PATHS OF GLORY

'''Paths of Glory''' (1957) is an anti-war black and white film by Stanley Kubrick based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Kubrick and his partners purchased the film rights from Cobb's widow for $10,000.
The book had no title when it was finished, so the publisher held a contest. The winning entry came from the ninth stanza of the famous Thomas Gray poem ''Elegy Written in a Country Church-yard'':

The boast of heraldry, the pomp of pow’r,

And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,

Awaits alike th’inevitable hour.

The paths of glory lead but to the grave.

In 1992, this film was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.

Contents

Plot Summary

Trivia

See also

External links

Plot Summary

''Paths of Glory'' is based loosely on the true story of five French soldiers, under General Géraud Réveilhac, executed for mutiny during World War I; their families sued, and while the executions were ruled unfair, two of the families received one franc each (roughly equivalent to 15 American cents in today's currency), while the other three received nothing.
The movie begins with a voiceover describing the trench warfare situation of World War I up to 1916; then there's a scene in which French General George Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) of the French General Staff asks his subordinate, General Mireau (George Macready), to send his division on a suicidal mission to take a well-defended hill. Mireau initially advises against the attack, citing the low probability of success and the danger to his beloved soldiers, but when General Broulard mentions the possibility of a promotion, Mireau quickly convinces himself the attack will succeed.
Mireau proceeds to walk through the trenches, addressing his men. He asks several soldiers (some of whom later become major characters) the question, "Ready to kill more Germans?" He throws one soldier out of the regiment for showing signs of shell shock.
Mireau leaves the detailed planning of the attack to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas) despite Dax's protests that the only result of the attack will be to weaken the French army with heavy losses for no benefit. Mireau will not relent.
During a scouting mission prior to the attack, a drunken lieutenant sees movement in the direction of the enemy and throws a grenade. The lieutenant had sent one of his two men to scout out ahead, and the other soldier--Corporal Paris (Ralph Meeker)--realizes that the movement was the scout returning. He accuses the lieutenant of killing his own comrade and then running in cowardice, but the lieutenant denies it.
The attack on the German position proceeds, but ends in complete failure. None of the men who attack reach the German stronghold, and one-third of the soldiers refuse to even leave the trench (or are unable to, due to heavy enemy fire). The general, enraged, is convinced that his troops who remained in the trench are cowardly, and orders his own artillery to open fire on them. The artillery commander refuses to fire on his own men without written confirmation of the orders.
As a result of the failure of the attack, General Mireau tries to transfer blame from himself to the soldiers, so he decides to publicly execute 100 of them as an example. General Broulard convinces Mireau to reduce the number to three, one from each company. Corporal Paris is chosen because his commanding officer (the one who had thrown a grenade earlier) has a personal vendetta against him. Private Ferol (Timothy Carey) is picked by his commanding officer because he is a "social undesirable." The last man, Private Arnaud (Joe Turkel), is chosen randomly, despite being one of the best and most courageous soldiers.
Colonel Dax defends the men at their court-martial for cowardice. He inevitably loses the trial, despite protesting the court's authenticity. Dax cites being prevented from introducing evidence that would have been vital for the defence, that the prosecution presented no witnesses, that no written indictment was ever made against the accused, and that no stenographic record of the trial was kept. In his final summation to the court he requests mercy, saying, "Gentlemen of the court, to find these men guilty would be a crime to haunt each of you till the day you die."
Although Dax reveals Mireau's treachery (regarding the artillery) to Broulard, complete with sworn statements by witnesses, Broulard takes no immediate action. The condemned men are imprisoned and given a last meal. When visited by a priest, Ferol is willing to have his confession heard, and Paris agrees after initially admitting to not being religious, but Arnaud is drunkenly angry and tries to attack the priest. Finally, Paris punches Arnaud to keep him from attacking the priest. Arnaud falls backward against the wall and fractures his skull.
With great pomp and ceremony, the three men are led out into a courtyard, where the soldiers from all three companies are present and at attention, along with senior officers and members of the press. Arnaud is carried out on a stretcher and tied to the execution post. Ferol is blindfolded and remains accompanied by the priest to the end. Paris takes no blindfold. All three men are then shot and killed by the firing squad.
Following the execution, General Broulard invites Dax to a breakfast with General Mireau. He makes it clear that Mireau will be investigated for the order to fire artillery on his own men. Mireau leaves angrily, realising that he has been made a scapegoat, but claiming to the end to be a true soldier. General Broulard then offers Dax Mireau's position, insinuating that Dax had been angling for promotion all along. Dax responds angrily, asking if he can suggest where the general can put his promotion. He is more concerned with his innocent soldiers than with his own career. The cynical General Broulard disdains Dax for being an idealist, saying he pities him as he would the villiage idiot; Broulard adds that he's done no wrong. Colonel Dax replies that he pities the general for his inability to see the wrongs he has done.
After the execution, the rest of the battalion is in a bar, carrousing, when a young captured German woman is forced to entertain the French troops on its small stage. When she comes on stage, the soldiers begin to howl and whistle wolfishly at her attractiveness, encouraged by the bar manager. After the manager says she can sing and has a "throat of gold," the woman starts softly singing the German folk song "The Faithful Hussar". The soldiers become emotionally touched by the song, with many eventually humming along. Some know the song in French, and join in, while others weep silently, possibly knowing its theme of the loss of a loved one while a soldier is away at war. Outside of the bar's entrance, and within earshot of the singing inside, Dax gets word that he and his men are to return to the front, and leaves his men to their moment of pleasure before they go back into combat.

