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7
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5 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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The
American Cross
Of Iron?
Made three years after the
Korean armistice and almost a decade prior to
America's involvement in Vietnam, Attack!*
is a very unusual military drama for its
time in that it paints an unflattering portrait
of the U.S. Army. In tone and theme it's a precursor
to the antiwar films of the post-Vietnam period.
Set during the Battle of the Bulge (December 1944),
there is absolutely no way the film could've
been made during World War II. In our current
age, when flag-waving infotainment and propaganda
passes itself off as news on the 24-hour cable
channels, it pains me to think that, due to so-called
'Patriotic Correctness', filmmakers might have
a tough time getting such a picture greenlit today.
Jack
Palance headlines a strong cast as Lt. Joe Costa,
a conscientious platoon leader in Fox Company,
part of a National Guard battalion serving in
northern Europe. The G.I.s of Fox Company have
the severe misfortune of being commanded by one
Captain Erskine Cooney (Eddie Albert), a cowardly,
incompetent alcoholic. When one of Costa's squads
is wiped out assaulting a German position —
slaughtered because the assistance promised by
Cooney never arrives —
he's finally had enough. The lieutenant, who places
the highest priority on the welfare of his men,
vows to personally kill Cooney if the captain
causes any more unnecessary casualties.
You'd
think such incompetence would result in Cooney
being canned by his superiors. But no. Cooney
is protected from scrutiny by his battalion commander,
the corrupt Lt. Col. Bartlett (Lee Marvin). Bartlett's
a hometown friend who's currying favor with Cooney's
father, a politically well-connected judge, to
further his own postwar career. Fox Company's
straightlaced executive officer, Lt. Woodruff
(William Smithers), approaches Bartlett about
Cooney's deadly mistakes and their damaging effects
on morale, but is rebuffed. Besides, the colonel
assures him, the word from "upstairs" is that
the war is virtually over; the chances of the
battalion seeing heavy combat again are a hundred
to one. Woodruff's failed attempt to go through
the system, using the chain of command, only makes
Costa more determined to force a showdown with
Cooney. He's not so convinced the enemy's been
licked. He's right. The Germans launch a surprise
counteroffensive, breaking through the American
lines in Belgium. And hapless Fox Company stands
directly in their path, guarding an important
crossroads — with
the infamous Captain Cooney still in command.
Attack!
offers a grim picture of men at war not only with
the enemy, but also the injustices of a system
easily corrupted by those in authority. It doesn't
provide any pat answers. Heroism isn't automatically
rewarded or even recognized. A cloud of doom seems
to hang over the soldiers whom fate has put in
the hands of a criminally negligent oaf. We come
to see that the extreme solution advocated by
Costa is the only way out —
but that it, too, will come with a heavy price.
The film is solidly helmed
by Robert Aldrich (The Dirty
Dozen), giving it a stark, almost documentary
feel that's less dated than most of its contemporaries,
though at times it can't help but betray its stage
play origins. Jack Palance — who could be one
of the worst big name actors ever when slumming
for a check (see Marquis
De Sade's Justine or The
Shape Of Things To Come) — gives an intense,
riveting performance as Lt. Costa. (The scene
in which Costa's arm is squashed by a German tank,
though not gory, is unforgettable. Palance's agonized
screams may well send a chill up your spine.)
Backing him up is an excellent cast in both major
and minor roles. Marvin shows us the flip side
of his heroic tough guy persona, all smarmy (but
crafty) venality — you'll hate this guy as much
as Cooney because he actually has the power to
do something about the situation, but won't. Jed
Clampett himself, Buddy Ebsen, shines as Costa's
rock-steady platoon sergeant who, just like ol'
Jed, is a crack shot and a man of few words. The
always reliable Robert Strauss (Stalag
17) provides comic relief as a wisecracking
Jewish soldier; a young, fresh-faced Richard Jaeckel
appears as one of the riflemen. Smithers, whose
Lt. Woodruff is the voice of sanity caught between
the extremes of Costa and Cooney, is very good
in a key role. (Best known as the traitorous Captain
Merrick in the "Bread and Circuses" episode of
classic Star Trek, this was his first movie;
he pretty much labored in TV obscurity for the
rest of his career.) As the locus of the film's
tragic narrative, Eddie Albert's Captain Cooney
emerges as one of the most thoroughly despicable
characters I've seen in quite some time. The script
plumbs Cooney's psyche, revealing a tortured childhood
as the root of his monumental failings, but he's
so utterly contemptible that there's simply no
room at all for sympathy. We know that Costa's
right: Cooney deserves to be killed. Though
it's a difficult role, Albert effectively conveys
this pitiful excuse for a human being in all his
'glory', be it the belligerent drunk, the craven
coward, or the smirking bully.
The most significant misstep
in the film is the mostly awful music score by
Frank DeVol. In spots it's bombastically gung
ho — inappropriately so, given the subject matter
— and even undercuts Albert's performance. In
quite a few of Albert's key scenes, ones in which
we're shown the depths of Cooney's psychosis,
a cartoonish nursery rhyme version of "London
Bridge Is Falling Down" is played. Albert's acting
skirts very close to being over the top here but
he generally knows when to pull back — unfortunately,
DeVol's music sends these scenes right over the
edge. (All right, already! We get it that
Cooney's supposed to be nuts, okay?)
One other aspect of the movie
deserves mention, but to do so involves an unavoidable
spoiler. So skip the next paragraph if you'd rather
not know:
The Costa character dies with
a grimace of horror and agony on his face — a
'silent scream' if you will. I realize that Aldrich
is trying to make a point here, but it strains
credulity that none of Costa's buddies bother
to cover him up or close his mouth and eyes. They
just leave him like that on the stretcher.
This could very well result in unintentional laughter
on the part of the viewer... I tried hard not
to but found myself chuckling nonetheless.
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| Attack!
has been released by MGM as a budget-priced title
and is an excellent deal. Presented in full-screen
format (the film's original aspect ratio), the crisp
black and white transfer looks exceptionally good
for a nearly 50-year old film. The serviceable mono
audio track is free of hiss or distortion. (A few
passages of dialog are muffled or too low but this
is due to the actors' line readings and not the
disc.) A Spanish language track is included which
is significantly inferior. The original U.S. theatrical
trailer is offered as an extra. 6/03/03 |
| *
The
actual title of the film is simply "Attack" — sans
the exclamation point — but both the trailer and
DVD packaging use the "!". I prefer the exclamation
point myself, thus the movie is listed here that
way. |
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