A night to remember

 

“Night of the Fox” is a 1990 TV mini-series based on the 1986 novel of the same name by British author Jack Higgins (mostly known for “The Eagle Has Landed”). The plot is set on Jersey in the English Channel during World War II, when the island was occupied by the Nazis. One of the main characters, Harry Martineau, is a British-American agent impersonating an SS officer. His mission is to rescue – or kill – another American stranded on Jersey, Hugh Kelso, who happens to know the entire plan for D-Day! Martineau is accompanied by Sarah Drayton, another undercover operative who tells the story in retrospect over 40 years later to Martineau´s biographer. The prime objective of the mission changes when none other than Erwin Rommel makes a surprise visit to Jersey, at which point Martineau decides to kill *him* instead, hoping to create pandemonium in the ranks of the German military. One of the more odd twists of the story is that “Rommel” turns out to be a Jewish actor, used by the real Rommel as a body double to establish an alibi as Operation Valkyrie is underway in Berlin…

The story isn´t *that* bad, but it feels very unrealistic. Sure, it´s fiction, but it still has too many plot holes, although I suppose it´s possible they are solved somehow in the novel (which I haven´t read). When I watched "Night of the Fox" the first time years ago, I was also distracted by the fact that Martineau was starred by George Peppard, an actor I associated with the extremely unserious TV series “The A-Team”. For some reason, I didn´t like Michael York (who stars Rommel) either. Decades later, I can admit that both actors played their parts perfectly. Indeed, Peppard is a more convincing Nazi than York!

“Night of the Fox” is supposed to be “hard boiled”, with Martineau and his commanding officer Munro being portrayed as old cynics ready to walk over corpses to get a job done. Drayton repeats the phrase “No reason, no sense” when describing the ultimately unhappy fate of both Martineau and “Rommel”. I suppose it´s considered risqué in some quarters to portray “our boys” (the Western Allies) in a somewhat negative light, but personally I just find it annoying. I think the good people of Jersey agrees with me that a few eggs have to be cracked during a Nazi occupation!

With that reflection, I end this little review.