Raid on Rommel

"He took o Rommel...the Sahara...and a unit of untrained me to blow the Desert Fox to Hell."

1971 1h 39m EN

😐

5.8

MID

★5.8TMDB · 58

WarAction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

Captain Foster plans on raiding German-occupied Tobruk with hand- picked commandos, but a mixup leaves him with a medical unit led by a Quaker conscientious objector.

“He took o Rommel...the Sahara...and a unit of untrained me to blow the Desert Fox to Hell.”

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Cast

Richard Burton
Capt. Alex Foster
John Colicos
Sgt. Maj. Allan MacKenzie
Wolfgang Preiss
Gen. Erwin Rommel
Clinton Greyn
Maj. Hugh Tarkington
Danielle De Metz
Vivianne Gagliardo
Karl-Otto Alberty
Schroeder
Christopher Cary
Conscientious Objector
John Orchard
Garth

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Henry Hathaway
Writers: Richard M. Bluel
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

55 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Henry Hathaway, shot by Earl Rath. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Hal Mooney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Gene Palmer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Richard Burton and John Colicos and Wolfgang Preiss carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "He took o Rommel...the Sahara...and a unit of untrained me to blow the Desert Fox to Hell.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0067650 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

Only 58 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Henry Hathaway directs. Earl Rath behind the camera. Hal Mooney scores. Gene Palmer cuts. Runs lean at under 100 minutes. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

155 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
2Directed by Henry Hathaway, shot by Earl Rath. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
3Original score by Hal Mooney. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
4Editor Gene Palmer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
5Richard Burton and John Colicos and Wolfgang Preiss carry the top of the cast.
6Marketing tagline: "He took o Rommel...the Sahara...and a unit of untrained me to blow the Desert Fox to Hell.".
7IMDB entry: tt0067650 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
8Only 58 TMDB ratings — you're getting ahead of the curve on this one.
9Classified under 8 themes, including "world war ii", "commando", "desert", "libyan desert".

The technical file

Cinematography: Earl Rath
Original score: Hal Mooney
Editing: Gene Palmer
Makeup / hair: Ron Berkeley
Runtime: 99 min · 1h 39m
Status: Released
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG
IMDB: Raid on Rommel (1971)

Also by

Henry Hathaway

Community reviews

What people are saying

CinemaSerf2025-12-28
★ 6/10
Is it just me, or is this just a fairly straightforward remake of “Tobruk” (1967)? Instead of Rock we have Richard, Burton, as he sets off deep behind enemy lines in North Africa to destroy a fuel dump that is going to help mobilise a couple of Panzer divisions for Rommel. He is supposed to take a crack team with him, but a mix up sees him saddled with a doctor (Clinton Greyn) and his patients who couldn’t hit a bull on the backside with an bulldozer. Things become even more precarious when they find themselves talking Prussian brown stamps with the Field Marshall himself (Wolfgang Preiss) - but maybe that might allow the observant “Foster” (Burton) to catch a glimpse of some top secret maps? From now on in, I could swear it actually uses some of the same footage from the other movie, especially at the end - which is certainly the best part of the film. Burton does enough, but nothing more really, and I couldn’t quite figure out just what Danielle De Metz was doing here at all. It takes the usual pop at the inadequacies of the Italians during the war, and it also endeavours to make Rommel out to be a civilised gentleman à la James Mason, but otherwise it’s really just a vehicle for a star who looked like he had bleached his hair specially for the part. It passes the time if you like the genre, but nothing more, sorry.

Production companies