MovieChat Forums > Five Graves to Cairo (1943) Discussion > Reel Rommel vs. Real Rommel

Reel Rommel vs. Real Rommel

posted 13 years ago by SuperDevilDoctor
5 replies | jump to latest

It's well acted and very nicely shot, but FIVE GRAVES' depiction of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is so removed from the actual historical man that it almost becomes farcical. The real-life Rommel...

- Was a non-smoker
- Did not know how to speak English
- Did not carry a horsehair fly swatter
- Was not superstitious
- Was quite physically fit for his age (athletic)
- Lived "rough" in the field (spartan) compared to many generals
- Was solidly middle-class in his comportment and demeanor (not haughty or aristocratic)
- Enjoyed the presence of pretty young women (while remaining solidly faithful to his wife)
- Was an evangelical Christian

I fully realize some of the departures from the real-life Rommel are merely cinematic expediencies; the "20 Questions" scene would drag interminably if the queries and responses had to be intrepreted each time. And, of course, he never visited Egypt in the 1930s (posing as an archeologist or anything else). The completely wrong personality/character traits, I suppose, come strictly from war-time propaganda. (He's the "villain", after all... so let's make him really villainous.)

Still, watching the film nearly 70 years on (and having read quite a few books about the historical reality), I can't help but knock the film down a peg.

Luxuriate in the eclectic...
http://www.eccentric-cinema.com

[–] jglapin 11 years ago

You have to realize that in 1943 not much was known about Rommel in the US except he was a remarkable field commander. The writers of this created their own character similar only in name.

[–] cenga666 8 years ago

They showed Stroheim's Rommel as a typical Prussian aristocratic general, but real Rommel was everything but that.

[–] jjk50 8 years ago

A poor portrayal of Rommel, James Mason was much better in "The Desert Fox".

[–] mikekrit62 8 years ago

I think the trivia section says that Wilder (who was still pretty new to directing) was a a great admirer of von Stroheim, and both he and the studio gave von Stroheim free rein to portray Rommel how he wanted.

It's not surprising that the Austrian-born von Stroheim would assume that a German Field Marshall would be a prototypical Prussian officer, and it also gave him the opportunity to play such a character.

I disagree that he portrayed Rommel as a "villain". Authoritarian and aristocratic to be sure (like von Stroheim himself), but he was portrayed as a military man with a code of honor, not as a leering Nazi fanatic like most Germans were portrayed in WWII era movies.

[–] chrissso 8 years ago

Ditto on the point ... hard to believe they got it so wrong! That really hurts the film when we look back. Alas shelf life EXPIRED!