IMDb > Raid on Rommel (1971)

Raid on Rommel (1971) More at IMDbPro »

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Overview

User Rating:
5.4/10   528 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Down 13% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
Henry Hathaway
Writer:
Richard M. Bluel (writer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Raid on Rommel on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 February 1971 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | War | Action more
Plot:
Captain Foster plans on raiding German-occupied Tobruk with hand- picked commandos, but a mixup leaves... more | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
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User Reviews:
The Shakespearean Action Hero more (13 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Richard Burton ... Capt. Alex Foster
John Colicos ... Sgt. Maj. Allan MacKenzie
Clinton Greyn ... Maj. Hugh Tarkington
Wolfgang Preiss ... Gen. Erwin Rommel
Danielle De Metz ... Vivianne Gagliardo
Karl-Otto Alberty ... Capt. Heinz Schroeder
Christopher Cary ... Cpl. Peter Merrihew
John Orchard ... Dan Garth
Brook Williams ... Sgt. Joe Reilly

Greg Mullavey ... Pvt. Ed Brown
Ben Wright ... Admiral
Michael Sevareid ... Cpl. Bill Wembley
Chris Anders ... Tank Sergeant
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Ron Berkeley
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Additional Details

Parents Guide:
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Runtime:
99 min
Country:
USA
Language:
German | Italian | English
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Westrex Recording System)
Certification:
Iceland:16 | West Germany:12 (f) | Australia:PG | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1971) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 | USA:GP (original rating) | USA:PG
Filming Locations:
Mexico more
Company:
Universal Pictures more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Average Shot Length (ASL) = ~4.9 seconds. Median Shot Length 4 seconds. more
Goofs:
Factual errors: In the battle on the hill over the guns at Tobruk, Captain Foster (Burton) drops a mortar shell down a tube, pauses to give an order, then drops another shell into the tube. If you watch and listen there is neither the sound of a tube firing between the 2 shells being dropped into the tube, nor the visual puff from the end of the barrel which is fully visible during the entire sequence. Needless to say dropping a second round on top of a previously unfired one would ruin the gunners whole day. more
Quotes:
Maj. Hugh Tarkington: You know Rommel?
Capt. Heinz Schroeder: Yes. He loves the Sahara. We all do. By "we", I mean the professional military.
Maj. Hugh Tarkington: I'm not a military man, captain. War holds no romance for me. The side effects are repulsive.
Capt. Heinz Schroeder: Here there are no side effects. No women, no children, no towns to get in the way, just men, my doctor.
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Gamera vs. Guiron (#4.12)" (1991) more

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User Reviews

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5 out of 8 people found the following review useful.
The Shakespearean Action Hero, 4 April 2006
3/10
Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Looking at the criticisms of poor Richard Burton for taking a role in Raid on Rommel makes me want to put a word in for him. Acting was a craft as well as an art to him, it's how he made his living. I'm sure he got a good pay day out of Raid on Rommel. I think he also wanted to try the action genre as well. He made a much better choice with Where Eagles Dare though.

It's a poorly conceived story from start to finish. Someone in Allied Headquarters in London had the brilliant idea of freeing a bunch of captive commandos in North Africa and send them on a mission to Tobruk to spike some harbor guns. Same idea as in Guns of Navarone. So Burton gets the job.

But upon executing the escape he discovers he has freed a bunch of medical personnel and hardly enough commandos. Never mind he uses what he has.

His mission is to blow up those guns, but on discovering a fuel depot for Rommel he makes a little side trip to blow it up. Hello, but I think he was compromising the mission he was sent on. Wouldn't it have made a lot more sense to do the job you're assigned to and then when you got out you tell headquarters and they do another mission? That makes more sense to me.

The fuel depot sequences and the finale with the guns at Tobruk harbor are taken from the Rock Hudson film a few years earlier. Burton gives a rather pedestrian performance as does the rest of the cast.

By the way as if our heroes didn't have enough on their hands they're also transporting the mistress of an Italian general. That man wasn't going to sacrifice any of the comforts of the homefront. They keep her all doped up and at one point, one of the commandos decides to sacrifice for king and country and give his all for the mission.

Just who was the dope who thought her up?

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Recent Posts (updated daily)User
The ending (Spoilers) bullit2513
Classic war drama with a riveting scene about stamp collecting parillamilt
watch tobruk instead The_Khazi
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