Captain Cooney (Eddie Albert) is a bombastic, but incompetent, military leader who jeopardizes the lives of the men under his control. His lapdog of a colonel (Lee Marvin) tries his best to sweep Cooney's errors under the rug, but soon the dastardly leaders have a problem on their hands in the form of Lt. Costa (Jack Palance). Costa swears that Cooney is a dead man if the men are sent on another poorly-run, deadly mission. When Cooney puts Costa and his men in another tight spot on the Belgian front, Costa -- who suffers a smashed arm in the skirmish -- sets out to keep his word. A brutal portrait of war, a la PATHS OF GLORY. Based on Norman Brooks' play, THE FRAGILE FOX.