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Paths of Glory (1957)
Starring Kirk Douglas, Richard Anderson, Ralph Meeker, and Adolphe Menjou. Cinematography by George Krause. Edited by Eva Kroll. Produced by Kirk Douglas, James B. Harris, and Stanley Kubrick. Written by Stanley Kubrick, Calder Willingham, and Jim Thompson. Directed by Stanley Kubrick.
The year is 1916 and France is deep in the First World War; a war fought like none other before it. Instead of two massive armies marching onto a field to take each other on directly, battles are being drawn out over months and years with soldiers hiding in a series of strategically placed trenches, using machine guns and explosives to destroy each other. General Mireau (played by George Macready), the leader of one such division, is asked by his superior officer (played by Adolphe Menjou) to take a heavily guarded German stronghold called the Ant Hill.
He is promised that upon his success he will be highly decorated for his efforts. Mireau passes the order on to Lieutenant Dax (played by Kirk Douglas) who has little hope for the success of the mission. The attack on the Ant Hill ends up being the failure that he anticipated and the French leadership is furious. They want to set an example by executing three soldiers that retreated from the attack. Private Ferol (played by Timothy Carey), Corporal Paris (played by Ralph Meeker), and Private Arnaud (played by Joe Turkel) are randomly chosen to be put to death, but Lieutenant Dax will do everything in his power to save his men.
Based on Stanley Kubrick’s body of work, a novel like Humphrey Cobb’s Paths of Glory would seem to be custom written for a filmmaker like him. With a story so rich with irony and so laced with satire, it’s no wonder that Kubrick sought to adapt it. But in a post-World War II climate, whipped up in a frenzy of patriotism, it’s a miracle the film ever got made. Most studios shied away from the project, citing that it was too controversial to make any money.
Not until Kirk Douglas got involved and offered to co-fund the film with his own production company, Byrna Productions, could they even find a distributor to back it. And ultimately the studios were right; the movie failed in the box office. It was also nearly entirely ignored on the awards circuit and was even banned in some countries. Only years later, with a retrospect on Kubrick’s subsequent films, did Paths of Glory truly earn an appreciation.
Path of Glory is arguably Kubrick’s first truly intelligent picture. Layers upon layers of new ideas can be discovered with each additional viewing. It is assembled like a complex game of chess with pieces clearly defined on either side. On one side you have the soldiers in the trenches.
They live in the earth and are surrounded by death. On the other side you have the commanding officers living comfortably in a nearby chateau. They enjoy the finest art and food as they dictate their unreasonable commands from afar. The players of this intricate game all play to satisfy different motives while lives literally hang in the balance. Paths of Glory is undoubtedly one of the finest war, and anti-war, films ever made.
Budget: $935,000
Total US Gross: $???
Genre: War
Runtime: 87 Minutes
US Release Date: 12/25/57
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Awards:
Writers Guild of America:
Nominated for Best Written American Drama.
Tagline: Theirs… An Enemy Deadlier Than All The Barbed-Wire Of No-Man’s Land!
Quote: “See that cockroach? Tomorrow morning we’ll be dead and it’ll be alive. It’ll have more contact with my wife and child then I will. I’ll be nothing and it’ll be alive.”
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