Cowards in Command
War is hell. We know this. But, being led by a coward is a special kind of hell. It’s the kind that can get you killed while the guy who sent you there is safely saving his own neck at your expense. Today’s movie pairing features two war movies that share more than just the fog of war… they share a cowardly commander who will sacrifice anything or anyone to save himself.
Movie #1: Attack (1956)
In the final days of World War II, Lieutenant Joe Costa (Jack Palance) commands a group of soldiers in a National Guard infantry company. His commanding officer, Captain Erskine Cooney (Eddie Albert), is a spectacularly bad leader who got his position through political connections, freezes under fire, and repeatedly sends Costa and his men into dangerous situations while refusing to provide the support he promised. When Costa's men are pinned down by German forces, he calls for reinforcements. Cooney does what any great military commander would do in a crisis... he drinks.
Directed by Robert Aldrich, Attack is a nasty, claustrophobic war movie about what happens when the real enemy isn't necessarily the guy shooting at you, but the coward wearing your own uniform. It’s surprisingly great for how down and dirty the production is… and it is worth watching for Jack Palance’s over-the-top performance alone. The man never met a facial expression he couldn't turn up another 40 percent.
The cast is rounded out by some familiar faces, Palance is joined by veteran war movie stalwart, Lee Marvin, and veteran tv bumpkins Eddie Albert and Buddy Ebsen.
Movie #2: Paths of Glory (1957)
Stanley Kubrick's Paths of Glory takes us back to World War I, where Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) is ordered to lead his French soldiers in a nearly impossible attack against a heavily defended German position.
When the attack fails, instead of admitting that the orders were reckless and the objective was essentially suicidal, the generals decide that somebody has to pay for it. Three soldiers are selected, court-martialed for cowardice, and sentenced to death as an example to the rest of the regiment.
The movie is not literally a true story, but Humphrey Cobb's 1935 novel was inspired by a real World War I incident known as the Souain Corporals Affair. In March 1915, four French corporals were executed by firing squad after their unit failed to capture a heavily defended German position. Their deaths became an infamous example of soldiers being punished for the failures of those above them.
Kubrick fictionalizes the details, but the central injustice is very real: men are sent into an impossible situation, the attack fails, and the men who gave the orders find someone else to blame. And then there is Kirk Douglas, who much like Jack Palance, has a jaw that appears to have been carved specifically for the purpose of expressing outrage and gnashing of teeth.
Why a double feature?
When you're in the mood to channel your rage at injustice and unfairness, these two movies make a pretty terrific pairing. Both star famously intense actors with unforgettable snarls. Jack Palance's Joe Costa and Kirk Douglas's Colonel Dax are men of action and conscience, stuck trying to protect soldiers from commanders who have no business commanding anyone.
In both movies, cowardice in command gets men killed. Different wars, different motivations, but the same fundamental crime. Men with the power to protect their soldiers use those soldiers to protect themselves.
And here's a twist, the cowardly characters in both movies were played by men who were anything but cowards in real life. There's something wonderfully perverse about casting actual war heroes as men who can't summon the courage to do their jobs.
Eddie Albert, Captain Cooney in Attack, was a decorated WWII hero in real life. During the Battle of Tarawa in 1943, repeatedly exposed himself to enemy fire to rescue wounded Marines. He loaded more than 70 wounded men onto his landing craft and transported them to safety, earning the Bronze Star with the "V" device for valor.
Paths of Glory gives us an even better example, the film's most obvious coward is Lt. Roget, the drunken, murderous officer who sends his men into danger and then tries to cover his own ass. He's played by Wayne Morris, who in real life was a decorated Navy fighter pilot and World War II flying ace. Morris flew combat missions in the Pacific and was eventually buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Want More? Make it a marathon:
There’s no shortage of coward stories in Hollywood - and if for some inexplicable reason you’re just hankering for one or two more, we’ve got you:
MORE COWARDS IN COMMAND: In The Four Feathers, Harry Faversham resigns his commission before his regiment is sent to the Sudan and is branded a coward by the friends who give him four white feathers as symbols of his disgrace. He spends the rest of the story trying to prove them wrong, crossing paths with those same friends as he secretly works to save them. He isn't a coward. He's just got a spectacularly inconvenient way of demonstrating it.
Pick your poison – I prefer the 2002 version with Heath Ledger, but there are several older versions as well…
After the Credits:
FUN FACT #1: Attack has an almost absurd number of connections to real military service. Jack Palance, Lee Marvin, Peter van Eyck and Eddie Albert were all World War II veterans. Lee Marvin, of course, was wounded during the Battle of Saipan and received a Purple Heart. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.
Paths of Glory has its own remarkable collection of veterans behind and in front of the camera. Kirk Douglas served in the U.S. Navy during World War II as a communications officer in anti-submarine warfare and was medically discharged after suffering injuries from a depth-charge explosion.
FUN FACT #2: The U.S. military apparently did not enjoy having Hollywood point a camera at incompetent officers, the Defense Department refused to cooperate with the production. Aldrich wasn't allowed to borrow troops or tanks, and he couldn't even view Signal Corps combat footage. He eventually rented one tank and bought another for $1,000.
FUN FACT #3: The one-armed push up Joe Costa performs in Attack became one of Palance's signature bits, and 36 years later he did it again onstage at the 1992 Academy Awards when he accepted the Oscar for City Slickers. Because apparently once you have a good push-up, you keep it in the repertoire.
FUN FACT #4: France banned Paths of Glory when it was released because of its portrayal of the French military. Switzerland followed, calling it "subversive propaganda directed at France." Belgium required a foreword stating that the events depicted represented an isolated case and did not reflect the gallantry of French soldiers. The film wasn't released in France until 1975, and Switzerland waited until 1978.
Take a peek:
Attack Trailer:
Paths of Glory Trailer
And one more thing… SPOILER ALERT!
I love Jack Palance. Especially when he’s extra Jack Palance-y. He’s the kind of actor who always makes deliberate acting choices, usually with his entire face. So if you haven't seen Attack, stop reading and go watch it. Then, when the credits roll, watch the body on the stretcher.
The camera passes over Costa's dead face. Eyes wide open. Mouth wide open. There is no moment, not even in death, that is so small that Jack won’t turn up the dial to 27… because, he’s an ACTOR!
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