Attack (1956)

[JaseSF]

ATTACK (1956) stars Jack Palance as the tough and determined Lt. Joe Costa, a man who has serious reservations about his commanding officer Capt. Erskine Cooney played by Eddie Albert (of "Green Acres" fame). Costa suspects that Cooney was only put in charge because of his connections back home (his father being a respected, wealthy prominent Judge and friend of  one Lt. Col. Clyde Bartlett [played by Lee Marvin]) and has seen Cooney show signs of possible cowardice in battle before, something Lt. Costa well knows could put his own life and the lives of those men under his command in jeopardy.  Finally the word comes that Cooney's Fox Company is to attack and hopefully advance in the face of the enemy. Costa'ssquad of  men are assigned the first advance,  hoping to reach what's thought to be an abandoned house on the outskirts of enemy territory and Cooney has sworn he will back them if need be. The question now is, if they get in a tight spot, will he be a man of his word or not? Costa warns Cooney: "You double cross me. You play the gutless wonder just once more and I'll come back and I'll get you, Cooney....I'll shove this grenade down your throat and pull the pin.'"

It's amazing how phenomenal this low budget black and white war film (they could only afford two tanks) looks and plays out. It's fantastic! Palance steals the show with one of his best performances ever as Lt. Costa. This is a man on the edge that doesn't need  to be pushed any farther. This is a man who has every right to be upset with what's going on around him...his fighting a war not only on the battlefield but in the face of incompetent superiors.  Albert proves he actually can play serious roles and do a fantastic job of it here as Cooney, who proves a bit more than your typical one-dimensional villain carciature. Marvin, Buddy Ebsen, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel are all on hand here too and each get in their memorable moments to boot as well. There's action, explosions galore, men fighting for their lives on the battlefield and also having to deal with the intense reality that maybe those at the top really do not know what they are doing. Do yourself a favor if you're a fan of war movies and see this one. I suspect you'll be glad you did.

[peter johnson]

Sounds wonderful --
Doesn't Albert deteriorate into a blithering coward at one point?  I'd heard other actors discussing this film before.
peter j./denny c.

[Jim H]

I don't think I've seen the entire movie but..


**SPOILERS**



This is the one where the lead gets his arm run over by a tank, and comes back barely alive to take revenge on his cowardly commander, right?



**END***

[JaseSF]

Yes. And it's powerful stuff too.