Trivia

★ The original 1935 novel by Humphrey Cobb was a minor success at the time, with a film planned. However, it was soon forgotten until Stanley Kubrick decided to adapt it to the screen, remembering the book from his childhood.

★ In Kirk Douglas' memoirs, he tells how Kubrick considered a traditional "Hollywood Happy Ending", with the three men getting a last minute reprieve. It was ''Douglas'' who insisted on the more realistic (and now famous) ending (which had been in the original script co-written by Kubrick). This account has been corroborated by other accounts as well.

★ Kubrick has been quoted as saying that he never interpreted the movie as "anti-war". He instead characterized ''Paths of Glory'' as "anti-authoritarian ignorance".

★ In October and November of 2004 the movie was shown at the London Film Festival by the British Film Institute. It was carefully remastered over a period of several years; the original film elements were found to be damaged. However, with the aid of several modern digital studios in Los Angeles the film was completely restored and remastered for modern cinema. In addition, Stanley Kubrick's wife made a guest appearance at the start of the performance.

★ The only female character in the film, the waif who sings "The Faithful Hussar," was portrayed by German actress Susanne Christian. She later married director Stanley Kubrick, and the couple remained married until his death in 1999.

★ Production took place entirely in Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany.

★ The French authorities considered the film an offense to the honor of their army and prohibited its exhibition in France until 1975.

★ The French Army did certainly carry out military executions for cowardice as did all the other major participants. However the central plank of the film is the practice of selecting individuals at random and executing them as a punishment for the sins of the whole group. This is similar to Decimation, and while it was employed by the Romans, it was rarely used by the French Army in World War I. Little known is the French decimation (the shooting of every tenth person in a unit) of the 10e Compagnie of 8 Battalion of the Régiment Mixte de Tirailleurs Algériens. During the retreat at the beginning of the war these French-African soldiers refused an order to attack. They were shot on the 15th of December 1914 near Zillebeeke in Flanders. On the other hand, the Decimation was used by the Italian Army in World War One.

★ In Germany the film wasn't allowed to be shown for two years after its release to avoid any strain in relations with France.

★ The movie was officially censored in Spain by the government of Francisco Franco for its anti-military content, and was not released in that country until 1986, eleven years after Franco's death.

★ ''Paths of Glory'' is also the name of a card-driven strategy game covering World War I in Europe and the Near East, developed by game designer Ted Raicer and published by GMT Games.

★ "Paths of Glory" is also the name of the tenth track in Faith No More's ''Album of the Year'' (lyrics). Mike Patton (songwriter/singer of Faith No More) is a huge fan of Stanley Kubrick, and a few of the band's songs/videos have Kubrick-inspired themes in them. (FAQ; Scroll to question 26)

★ The British series Blackadder Goes Forth (set in the British trenches during World War One) appears to have taken some inspiration from "Paths of Glory". The character of General Melchett differs wildly from the actor's previous roles in the Black Adder, being portrayed as a sociopath with a complete detachment from both the practical capacities of his officership as well as any rapport with the other officers, let alone with the men under him--a direct parallel to George Macready's role. At one point in the series, the famous scene of the French General touring the trenches is recreated with the story's counterparts.

★ If you listen carefully to the scene where Col Dax lambastes General Broulard after being offered a promotion, you will hear Adolphe Monjou flub a line. Instead of saying "Col Dax. You will apologize at once or you will be placed under arrest" it comes out as " Col Dax. You will apologize at once or I shall be placed under arrest".

See also

★ '' All Quiet on the Western Front'', a novel and film with similar themes

External links

★

★ ''Paths of Glory'' at gonemovies.com. Some very nice stills and other info.

★ The Origins of ''Paths of Glory'' from TCM