Attack (1956)
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72% of users liked it
(1,260 ratings)
It is easy to see why the US Army refused to cooperate in the production of Attack. Based on the Norman Brooks play The Fragile Fox, this searing war film is a powerful indictment against a military system which protects even its most incompetent of officers. Eddie Albert plays a posturing but… More It is easy to see why the US Army refused to cooperate in the production of Attack. Based on the Norman Brooks play The Fragile Fox, this searing war film is a powerful indictment against a military system which protects even its most incompetent of officers. Eddie Albert plays a posturing but hopelessly inept infantry captain, whose misdeeds are covered up by his colonel Lee Marvin. Albert has strong political connections in the US, and Marvin hopes to take advantage of this after the war. Lieutenant Jack Palance has sworn to kill Albert with his bare hands if the officer bungles another mission. Albert orders Palance and his men into an untenable position on the battlefields of Belgium--and then, true to character, is too cowardly to send backup troops, leaving Palance's men to their fate. By sheer strength of will, Palance, whose arm has been shattered by an enemy tank, drags himself to the cellar where Albert is billeted and attempts to rid the world of the terror-stricken captain. Palance dies before he can keep his promise, but when the craven Albert makes an effort to surrender himself and his men to the Germans, he is shot down by lieutenant William Smithers. The rest of the men conspire to cover up Smithers' "crime" by claiming that Albert died from enemy fire, but Smithers proves to be less willing to prevaricate than his fellow soldiers. Though most filmgoers are mesmerized by Eddie Albert's virtuoso performance as a snivelling yellow-belly, director Robert Aldrich claimed that Albert gave his best reading during rehearsals, and that what ended up on film was nowhere near as powerful as it might have been. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Directed By
- Robert Aldrich
- Written By
- James Poe
- Genres
- Drama, Classics
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 17, 1956 Wide
- On DVD
- May 20, 2003
- Studio
- United Artists
Critic Reviews
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Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
One of Robert Aldrich's best films, this dark, grim, cynical portrait of infantry warfare in 1944 Belgium is extremely well acted by Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Eddie Albert and the rest of the male cast.
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Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
It seems like film noir told as a war drama.
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Pablo Villaca, Cinema em Cena
Aldrich conduz com segurança a tensão crescente da narrativa, e conta, ainda, com a forte presença de Palance. Os únicos problemas residem nos prolixos minutos finais e no personagem de Albert, que acaba se tornando muito caricatural.
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Cast
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Jack Palance
as Lieutenant Joe Costa
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Eddie Albert
as Capt. Erskine Cooney
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Lee Marvin
as Col. Bartlett
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Robert Strauss
as Pvt. Bernstein
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Richard Jaeckel
as Pvt. Snowden
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Buddy Ebsen
as Sgt. Tolliver
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William Smithers
as Lt. Harold Woodruff
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Jon Shepodd
as Corporal Jackson
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Jimmy Goodwin
as Pfc. Ricks
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Peter van Eyck
as German Officer
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Steven Geray
as German Non-Com
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Louis Mercier
as Old Frenchman
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Strother Martin
as Sgt. Ingersol
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Ron Mc Neil
as Pfc. Jones
- Mike Ragan
- Henry Rowland
- Leonard Bremen
