MovieChat Forums > Attack (1956) Discussion > Eddie Albert's Performance

Eddie Albert's Performance

posted 19 years ago by 80334080
23 replies | jump to latest

I just saw this on DVD and I have to say that much as I admire Eddie Albert as an actor I found his performance here to be way over the top. Admittedly, the job of portraying a pschotic and scared company commander is not easy but this was embarrassing! I'm also struck by the changes in attitudes toward war and the military in the 75 years between 1930 and now. There have been periods of anti-war at one extreme (e.g. All Quiet on the Western Front) and WWII recruiting style at the other (e.g. Guadalcanal Diary and most of John Wayne's war movies). In between there is the mixed type with most of the characters admirable with one bad apple (e.g. Captain Queeg in the Caine Mutiny). Attack is of course in this latter catagory- but it certainly won't do much for recruiting. Anyway Jack Palance is good enough in his role to make up for any overacting by Eddie !!

[–] heckles 18 years ago

While the early-40s army had its share of NG party officers who were found not up to snuff when the shooting came close, yes, I doubt that someone this craven would have made it all the way to the front. Still, it's fun to watch the camera focus on Albert's face while Lee Marvin empties out the liquor bottle. It sounds like urination and I suspect that wasn't a coincidence.

My question is, a -colonel- in command of a company?

"Quit whining. I evaded your vital organs." --Motoko Aoyama

[–] dnb43 18 years ago

Lee Marvin's character is a Lt. Colonel in command of the battalion. Eddie Albert's character is a Captain who commands a company which is part of the battalion commanded by Marvin.

[–] timmerbee 18 years ago

i recommend you watch Caine Mutiny again. Queeg wasn't the bad apple, Ed McMurray was.

[–] mattbcoach 18 years ago

Dont agree with you one bit. I thought Eddie Albert's performance was incredible. He really showed his range here. AND I disagree with your believing that LTCMDR Queeg was a bad apple. He was largely driven to what he was.
About the only thing I DO agree with you on is that Palance did very well.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Keylimepie 18 years ago

Lee Marvin and Jack Palance were also decorated war veterans.

[–] Hey_Sweden 11 years ago

I agree with you. It was a fine performance. I think that, paradoxically, it took a lot of guts for Albert to play a character who was such a chicken.

What do you think this is, a signature? It's a way of life!

[–] montrossboc-1 11 years ago

Excuse me, but in the movie 'The Caine Mutiny', Queeg is out of his mind AND a coward.

Short Cut, Draw Blood

[–] cowgoesmoo 8 years ago

It's more complicated than that. Queeg clearly had his faults, no question, but recall Greenwald's drunken speech at the victory party following the trial. He pointed out how the junior officers (Keefer/McMurray in particular) failed to support their CO at the time he needed their help the most. Yes, Queeg cracked up, but it happened largely because his junior officers stood by and let it happen.

[–] montrossboc-1 8 years ago

Greenwald's drunken speech notwithstanding (as if he was the judge of what insanity and cowardice is), it's my opinion that Queeg was nuts and a coward.

Short Cut, Draw Blood

[–] movies789 10 years ago

"Dont agree with you one bit. I thought Eddie Albert's performance was incredible."

I assume you mean very credible. "Incredible" means not believable.

[–] loydmooney-1 18 years ago

Whole heartedly agree: In fact the whole movie was a little whacko, while being in a strange way, superb. Almost like Tarantino, the plot that just went anywhere, and only a few really great moments and all by either Palance or Ebsen. Though I am sure some were taken in by Albert, they always are.

[–] The_Khazi 17 years ago

SPOILER SPOILER I thought he was rather good:you start off hating the guy for letting the squad down, then maybe you feel a slight tinge of sympathy as he breaks down on the bed & then you end up hoping that someone would "slot him" after he cruelly taunts the dying Palance.I also liked the errant piano note by De Vol which usually accompanied Albert`s muddled character.

The arm crushing sequence is still pretty gruesome as is the pained expression on Palance`s face throughout most of the film but the best sequence is when he threatens to shove a hand-grenade down Albert`s throat.I suspect people will moan that some of the equipment doesn`t look genuine or appropriate for the period but this remains a terrific film & deserves to be seen by more people.

[–] DD-931 17 years ago

I saw this movie in the '60s when I was a kid (who loved to watch war movies), and I can tell you this movie really shook me up. It's movies like this that helped me grow up in my attitudes about war and the men who have to fight them.

[–] crossfire-7 17 years ago

I have always thought this movie to be one of the great war films, along with Paths of Glory, Thin Red Line. I also love the movie, King Rat, and only find one fault in the movie: the plotline involving spawning rats to feed to the officers should have been done without the comedic structure.

Attack is, IMHO, a graphic, spare, depressingly realistic tale of wartime cowardice. I found the character played by Eddie Albert to be quite realistic. It is easy for me to understand how someone like Cooney could be a company commander, and the script seems to clarify that Cooney joined the Army to please his father. Albert was probably promised a cushy behind the scenes job, but in reality, for those in wartime who think that their connections will ensure their safety, the Pentagon may have different plans for them.

The scene when Palance threatens to shove a grenade down Albert's throat has to be seen to be appreciated. The dischordant piano notes that accompany the scene counterpoint the strangeness of the action. And yes, the scene when the tank runs over his arm is a chillingly real piece of acting by Palance.

Albert has always been one of my favorites. I will always remember when he played a martinet officer in an episode of The Lieutenant, a weekly television show that starred Gary Lockwood, also a favorite of mine. Albert had the look of a hard taskmaster in that episode, and he had the demeanor of a Marine, in my memory.

[–] DD-931 17 years ago

He was also surprisingly good in CAPTAIN NEWMAN, M.D., considering that film was directed almost as a service comedy.

[–] elcansau 17 years ago

I hadn´t seen before Eddie Albert acting and it was a nice surprise for me. He made a good job, along with an excellent performance by Lee Marvin, as usual.

[–] wtl471629 16 years ago

What is ironic is that Eddie Albert was a real life World War 2 hero playing a coward in this movie. It is like Wayne Morris who also was a WW2 hero playing a coward that gets a brave soldier executed in the movie Paths of Glory.

[–] jaddjamar 13 years ago

I disagree (respectfully). I thought Albert was on top of his game. Great movie!

Do you understand the words that I am saying to you?

[–] slokes 9 years ago

I found Albert to be over-the-top as well. I think part of the problem was it was out of his range, not so much that Albert was an exemplary serviceman in real life, but that he honed his screen persona playing straight-shooting good guys.

But most of the problem is with the script. "Attack" is a good film, but pushes the point of the company commander's unlikeableness too far by making sure we see him smirk and strut after the death of his best lieutenant and the prospect of surrendering to enemy troops with a murderous reputation. He's bad enough simply being incompetent, and there are moments Albert does capture something authentic in his behavior, like when he's drinking too much, getting riled at the comments of his men, and playing buddy-buddy with Lee Marvin's Colonel character. Still, his job of making the audience hate him at all costs proves too much of a weight in the end, especially for an actor who excelled more at lighter and/or more sympathetic fare.