This movie is not strictly speaking a WW II movie.\u00a0 It is a chronicle of the events leading up to the death of German Field Marshall Erwin Rommel.<\/p>\n
(Spoiler Alert \u2013 Skip down to last paragraph to avoid spoilers and read recommendation)<\/strong><\/p>\n James Mason plays Rommel.\u00a0 It opens up with a British submarine off the coast of German occupied North Arica.\u00a0 A platoon of commandoes is landed by rafts to assault the headquarters of the German Afrika Corps.\u00a0 The commandoes storm the building and pour machine gun fire and grenades into the living space.\u00a0 As German reinforcements arrive the British soldiers retreat.\u00a0 One man is too badly wounded to escape.\u00a0 As he is captured, he asks the German soldier, \u201cDid we get him<\/strong>?\u201d\u00a0 And the German soldier scornfully answers in the negative.<\/p>\n The \u201chim\u201d that the Briton meant is Rommel and the suicide mission proclaims the enormous respect that Rommel\u2019s enemies have for his skills in war.\u00a0 But unfortunately for their mission Rommel was at that time being treated in Germany for a case of nasal diphtheria.\u00a0 But before he can recover, the British attack his forces in the second Battle of El Alamein and Rommel is summoned by Hitler back to the desert to ward off this attack.\u00a0 Unfortunately, Berlin only sends Rommel, not tanks, ammunition, men or even fuel to run the tanks they still had.\u00a0 Orders are given to stand and fight to the last man.\u00a0 Rommel disobeys the orders and arranges a tactical retreat to save his men.\u00a0 But exhausted and still sick he is forced to return to hospital in Germany.\u00a0 And his army is defeated and captured by the British and Americans.<\/p>\n Recovering from his illness he is visited by Dr. Karl Str\u00f6lin (played by Cedric Hardwicke), the mayor of Stuttgart and an old friend of Rommel\u2019s.\u00a0 We learn that many senior officials in Germany have lost faith in Hitler and are looking for a way to remove him from power.\u00a0 Rommel rejects the idea and warns his friend not to discuss this idea with him.\u00a0 He declares himself to be a soldier and not a politician.\u00a0 His friend warns him that a time will come when he will have to face the consequences of being a soldier in Hitler\u2019s army.<\/p>\n Now Rommel is directed to help lead the defense of the French coastline against the expected invasion.\u00a0 The supreme commander of the German forces, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt (played by Leo G. Carroll) explains to Rommel that Hitler has taken complete control of the strategy of the invasion defense.\u00a0 He explains that the strategy is being decided based on astrology and that instead of reinforcing the beaches they are concentrating on the coastal cities.\u00a0 When D-Day arrives Berlin refuses to allow troops to redeploy to reinforce Normandy and so the Allies break loose from Normandy and begin their march to the Rhine.<\/p>\n The officers who are planning to assassinate Hitler once again approach Rommel for his support.\u00a0 He tells them he must first attempt one last time to convince Hitler to redeploy his forces to avoid catastrophe.\u00a0 He meets with Hitler but is rebuffed and told to remain in place and fight to the last man.\u00a0 Rommel tells the coup leaders to go ahead with their plan.\u00a0 But before the assassination attempt Rommel is injured when his staff car is strafed by enemy aircraft and crashes.\u00a0 While he is recuperating in a hospital the attempt on Hitler is carried out but he is only injured.<\/p>\n After release from the hospital Rommel is sent home without any military orders and all mention of him disappears from the war effort.\u00a0 One day he is called from Berlin to sat that a deputation would arrive at his home to discuss his future assignment.\u00a0 But instead, when it arrives he is told that an investigation has convicted him of treason and he is given the choice of secretly committing suicide by painless sedative or being garroted.\u00a0 But Rommel says he would prefer to answer the charges in open court to at least make his statement in public.\u00a0 But then the officer adds that if he agrees to take the silent suicide his reputation will be preserved and wife and son will be taken care of.\u00a0 If he decides to go public no such guarantees apply.\u00a0 And so, he goes to his death.\u00a0 The movie ends with the recitation of a speech that Winston Churchill gave honoring Rommel for his courage in risking his life in attempting to eliminate Hitler and thereby save his country from catastrophe.<\/p>\n This is a very unusual movie in that the Second World War is only the backdrop for the dramatic action of the plot.\u00a0 We\u2019re shown a great general, a consummate professional, learning that detaching his duty as a soldier from his responsibilities as a human being is sometimes impossible.\u00a0 He is brought to understand that obeying the orders of a madman cannot fit under his warrior\u2019s code.\u00a0 Mason is usually interesting to watch in a movie and this one is no exception.\u00a0 If nothing else he has one of the most distinctive and commanding voices in the history of cinema.\u00a0 The movie is not highly dramatic.\u00a0 It\u2019s almost understated considering the circumstances and the people involved.\u00a0 I would recommend this movie to students of history and those who enjoy a cerebral movie experience.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" This movie is not strictly speaking a WW II movie.\u00a0 It is a chronicle of the events leading up to the death of German Field<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[239,237],"tags":[1439,3796,2355,2844,43,38,1355,2618],"class_list":["post-21098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movie-reviews","category-reviews","tag-cedric-hardwicke","tag-erwin-rommel","tag-james-mason","tag-leo-g-carroll","tag-movie-review","tag-review","tag-reviews","tag-world-war-ii"],"yoast_head":"\n