“Attack!”
is a 1956 film from Robert Aldrich (“The Dirty Dozen”) based on the play
“Fragile Fox”. The movie was low budget
and was shot on the back lot in just 35 days.
Because of the plot, the Pentagon refused any cooperation. Shame!
Aldrich had to rent two decidedly inauthentic tanks. This justs adds to the “charm” of the
film. (First use of the word charm in a
review of this movie.)
The
film is set in WWII Belgium before the Battle of the Bulge. A depleted American platoon led by Lt. Costa
(Jack Palance) is assaulting a pill box and gets pinned down. The company commander Capt. Cooney (Eddie
Albert) is a coward who refuses to support the attack. Costas survives and is in a bad mood, to say
the least. It turns out that Lt. Col. Bartlett
(Lee Marvin) is propping up Cooney for future patronage from Cooney’s father
who is an influential judge. Costas is
very cynical and the only thing that prevents him from fragging Cooney is his
friend Lt. Woodruff (William Smithers).
Woodruff is the buffer between Costas and Cooney. He wants Cooney gone, but doesn’t want his
friend in Leavenworth.
Bartlett
orders Cooney to capture the next town.
Cooney decides a full scale effort (which would involve him facing
flying metal) is uncalled for and orders Costas to lead a squad into an Alamo
on the outskirts of the town. Before
leaving, Costas tells Cooney that if he leaves him hanging again, “I’ll shove
this grenade down your throat.” He
forgets to add “sir”. It’s “last stand”
time. Costas is shocked, shocked to find
that Cooney pulls a Cooney.
It’s
Hitler’s last great counteroffensive time as the Battle of the Bulge hits the
company. Bartlett arrives and literally
slaps Cooney into defending the town at all costs. Cooney does not have the cowardice slapped
out of him. Instead, he snaps and is
psychiatrist couch-bound. Unless Costas
has survived the Alamo. Indeed, Costas
arrives in a friggin’ fraggin’ mood, but is distracted by having to take out a
German tanks with a bazooka. He then
suffers one of the best woundings in war movie history. The final scene takes place in a basement
with Germans rampaging above. Things are
said, things are done. Issues are
resolved. Not a happy ending, but
satisfying.
.jpg) |
| Eddie Albert channeling the opposite of his WWII persona |
Talk
about getting bang for your buck. The
only thing low budget is the sets and the tanks. This was Aldrich’s seventh movie and he is
definitely showing his style and panache.
The film does have the stage vibe you often get when plays are
transferred to film, but he uses cinematic touches to negate that. His camera shoots through barriers and
doorways. There are shots from above and
diagonal views and deep focuses. It’s a
bit showy, but adds to the appeal of the movie.
The score gets attention with sometimes discordant piano music. The acting is outstanding with Palance successfully
treading the line between scene-chewing and scene-stealing. It is a remarkable performance with
tremendous energy. Costas is one of my
favorite war movie characters. The rest
of the cast is perfect. Marvin is
loathsome and Smithers (in his first big role) is solid. Kudos to Eddie Albert (a war hero, as were
Palance and Marvin) for daringly playing against type. John Wayne would have never accepted a role
like that and he was not even a veteran.
The supporting cast includes Buddy Ebsen, Robert Strauss, and Richard
F’in Jaeckel (of course). If you are of
my generation, you will feel very comfortable watching this movie. The combat scenes are fairly good for a
play, but you’ll remember the dialogue more than the action. The movie blends violence and exposition
well. There are some good lines. My favorite comes from Pvt. Bernstein
(Strauss), who after he encounters Bartlett and Cooney, says: “When you salute
them two, you have to apologize to your arm.”
There is some good comic relief in the film.
 |
| after the war, he used his shooting skills to uncover some buubling crude |
If
your heart goes out to the officers instead of the enlisted men, you might not
enjoy this movie. It is not so much
anti-war as it is anti-brass. It tends
to be moralistic in its anti-authority theme.
Other themes include; the
military is like politics, the higher up you go the more corrupt the officers
are, and following orders can really suck.
Released in 1956, it was a harbinger of the 60’s wave of modern war films. The fact that it is relatively unknown and
did not do well at the box office shows that Americans were not yet ready for
this type of flag furler. This is 2014 –
see this movie! It will definitely crack my 100 Best list.
P.S. Check out that awesome poster. Jack Palance is one of the few human beings that actually could pull a grenade pin with his teeth. And for once the tag line is accurate. And that is one kick-ass trailer. Old school style.
Grade = A-
