ATTACK! 15
La Nelle. Without knowing the whereabouts of the German soldiers, Cooney refuses
to commit the whole com pany to a coordinated attack and orders Costa to lead a
reconnaissance probe over open ground. Costa agrees as long as he is promised
reinforcements if his men are fired upon. As they approach La Nelle, a dug-in SS
unit opens fire on Costa’s platoon. With most of his men killed or wounded, Costa
and his fellow survivors seek shelter in a farm house. Costa calls for reinforcements
but Cooney panics, ignores Woodruff’s pleas, and turns to drink. When panzers
appear, Costa and his men are forced to retreat. Costa tells Woodruff over the radio
to warn Cooney that he’s “coming back!” Costa goes missing, but almost all other
soldiers make it back to base. The men are not afraid to show their dis plea sure:
Bern stein (Robert Strauss) spits at Cooney’s feet and Sgt. Tolliver (Buddy Ebsen)
refuses to drink with him, telling him that where he comes from “We don’t drink
with another man unless we re spect him.” Woodruff and Cooney are told to hold
their position, but Woodruff threatens to make a formal complaint to Gen. Par-
sons, the col o nel’s superior, over Cooney’s poor decisions. A drunken, distraught
Cooney tells Woodruff that his father beat him to “make a man” out of him and
that Bartlett gave him his command as a favor to Cooney’s father. At this point
Costa suddenly reappears, determined to exact vengeance on Cooney, but a renewed
German attack sends him back into combat. Costa grabs a bazooka and knocks
out a German tank, only to have his arm flattened by its treads. A handful of men,
including Woodruff, Sgt. Tolliver, and a wounded Pvt. Bern stein, take refuge in a
basement. Costa suddenly appears, and bleeding profusely from his crushed arm,
falls over and dies before he can kill Cooney. Cooney then suggests that the rest of
the men surrender. When Cooney goes to leave the cellar, Woodruff shoots him
and then insists that Tolliver place him under arrest. Instead, they take turns shoot-
ing Cooney to share responsibility. Bartlett arrives with reinforcements and the
Germans retreat; then Woodruff is promoted to captain and given charge of Fox
Com pany after the com pany claims that Cooney was killed by the enemy. Bartlett
voices his plan to nominate Cooney for the Distinguished Ser vice Cross, enraging
Woodruff and causing him to accuse Bartlett of corruption. Unfazed, Bartlett
reminds Woodruff that he (Woodruff) has too much to lose if he goes public. Call-
ing his bluff, Woodruff gets on the radio to call General Parsons.
Reception
Scandalized by its subject matter, the Department of Defense banned Attack!
from U.S. military bases, prompting Rep. Charles Melvin Price (D- Illinois), a
member of the House Armed Ser vices Committee, to charge the DOD with cen-
sorship. The American Veterans Committee, a liberal veterans organ ization, also
denounced the military’s “Pollyanna policy.” A month before the film’s national
release Clare Booth Luce, ambassador to Italy (and a staunchly conservative
Republican), caused further controversy when she boycotted that year’s Venice
Film Festival because Attack! was one of the films being featured. Her snub was
repudiated by the festival jury, which bestowed the Pasinetti Award on Aldrich’s
film for best foreign entry. Critics and the film- going public likewise sided with
Robert Aldrich. Attack! opened in major American cities in October 1956 to