Fragile Fox

I just watched the 1956 war movie Attack! on Hulu a few minutes ago. I've seen it many times down through the years and it's still a favorite of mine. It's been a long time since I'd watched it and still find it riveting. This movie is considered and anti-war movie to most but I don't really view it that way.

The movie is about a platoon of men that find themselves between a rock and a hard place - facing the SS on the front, and a cowardly/dastardly officer over them. Lt. Joe Costa (played by Jack Palance) knows the score from the beginning of the movie. He's followed orders of his captain before, with high casualties, now he's being ordered back out, with guarantee his commanding officer won't leave him hanging in the wind. That's the set up of the story - I don't want to spoil it for you.

This was originally a stage play called the Fragile Fox. The cowardly Captain Cooney played by the late Eddie Albert (that's Mr. Douglas to you Green Acre fans). Eddie does an incredible job of acting in this movie. Why to see him quiver and cop out on his men - you'd never think that in real life, during WWII, he earned the Bronze Star during the Battle of Tarawa. BTW, I just read where Jack Palance was disfigured during the war while trying to bail out of a B-24 Liberator while training in Arizona. His rugged hard looks didn't come from his professional boxing career prior to the war, but from all the reconstructive surgeries he had to undergo from the burns suffered from the training mishap.

Lee Marvin is also in this picture (a Marine who was actually wounded on Saipan), as well as Buddy Ebsen (served WWII in Coast Guard). Most of that generation served in the military in some capacity - few cared to draw attention to it. I once saw Lee Marvin's grave at Arlington National Cemetery. His small white marker is among the ranks of countless other small white markers there.

It was the entire cast of the television show combat that were honored to have Lee Marvin on their show. They watched his every move during his guest starring appearance - and made mention of how they learned a great deal from the way he carried himself - and carried his M-I.

But I digress...

Attack! was not a big budget picture. The battle scenes are not all that believable, but the movie is great in spite of it's production qualities. Robert Aldrich was the director. You may not have ever heard of the movie Attack!, but you may recall Aldrich later directing Lee Marvin in The Dirty Dozen.

So go to Hulu and watch the entire movie for free! Hulu also has Between Heaven & Hell. It's another great war movie. Buddy Epson has a great roll in that flick as well. Go on now - go watch'm - that's an order!