Saturday 20 April 2019

ATTACK

Robert Aldrich's great war film "Attack" differs from other war films in that it deals with the subject of cowardice. Made just over ten years after the Second World War ended you might even say it was a brave film for Hollywood to make. It was based on a play and while Aldrich 'opens it out' its theatrical origins are still in evidence. It's very much an actor's piece and a cast that includes Jack Palance, Eddie Albert, (magnificent as the coward), Lee Marvin, Richard Strauss, Buddy Ebsen, Richard Jaeckel and newcomer William Smithers do some of their very best work here. James Poe did the adaptation, (superbly), and Joseph Biroc was responsible for the brilliant black and white photography. It's certainly up there with "Kiss Me Deadly" and "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?"
as one of Aldrich's very best films.

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