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 S E A R C H    D V D B e a v e r

(aka "The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel")

 

Directed by Henry Hathaway
USA 1951

 

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (James Mason) leads the German troops against the Allied forces in World War II. Rommel's virtuosity on the battlefield makes him a national hero and earns the begrudging respect of his foes, but his tactics also infuriate Adolf Hitler. Rommel's close friend Dr. Karl Strolin(Cedric Hardwicke) asks him to take part in a plan to assassinate the Furhrer; when Hitler learns of Rommel's involvement in the scheme, the field marshal is given a chilling ultimatum.

***

James Mason plays Rommel as a dignified, considerate soldier who deeply loved his wife (Jessica Tandy) and son (William Reynolds), and approached warfare as more of a chess game than the sanctioned slaughter of an enemy. These traits may have been part of the real life Rommel's psychological makeup, but, understandably, there were more than a few U.S. critics who found such a portrait questionable, if not downright distasteful, a mere six years after the most horrific world conflict in human history had ended.

There's an enormous amount of ground to cover in Rommel's story, so Hathaway is only able to skim the surface. The most exciting portion of the film follows Rommel's campaign in North Africa, leading the tank-heavy Afrika Korps. Rommel's deliberate rejection of Hitler's orders to force his men to fight to their deaths, regardless of an imminent Allied victory, is the kind of thing that gives the picture its spin. Never before had a well-known enemy soldier been shown in such a sympathetic light in an American film. When Rommel somewhat grudgingly joins Col. Von Stauffenberg (Eduard Franz) in an attempt to assassinate Hitler (played, with proper histrionics, by Luther Adler), many American viewers found themselves cheering for him.

Excerpt from TCM located HERE

Posters

Theatrical Release: October 17th, 1951

Reviews                                                                                                       More Reviews                                                                                       DVD Reviews

 

Review: WVG - Region 'B' - Blu-ray

Box Cover

CLICK to order from:
Distribution WVG - Region 'B' - Blu-ray
Runtime 1:28:24.841         
Video

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 18,952,047,157 bytes

Feature: 17,977,128,960 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.98 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate Blu-ray:

Audio

DTS-HD Master Audio English 1564 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1564 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)

DUB:

DTS-HD Master Audio German 1799 kbps 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1799 kbps / 16-bit (DTS Core: 2.0 / 48 kHz / 1509 kbps / 16-bit)
Subtitles German, None
Features Release Information:
Studio: WVG

 

1.33:1 1080P Single-layered Blu-ray

Disc Size: 18,952,047,157 bytes

Feature: 17,977,128,960 bytes

Video Bitrate: 21.98 Mbps

Codec: MPEG-4 AVC Video

 

Edition Details:

• Gallery (8:17)
• Trailer (2:13)


 Blu-ray Release Date: September 28th, 2018
 Standard  Blu-ray Case

Chapters 8

 

 

Comments:

NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: WVG Blu-ray (September 2019): WVG have transferred Henry Hathaway's The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel to Blu-ray. It is not the most robust transfer, but is in 1080P, on a single-layered disc, with a lowish bitrate. Without excess scrutiny, the image quality is in advance of SD with consistent grain texture apparent and decent-to-pleasing contrast. There are a few speckles and light scratches plus the stock war footage used is easily discernable. While not the height of the format, it appeared reasonable in-motion and I enjoyed my viewing without distracting visual flaws.

NOTE: On some computers you may see a vertical 'combing' phenomenon on he smaller caps. These are not present in the clickable full-resolution captures - or in-motion.

On their Blu-ray, WVG use a DTS-HD Master 2.0 channel track (16-bit) in both the original English language and an optional German DUB. It is another advancement in the film's audio and score by Daniele Amfitheatrof (Edge of Eternity, The Lost Moment, The Desperate Hours, Human Desire, Letter From An Unknown Woman) that supports a docu-drama feel to the feature. WVG offer optional German subtitles on their Region 'B' Blu-ray.

The WVG Blu-ray has only a lengthy stills gallery (historical, glossies and posters) and a trailer.

This was a gamble, but because of the low price - I felt the purchase was worthwhile to see the film in 1080P. The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommels is a fascinating biographical war-drama. James Mason, Cedric Hardwicke, Jessica Tandy and Luther Adler as Adolf Hitler give great performances. So, if you are already buying from Amazon German, this Blu-ray for €10 wouldn't be bad to throw in the cart. I will watch this film again. 

Gary Tooze

 

Menus / Extras

 

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Box Cover

CLICK to order from:
Distribution WVG - Region 'B' - Blu-ray


 


 

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