Ardennes 1944

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Movie
German title Ardennes 1944
Original title Attack!
Country of production United States
original language English
Publishing year 1956
length 107 minutes
Age rating FSK 16
Rod
Director Robert Aldrich
script James Poe
production Robert Aldrich
music Frank De Vol
camera Joseph F. Biroc
cut Michael Luciano
occupation

Ardennes 1944 is an American fiction film from 1956.

action

Second World War 1944: Somewhere in Belgium, American soldiers try to dig out a heavily armed German machine-gun bunker from Lieutenant Joe Costa's train . Despite the assurance of their company commander, Captain Erskine Cooney, they are denied much-needed reinforcements and many of Costa's men die.

Cooney is a cowardly and incompetent officer who apparently only wants to please his father, who places high demands on his son. The increasing and unnecessary loss of human life in the various operations of the company undermines the morale of the troops and strains the patience of Lt. Costa, a brave and brave soldier. His deputy Lt. Harold Woodruff is the voice of reason who tries to keep the peace between Costa and Cooney. Woodruff and Costa are liked and respected by their husbands.

The two know that Cooney will give his position to battalion commander Lt. Col. Clyde Bartlett. Bartlett has known the Cooney family since he was a 14-year-old clerk at Cooney's father, an influential judge. The judge and his influence can be very useful in Bartlett's planned post-war political career, covering up the cowardly actions of his protégé Cooney.

In the Battle of the Bulge , the German troops manage to break through the front. Cooney determines Lt. Costa as the leader of a patrol. Costa agrees on the condition that Cooney and Woodruff promise to send reinforcements in an emergency. Costa threatens Cooney that if one of Costa's men is killed and he fails out of cowardice, he will never see his homeland again. During the operation, Costa's train comes under heavy fire from the Waffen SS , in which many men die. He and some of his men find refuge in a house. There Costa calls for reinforcements from Cooney over the radio, but Cooney hesitates out of cowardice to deploy the whole company. Woodruff fails to convince the company commander.

In the basement of the house, Costa and his men find an SS officer and a common soldier. During interrogation they learn that the Germans can use tanks and strong troop units. Costa orders his Sergeant Tolliver and the rest of the men to break out. Lt. Costa is the last to start.

Tolliver arrives at the command post, Cpt. Cooneys and hands over a German prisoner. The commander Lt. Col. Bartlett arrives and learns that Cooney had abandoned his men again. Bartlett makes it clear to Cooney that he will no longer be covered by him in the next "mess". When Woodruff hears that Conney is still being used as company commander, he threatens Bartlett to report the whole thing to General Parson.

Costa finally arrives, but German soldiers and tanks are also approaching. Costa is badly wounded while trying to rescue Sgt. Tolliver and his men from a threatened position. Cooney reaches the house besieged by the Germans, in which Costa's men are. More dead than alive, Costa finally stumbles into the house and wants to settle accounts with Cooney. He dies in agony without being able to implement his plan. After a subsequent argument between Cooney and Costa's men, Woodruff finally shoots the cowardly company commander. The remaining soldiers affirm their loyalty to Woodruff and want to testify wrongly for him. The now added Lt. Col. Bartlett accepts the soldiers' hoax and puts Woodruff in command of the company. He promises him that he will soon be promoted to captain. He also wanted to forget Woodruff's threat about his planned report to the general. He now wants to ensure that Cooney is posthumously awarded the Distinguished Service Cross . Lt. Woodruff is outraged that a coward should be honored and accuses Bartlett of manipulating the whole thing in order to be supported by Cooney's father. Easygoing, Bartlett realizes that Woodruff has a lot to lose in making the story known.

When the Lt. Col is gone, Woodruff goes back inside and telephones General Parson's staff.

Reviews

“A realistic, tough war episode with a polemical note; psychologically deepened and credible in the presentation. "

- Lexicon of international film

“Above all, the film convinces with its realistic and often shocking images of war and dying. In contrast, the figure of Captain Cooney is a little overdrawn. Aldrich apparently saw that himself. In an interview, he stated that he wanted to portray Cooney himself as a despicable sadist at the risk of being oversubscribed. "

- Reclam's film guide

“American war film about a cowardly company commander and the fate of his company. Incredible and extremely poor. Definitely not to be recommended. "

- Protestant film observer

Awards

The film took part in the competition at the Venice International Film Festival in 1956 . Robert Aldrich was awarded the Critics' Prize.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Ardennes 1944. In: Lexicon of international film . Film service , accessed November 2, 2017 .Template: LdiF / Maintenance / Access used 
  2. ^ Reclams Filmführer, 2.A. 1973, ISBN 3-15-010205-7
  3. ↑ Evangelischer Presseverband München, Review No. 280/1957

literature

  • Carsten Bergemann: Ardennes 1944 . In: Film Genres. War Movie. Edited by Thomas Klein, Marcus Stiglegger and Bodo Traber. Stuttgart: Reclam 2006, pp. 107–111 [with references]. ISBN 978-3-15-018411-0 .

Web links