Paths of Glory

( 21 )

Overview

Adapting Humphrey Cobb's novel to the screen, director Stanley Kubrick and his collaborators Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson set out to make a devastating anti-war statement, and they succeeded above and beyond the call of duty. In the third year of World War I, the erudite but morally bankrupt French general Broulard Adolphe Menjou orders his troops to seize the heavily fortified "Ant Hill" from the Germans. General Mireau George MacReady knows that this action will be suicidal, but he will sacrfice his men ...
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Overview

Adapting Humphrey Cobb's novel to the screen, director Stanley Kubrick and his collaborators Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson set out to make a devastating anti-war statement, and they succeeded above and beyond the call of duty. In the third year of World War I, the erudite but morally bankrupt French general Broulard Adolphe Menjou orders his troops to seize the heavily fortified "Ant Hill" from the Germans. General Mireau George MacReady knows that this action will be suicidal, but he will sacrfice his men to enhance his own reputation. Against his better judgment, Colonel Dax Kirk Douglas leads the charge, and the results are appalling. When, after witnessing the slaughter of their comrades, a handful of the French troops refuse to leave the trenches, Mireau very nearly orders the artillery to fire on his own men. Still smarting from the defeat, Mireau cannot admit to himself that the attack was a bad idea from the outset: he convinces himself that loss of Ant Hill was due to the cowardice of his men. Mireau demands that three soldiers be selected by lot to be executed as an example to rest of the troops. Acting as defense attorney, Colonel Dax pleads eloquently for the lives of the unfortunate three, but their fate is a done deal. Even an eleventh-hour piece of evidence proving Mireau's incompetence is ignored by the smirking Broulard, who is only interested in putting on a show of bravado. A failure when first released it was banned outright in France for several years, Paths of Glory has since taken its place in the pantheon of classic war movies, its message growing only more pertinent and potent with each passing year it was especially popular during the Vietnam era.
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Editorial Reviews

All Movie Guide - Dan Jardine
Paths of Glory is a remarkable anti-war film that retains its impact decades after its release. The story's horrifying, tragic inevitability combines with Stanley Kubrick's forthright documentary style to create a film of rare power, a stinging, pre-Vietnam indictment of the inflexibility of war-time decision-making. Kirk Douglas, who produced the film, seems an odd choice to play a French colonel in World War I, yet he fills the screen with his righteous indignation. Kubrick's indictment of a military elite out of touch with -- even openly antagonistic towards -- its own men is brilliantly vicious. Filmed in pristine black-and-white that mirrors the thematic emphasis on the battle between good (enlisted men) and evil (the officers), with Kubrick's keen eye toward detail, Paths of Glory is both an intellectual and a visual treat. The film touched many raw nerves, and it was banned in several European countries, with France the last to lift the ban in the late 1970s. The conclusion features the soon-to-be Mrs. Kubrick in a sentimental and melodramatic scene that has been criticized as out-of-step with the rest of the somber and gritty film.
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Product Details

  • Release Date: 9/22/1999
  • UPC: 027616769930
  • Original Release: 1957

    • Rating:

  • Source: Mgm (Video & Dvd)
  • Format: VHS

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits
Kirk Douglas Col. Dax
Ralph Meeker Corp. Paris
Adolphe Menjou Gen. Broulard
George Macready Gen. Mireau
Wayne Morris Lieutenant Roget
Richard Anderson Maj. Saint-Auban
Joe Turkel Private Arnaud
Timothy Carey Private Ferol
Peter Capell Col. Judge
Susanne Christian German Girl
Bert Freed Sgt. Boulanger
Jerry Hausner Cafe Owner
Harold Benedict Capt. Nichols
John Stein Capt. Rousseau
Ken Dibbs Pvt. LeJeune
Emile G. Meyer Priest
Technical Credits
Stanley Kubrick Director, Screenwriter
Ilse Dubois Costumes/Costume Designer
Gerald Fried Score Composer
James B. Harris Producer
Georg Krause Cinematographer
Eva Kroll Editor
Erwin Lange Special Effects
Martin Mueller Sound/Sound Designer
Ludwig Reiber Art Director
Arthur Schramm Makeup
Hannes Staudinger Camera Operator
Jim Thompson Screenwriter
Calder Willingham Screenwriter
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Customer Reviews

Average Rating 4
( 21 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(12)

4 Star

(4)

3 Star

(3)

2 Star

(1)

1 Star

(1)

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 21 Customer Reviews

  • Posted October 1, 2010

    I Also Recommend:

    All Quiet on the Western Front
    Dr. Strangelove or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb

    Kubrick's Warmup for Strangelove

    Paths of Glory uses World War I trench fighting to show the insanity of war. In this case, Kirk Douglas brings his trademark intensity to bear as a French commander ordered to make a suicidal charge, then to execute soldiers at random when it fails. In Douglas's character, Dax, the madness of war is attacked in a memorable way. This movie shows Kubrick's rejection of the groupthink and blind obedience that he saw in war, a theme he came back to with a vengeance in Dr. Strangelove. This DVD is pretty no frills, but the film is strong enough to stand on its own.

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  • Posted October 1, 2010

    Gives meaning to the word powerful

    A film that should resonate with everyone, whether you've ever been a soldier or not. Kirk Douglas & the rest of the cast are outstanding. This movie compares favorably with any of Stanley Kubrick's later & perhaps better known work. The ending is unforgettable.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    Mandatory Viewing

    I would say this is the best anti-war movie ever made, but Kubrick made two others. Who can choose? Paths of Glory is a masterwork of cinema which not only makes an eloquent and profound statement on war and its moral ambiguities - it expands the cinematic vocabulary significantly in doing so. No other filmmaker's lense tells a story as well as Kubrick's. He is the consummate filmmaker, and he knows how his medium communicates uniquely and perhaps with more power than any other. This film should be required viewing for the human race. Douglas is pitch perfect and the combat, while tame by todays standards, is some of the best filmed in movie history.

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    GREATEST FILM EVER MADE !!!!!!!!

    ''Paths of Glory'' (the title obviously derived from the famous verse ''the paths of glory lead but to the grave'') is not only the greatest antiwar film ever made...it is the GREATEST FILM ever made, period. Kirk Douglas is head and shoulders above every other actor who ever lived. (His son, Michael Douglas, although a fine actor, does not fill his father's shoes.) I was so moved by this film...I purchased my own copy of it, and have viewed it many times, and never fail to be impressed by it. It has inspired many great antiwar films, such as ''Born on the Fourth of July''. I believe EVERY person should see this film !!!!!

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  • Anonymous

    Posted October 1, 2010

    best ''anti''-war film that has ever been made

    Stanley hits another home run w/ this film, I have never seen a movie that moved me like this one did. This film shines a light on the horrors of war.

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See All Sort by: Showing 1 – 20 of 21 Customer Reviews