooses made of piano wire.) Rommel is permitted to take poison in order to preserve his reputation and insure the safety of his family.
James Mason does pretty well by the role. Too well. A few years later he was to reprise the role but, after the criticism this earlier film received for treating Rommel too sympathetically, Mason reverted to the stereotype, a sneering Nazi with an atrocious accent. As his wife, Jessica Tandy, Broadway's first Blanche Dubois, has a face that combines plainness with nobility. She's a fine actress but isn't on screen that much. As von Runstedt, Leo G. Carroll is more grim and sarcastic than usual. Luther Adler as Hitler is plain hilarious. There must be more subtle ways of suggesting megalomania. George MacReady, a nice guy from Providence, Rhode Island, is a Prussian-looking man whether he likes it or not.
But it's pleasing to the eye to see so many actors strutting around in those great German uniforms -- the medals, the riding breeches, the leather boots. It must be wonderful to be a man like Rommel, who can enter a crowded office and crisply -- without even looking at him -- tell his aide to "clear this room." Who wouldn't love to be able to do that? I mean, to clear a room without using a gun.
Fun, too, to see the occasional news footage of artillery firing and tanks blowing up. By the end of the African campaign, the Afrika Korps was so short of fuel that, if they had a dozen tanks, they were draining half of them to keep the other half moving. There is nothing about Kasserine Pass and the American debacle there -- not in 1951 there isn't.
The director was Henry Hathway, "a man's director," who gave directions loudly and drank voluminously. The music follows Max Steiner's Mickey Mouse model. The action on screen is imitated by the score. Listen to it when the parachutists leap from their airplanes.
This movie really ought to be seen, especially by those unfamiliar with World War II or without perspective on any war at all. It raises interesting philosophical dilemmas. Okay, you're a soldier and you follow orders. But suppose the order are given to you by someone who is insane or close to it? It might be called "The Captain Queeg Problem." Anyway, it humanizes the enemy instead of demonizing him, which might prompt some viewers to think twice about killing those who disagree with us.
Rommel (James Mason) was vain, for one thing. He'd won the Pour le Merit in World War I and made sure he wore it. He was sensitive. His letters to his wife, Lucie (Jessica Tandy), are filled with admiration for the flowers that abounded in Libya during the Spring. He had a slight but distinct sense of humor. The Italian General Ettore Bastico became Bombastico in Rommel's lexicon. And a more thorough investigation of the man suggests he wasn't very political after all. He may not have even had a clear idea of the plot.
But the war in Northern Africa was a peculiar war from beginning to end. The chivalry shown by Rommel and Desmond Young at the beginning is thoroughly believable. The British managed at one point in the see-saw battle to capture an Italian aristocrat. When the Italian government offered money for the man's return, the offended POW refused to be released, claiming the offer wasn't high enough. I know. That has nothing to do with the movie but I thought it was pretty funny.
The story itself, at least as rendered here, is probably familiar to those with any degree of historical maturity. Rommel is "the desert fox," constantly outwitting the Allies in North Africa, until the Afrika Korps is bled white by lack of supplies. Back in Germany Rommel is contacted by conspirators in the plot against Hitler, the "July plot," including an old friend played by Sir Cedric Hardwicke, he of the magnificent voice. Rommel reluctantly joins the plot, although exactly what his role was is never made clear. There is a reference to his "leadership," but apparently all he wanted to do was make peace with the British, French, and Americans in order to fight the Russians more efficiently. In any case, his involvement is discovered. (After the attempt on his life, Hitler had 5,000 people executed, some by hanging them from meat hooks and filming them while they strangled to death in nooses made of piano wire.) Rommel is permitted to take poison in order to preserve his reputation and insure the safety of his family.
James Mason does pretty well by the role. Too well. A few years later he was to reprise the role but, after the criticism this earlier film received for treating Rommel too sympathetically, Mason reverted to the stereotype, a sneering Nazi with an atrocious accent. As his wife, Jessica Tandy, Broadway's first Blanche Dubois, has a face that combines plainness with nobility. She's a fine actress but isn't on screen that much. As von Runstedt, Leo G. Carroll is more grim and sarcastic than usual. Luther Adler as Hitler is plain hilarious. There must be more subtle ways of suggesting megalomania. George MacReady, a nice guy from Providence, Rhode Island, is a Prussian-looking man whether he likes it or not.
But it's pleasing to the eye to see so many actors strutting around in those great German uniforms -- the medals, the riding breeches, the leather boots. It must be wonderful to be a man like Rommel, who can enter a crowded office and crisply -- without even looking at him -- tell his aide to "clear this room." Who wouldn't love to be able to do that? I mean, to clear a room without using a gun.
Fun, too, to see the occasional news footage of artillery firing and tanks blowing up. By the end of the African campaign, the Afrika Korps was so short of fuel that, if they had a dozen tanks, they were draining half of them to keep the other half moving. There is nothing about Kasserine Pass and the American debacle there -- not in 1951 there isn't.
The director was Henry Hathway, "a man's director," who gave directions loudly and drank voluminously. The music follows Max Steiner's Mickey Mouse model. The action on screen is imitated by the score. Listen to it when the parachutists leap from their airplanes.
This movie really ought to be seen, especially by those unfamiliar with World War II or without perspective on any war at all. It raises interesting philosophical dilemmas. Okay, you're a soldier and you follow orders. But suppose the order are given to you by someone who is insane or close to it? It might be called "The Captain Queeg Problem." Anyway, it humanizes the enemy instead of demonizing him, which might prompt some viewers to think twice about killing those who disagree with us.