Attack (1956 film)
| Attack! | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | Robert Aldrich |
| Produced by | Robert Aldrich |
| Screenplay by | James Poe |
| Based on |
Fragile Fox by Norman Brooks |
| Starring |
Jack Palance Eddie Albert Lee Marvin William Smithers Robert Strauss Buddy Ebsen |
| Music by | Frank De Vol |
| Cinematography | Joseph F. Biroc |
| Edited by | Michael Luciano |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | United Artists |
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Release date
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Running time
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107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $810,000 |
| Box office | $2 million (US) 1,493,421 admissions (France) |
Attack, also known as Attack!, is a 1956 American anti-war drama film. It was directed by Robert Aldrich and starred Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, Lee Marvin, William Smithers, Robert Strauss, Richard Jaeckel, Buddy Ebsen and Peter van Eyck. The cinematographer was Joseph Biroc.
"A cynical and grim account of war", the film is set in the latter stages of World War II and tells the story of a front line combat unit led by a cowardly captain clearly out of his depth as well as a tougher subordinate and an executive officer who both threaten to do away with him. As the official trailer put it: "Not every gun is pointed at the enemy!"
The film won the 1956 Italian Film Critics Award.
Europe 1944: Fragile Fox is a company of the National Guard of the United States based in a Belgian town near the front line. They are led by Captain Erskine Cooney (Eddie Albert), who appears to be better at handling red tape than combat. Cooney freezes under fire and cannot bring himself to send more men into battle to reinforce those already under attack. The increasing and unnecessary loss of life is lowering morale and trying the patience of platoon leader Lieutenant Joe Costa (Jack Palance). The executive officer, Lieutenant Harold Woodruff (William Smithers, in his first credited screen role) is the "voice of reason" who tries to keep the peace between Cooney and Costa. Woodruff tries to get Cooney reassigned to a desk job. It is well known that Cooney owes his position to battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Clyde Bartlett (Lee Marvin), who has known the Cooney family since he was a 14-year-old clerk in the office of Cooney's father, a top judge. The judge's influence could be very useful to Bartlett's post-war political ambitions.
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Wikipedia