Raid on Rommel (1971)

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.