Attack (1956)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Robert Aldrich

Writers:

Norman Brooks (play)
James Poe (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 October 1956 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | War | Action

Tagline:

The Story of the "Fragile Fox" Company!

Plot:

During the closing days of WWII, a National Guard Infantry Company is assigned the task of setting up artillery observation posts in a strategic area...

Plot Keywords:

National Guard | WWII | Cowardice | Battle Of The Bulge | Drunk

Awards:

1 win & 1 nomination

Cast

Jack Palance	...	Lt. Joe Costa, Fox Co.
Eddie Albert	...	Capt. Erskine Cooney, CO, Fox Co.
Lee Marvin	...	Lt. Col. Clyde Bartlett, CO, White Battalion
Robert Strauss	...	Pfc. Bernstein
Richard Jaeckel	...	Pvt. Snowden
Buddy Ebsen	...	Sfc. Tolliver, Fox Co.
Jon Shepodd	...	Cpl. John Jackson, Fox Co. (communications)
Peter van Eyck	...	SS Captain (as Peter Van Eyck)
James Goodwin	...	Pfc. Ricks (as Jimmy Goodwin)
Steven Geray	...	Otto, German NCO
Jud Taylor	...	Pvt. Jacob R. Abramowitz (radioman) (as Judson Taylor)
Louis Mercier	...	Brouise (French blacksmith)
Henry Rowland	...	German with Binoculars
Holly Bane	...	Soldier with binoculars (as Mike Ragan)
Ron McNeil	...	Pfc. Jones

Also Known As:

Attack! (USA) (alternative spelling)
Command Attack (USA) (working title)
The Fragile Fox (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Argentina:Atp | UK:PG | West Germany:16 (f) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | USA:Approved

Filming Locations:

Albertson Ranch, Triunfo, California, USA

Company:

Associates & Aldrich Company, The

Trivia:

After reading the script, the military flatly refused to allow any co-operation with the production. That meant no tanks, no uniforms, no troops. They didn't even allow director Robert Aldrich to view any Signal Corps footage. Aldrich managed to rent two tanks; by careful staging and ingenuity, he was able to convey the impression that many more were being used.

Goofs:

Factual errors: Throughout the picture, German infantrymen use what seems to be some variation of the water-cooled Browning 30-caliber machine gun, which was a U.S. weapon. Also, the German tanks don't resemble any Panzers in use during World War II.

Quotes:

Sfc. Tolliver, Fox Co.: [refusing a drink] Captain, down around where I come from we dearly love our whiskey. But we don't drink with another man unless we respect him.

Tough, hard-hitting WWII battle film

This is one of the toughest and most realistic films about WWII combat in Europe made in the 1950s. The bayonet sharpness of this movie stems from that many of the actors in the film are or were themselves WWII veterans. Lee Marvin was a US Marine on Saipan and was wounded in combat, and Eddie Albert was in the Navy and was at the unimaginably bloody battle of Tarawa (Betio). These men knew what war was about and what it cost to wage it. See this film. You will witness a classic drama about bravery in war and the ugliness and finality of combat.