Attack

source: Attack

It would seem political correctness prevailed even back during the big bloodletting. The military should screen it's officers very thoroughly before giving them the command over others' lives. Captain Cooney should never have been issued a uniform much less been promoted to such a high field rank. Most of these old 40's and 50's war films leave me colder than a dead kraut but this was way above the fold. Yes, some of the special effects were a bit tame and a couple of the sets looked like what they were, but this was one gritty, ugly tale of the horror and waste of combat. The entire cast was excellent in their portrayal of soldiers in a hopeless situation. Many familiar old faces in this one, most of whom are no longer with us.

One of the best war films ever made, this gritty little-known gem features Jack Palance in perhaps his best role. The dynamics of a small infantry unit just about at the end of its tether in WWII Europe are portrayed extremely realistically. Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, and Buddy Ebsen give great supporting performances. The film is in B&W and has all the dirt and sweatiness and fear that is characteristic of really good work done in the 1950's. No pretty boys here

My father was a veteran of World War II, and he suffered all of his remaining life - 20 years - after it was over. This was his favorite film. And this is back when you had to be lucky enough to catch it on TV. When it became available of VHS cassette, I immediately bought it, years after my father died. I asked him why he loved this movie so much. He told me it was just like the way it was. Each day was the day you were going to die. And, no one was going to help that. He fought because he had to, and wanted to. But that didn't make it any easier. The film shows much of the conflict and interplay between senior officers, but underneath all of that, it is a film about fighting in that war. I cannot recommend it more. Don't expect anything glorious. It is hard to watch. But it makes movies like 'Saving Private Ryan' look weak.

Based on a play Fragile Fox that was on Broadway during the early Fifties, Attack is one of the best war films ever made. No sham heroics here, just men doing a dirty job and caught in an extremely lousy situation due to politics. Lee Marvin is a politically ambitious colonel who's national guard company has been activated for World War II. He's got to babysit and keep an eye on Eddie Albert who's father is a big shot in the unnamed southern state he comes from. Only Albert is an incompetent and a coward. That's causing problems up and down the ranks. How it all gets resolved is what you have to see Attack for and Robert Aldrich never directed a better film. There's not a bad performance here, not a minute of film wasted. The contrasting character is Jack Palance who is the lead character. His courage and concern for the men he leads are set up in a direct counterpoint to Albert. His climactic scene is one of the most harrowing ever put on film. It is appropriate with news of Eddie Albert leaving us at the grand old age of 99 to pay tribute to what is probably the best performance this multi-talented and under-appreciated performer ever did. His Captain Cooney is one of the most malevolent creatures ever put to celluloid. He's such a bad man, his performance will make your skin crawl, Albert is that good in this role. Both he and Palance should have been up for Oscars in 1956. William Smithers made a good film debut in Attack. He never reached the heights of stardom, but Star Trek fans will know him for a role in the original series as Captain Merik who oddly enough made the same bad choices in that episode that Captain Cooney does in Attack. The cast is populated with war film veterans and they all do their usual fine job. There were times that it didn't seem possible you could make a war film without Lee Marvin, Robert Strauss, or Richard Jaeckel. God Bless 'em all. And Attack is a film not to be missed even if you don't particularly like war films.

I clearly remember seeing this one night while I was still in high school. I was impressed with what appeared to be honest and accurate. Not long afterwards, I had proof. I survived two years as a conscript infantryman during the Viet Nam nightmare, and saw first hand what war does to people. I am deeply dismayed when our leaders either don't understand war, or intentionally hide the truth. War is a horror beyond comprehension by those who have not seen it personally. This film, and Dalton Trumbo's JOHNNY GOT HIS GUN, should be required viewing for every American!

