| Director | Henry Hathaway |
|---|---|
| Box office | $2.4 million |
In November 1941, a British commando unit raids the headquarters of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, unaware that the target of their assassination attempt is recovering from nasal diphtheria in Germany. A phone call from Adolf Hitler prompts Rommel's return to the Afrika Korps. The British Eighth Army under General Bernard Montgomery is poised to counterattack the Axis forces in the Second Battle of El Alamein. With inadequate resources and combat power, Rommel is ordered by Hitler to hold fast and fight to the last man. He contemptuously attributes the order to the “clowns“ surrounding Hitler, demands that the order be retransmitted and crumples the repeated order, signaling his intention to disobey.
Rommel again falls ill and is returned to Germany. Family friend Dr. Karl Strölin, lord mayor of Stuttgart, visits him in hospital to request that he join a group of dissidents plotting to overthrow Hitler. Rommel strongly resists and is transferred to Western Europe to oversee completion of the Atlantic Wall, which he realizes will be inadequate to repel an Allied invasion.
When the D-Day landings are successful, Rommel and his superior, Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, are handicapped by Hitler's astrology-based belief that the real invasion will come at Calais. Hitler refuses to release troops and tanks desperately needed in Normandy and again forbids an orderly retreat to establish a strong defense in depth.
Rommel risks broaching the topic of a conspiracy against Hitler with von Rundstedt, who refuses to commit but wishes Rommel success with the plot. Rommel is seriously injured when his staff car is strafed by an Allied plane and he returns home to recuperate. When a bomb explodes at Hitler's feet during a meeting of the general staff at the Wolf's Lair, Hitler survives and thousands suspected of complicity are arrested and executed. Evidence of Rommel's secret participation is gathered, and General Wilhelm Burgdorf charges Rommel with treason. Rommel, a beloved national hero, is given a choice between death by garrote or suicide. The suicide would be publicly attributed in to war wounds, accompanied by the promise that his wife and son would be safe. Rommel bids a stoic farewell to his wife, who promises to explain the choice to their son, and he then climbs into a staff car to meet his fate.
A speech that British prime minister Winston Churchill delivered to the House of Commons in praise of Rommel for his chivalry in battle, tactical genius, and courageous stance against Hitler is heard as a voiceover.