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Amazon.co.uk Review
The Desert Fox, released six years after the end of the War, is a solemnly respectful tribute to Erwin Rommel, Germany's most celebrated military genius. James Mason's portrayal of this gallant warrior became a highlight of his career iconography. The film itself is oddly disjointed, though: a pre-credit 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 one-time 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 the Fuhrer, and his subsequent martyrdom.
The Desert Rats stars Richard Burton in only his second Hollywood role (between Oscar-nominated turns in My Cousin Rachel and The Robe), as a Scottish commando put in charge of a battalion of the 9th Australian Division defending Tobruk. The Aussies don't like him, and with a year of grim North African duty already under his belt, he's not too crazy about his new responsibilities either. The outfit is charged with staving off the battering assaults of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel for two months, to give the British Army time to regroup in Cairo and prepare for a counterattack. In the end, the "desert rats" play hell with the Desert Fox for 242 days, during which time they and their commander develop some mutual respect.
This is a solid, workmanlike World War II picture that, having been made in 1953 rather than 1943, can acknowledge a degree of eccentric humanity and soldierly professionalism in the enemy. Featured guest star James Mason reprises his Rommel from The Desert Fox, playing all his scenes in German except for a scene of ironical repartee with Burton. Another distinguished Brit, Robert Newton, gets costar billing as a boozy, self-confessed coward who used to be Burton's schoolmaster. However, a goodly number of Australians--including Chips Rafferty and Charles "Bud" Tingwell rate at least as much screen time. Robert Wise directed, with a trimness that reminds us he started out as an editor, and the pungent black-and-white cinematography is by Lucien Ballard. --Richard T. Jameson
Special Features
- The Desert Rats theatrical trailer
- The Desert Fox theatrical trailer
- Scene access
- Interactive menus
DVD Technical Information:
- Language: English (2.0 Stereo), French, Italian, German, Spanish (2.0 Mono)
- Main feature subtitles: Dutch, French, Italian, German, Spanish, English & German for the hearing impaired
- Full frame version 4:3
- Video Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
- Region Code: 2 PAL
- Black and white
- Running time:
The Desert Rats: 84 minutes
The Desert Fox: 84 minutes
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Customer Reviews
Rommels thorn in the side and opposing army the 'DESERT RATS' (8th army) is represented in the second film by another legend of the big screen Richard Burton.Burton is a Captain of a band of determined Australian soldiers who by day defend against Rommels tanks and troops and by night raid into the enemies rear lines and cause havok.Great British stiff upper lip stuff all around. Mason co-stars as Rommel in this film and brings us the best moment of the film when he and Burton by a wierd coincidence meet and exchange words.Great actors in a great scene.Well worth a watch.
The quality of the film is good and clear so the transfer to DVD was done well.The theatrical trailers for both films are included and thats about it, but what do you want for less than twenty quid? buy it!
His answer was "Erwin Rommel, an officer and a gentleman!"
Two great movies. Both well worth watching.
It's interesting to note that James Mason played many military roles during his long career, but during World War II he was a conscientious objector which caused many actors who had served their country (David Niven, Peter Ustinov, John Mills etc., etc.,) to refuse to act with him.
Despite all that, two great movies, buy and enjoy.
Far more than just another war film however, the Desert Rats is also a psychological drama, with Robert Newton giving a masterful preformance as McRobert's ex-school teacher; an intelligent sensitive man, but also a drunken, cowardly failure, swept along by circumstances beyond his control or understanding; though still deeply respected by his estwhile pupil.
The scenes of the British Garrison Commanders as surrounded, outnumbered, and short on supplies; they shrewdly out think and then out-general Field Marshall Rommel are absolutely classic. In reality British cypher experts had broken the German Enigma codes by then; enabling British Military Intelligence to read Rommel's orders even before they reached his unit commanders, but that's another story.
To conclude this review, I cannot recommend this film highly enough; it's an absolute classic! An entertaining, semi-documentary view into the now vanished world our fathers fought so hard for; in the battles of yester-year.
Excellent value & entertainment.
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