Having liked a lot of Jack Palance and Lee Marvin's work, and after hearing Attack described as one of the best films for both actors, I watched Attack with high expectations...and fortunately was not let down at all. Attack may not fit the definition of visually stunning, but it's very professionally photographed, is shot in crisp black and white that still looks good now and the claustrophobic production values are entirely appropriate for the atmosphere and setting of the film and come off very effectively. The score drives the action well and doesn't feel out of place or cheesy. The script is poignant, hard-hitting and remarkably honest, without trying too hard, it gets a touch melodramatic towards the end but not dreadfully so, just in comparison to the rest of the film. Attack also has a very compelling story, with action/war scenes that pulsate with intensity and suspense, emotional moments that are genuinely heart-wrenching rather than overwrought and Palance's climatic scene has got to be one of the most harrowing in a war film. While Attack may have unpleasant characters, it doesn't neglect to make them interesting and in the end these unattractive characters are also ones that are easy to care for and relate to, ones where it is also easy to understand their actions. It's very skilfully directed by Robert Aldrich, who never lets the tension slip and makes the story constantly engrossing while avoiding the dangerous traps it could easily have fallen into. Lastly, to say that the cast are very strong is an understatement, the acting is top-notch and there are a few career-bests here. Coming off particularly well is Jack Palance who has never been better in an unforgettably gut-wrenching portrayal, and while Lee Marvin has had meatier characters in his career he still gives his role here his usual steely intensity. Eddie Albert is skin-crawlingly good too, while his character is a weasel and malevolent at times in the second half of the film it was surprising at the amount of sympathy I felt for him. Buddy Ebsen is impressive and William Smithers plays one of the film's most sympathetic characters very believably, to the extent that one wonders why he didn't do more films. To conclude, an unforgettably powerful film that has the acting and its emotional impact as its main strengths. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I wasted some quality time with this movie. I had checked the voter rating before I watched it, so I expected a lot more. I think the voters only gave a high rating due to the good acting performances. Take away the acting and the movie is pure trash, with poor directing of an abysmal screenplay. Naturally the movie became a bit melodramatic in order to create the desired aura of loathing and detesting. In a real scenario, however, the cowardly and drunk CO would have stopped a rifle round in the back early on. Not likely an enemy round either, since he is actually more dangerous to his men then the enemy and probably hated by them more. The performances of Palance, Smithers, and Lee Marvin saved the movie, but I wish Marvin had been given a heavier role with his dynamic presence.

This movie had heaps of potential: the cowardly, inept company commander, the good platoon leader who hates him and the politically-minded, turn-a-blind-eye battalion commander, the friction, all set against a WW2 backdrop. Unfortunately it does not live up to this potential. The characters are incredibly one-dimensional and stereotypical. No attempt is made on the parts of the actors to make them anything but this. The plot is mostly okay, but gets overly preachy and idealistic towards the end. Furthermore, as a basic war movie it doesn't measure up. Many of the military tactics and practices didn't make sense. Characters get unit designations wrong (eg at one point battalion and company are mixed up). And you have the usual US tanks-as-German tanks issues. The only thing that sustains this movie is the frustration at the ineptness and cowardice of Captain Cooney (Eddie Albert) and whether justice will be meted out to him. That part was very intriguing and the reason I kept watching.

I wanted to like ATTACK, and it gets every break Jack Palance, Lee Marvin and Eddie Albert ever get from me, which is many breaks indeed; but to call this movie an overlooked gem is to confuse ice with zirconium. Marvin is indestructible, even with a cardboard character and newsprint lines, but Albert is atypically embarrassing, and Palance gives a performance so overwrought he can't stop screaming even after he's dead. These fine actors stand around a series of bunkers, declaiming if they're playing officers or mumbling as enlisted men, their endless chatter relieved by brief exterior shots of the Albertson Ranch. A social responsibility drama right out of 50s television plays out with no visible progression of story or revelation of character. Periodically we are treated to some of the least eventful combat to come out of the ETO. Finally there's a consequence to somebody's action - who cares whose, it's all so boring; but at last Palance spends five minutes trading body blows with an armored vehicle that resembles a Panzer nearly as much as it does a Checker Cab. The Ben Holt treatment is pretty intense, but this scene by its near-competence magnifies the flaws of the previous hour and a half, and renders unwatchable the remaining fifteen minutes. A talky war picture can be fine, if the dialog wasn't already tired back on Bataan. This story was abducted from the stage, and still feels more play than film. It looks more like a teleplay. Aldrich movies always look like they were produced for TV, but any given hour of COMBAT! at least has a developed plot, a sound act structure, and a couple of decent wisecracks. James Poe adapted several plays to the screen, with varying degrees of faithfulness and quality, but never quite so unsuccessfully as here. I haven't read FRAGILE FOX, but I hope it was better than this. It probably was as long as Aldrich didn't direct it. He doesn't pose actors so much as suspend them. Static isn't the word; it's like being surrounded by Army Surplus mannequins with moving lips. Who repeat themselves. And the music! Frank DeVol, or DeVol, as he cunningly rechristened himself in the 60s, was born to score Summer's Eve commercials and Bionic Man episodes. Through some cosmic clerical error he was allowed a long, destructive career in cinema. He serenades us with synthetic jazz, then takes a hammer to the piano wires, plucks them, strangles them. Then he strings up a cheap little waltz to follow emotional moments. BABY JANE's music has nothing on ATTACK for pure cheesy theatrics. At least the score for BABY JANE supported Bette Davis and Joan Crawford, who were enormous enough to drown it out. By contrast, Eddie Albert and Jack Palance merely help carry DeVol and Aldrich's gigantically unpleasant tune.