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Nabaza.net-The MarketPlace - Paths of Glory
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List Price: $14.98
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Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris
Directed By: Stanley Kubrick
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780792841401
Format: Black & White
ISBN: 0792841409
Label: MGM (Video & DVD)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
Number Of Items: 1
Picture Format: Academy Ratio
Publisher: MGM (Video & DVD)
Region Code: 1
Release Date: 1999-06-29
Running Time: 87
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
Theatrical Release Date: 1957
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Editorial Reviews:
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Safe in their picturesque chateau behind the front lines, the French general staff passes down a direct order to Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas): take the Ant Hill at any cost. A blatant suicide mission, the attack is doomed to failure. Covering up their fatal blunder, the generals order the arrest of three innocent soldiers, charging them with cowardice and mutiny. Dax, a lawyer in civilian life, rises to the men's defense but soon realizes that, unless he can prove that the generals were to blame,nothing less than a miracle will save his clients from the firing squad. A compelling masterpiece from world-class director/writer Stanley Kubrick and screenwriters Calder Willingham and JimThompson, Paths of Glory is a blistering indictment of military politics and "an unforgettable movie experience" (Newsweek).
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: L'infamie
Comment: I'm not a Stanley Kubrick fan, nor do I particularly care for Hollywood films. So I was surprised and delighted to discover what a gem of a film "Paths of Glory" is. Well directed, for the most part well acted, well directed, and conveying a great message: what more could one ask for?
The title is ironic. The plot revolves around a failed because impossible military assault on the German trenches in 1916. An oily, egoistic French general, superbly played by George Macready, orders the assault to further his career. When it fails, he furiously orders three men from the decimated 701st Regiment that attempted the assault to be selected as examples, charged with cowardice, and court-martialed. Their colonel, Dax, an attorney in peacetime, defends them, but the fix is already in. The general staff won't take the blame for the disastrous assault. So the dog soldiers must. The three are executed, and Colonel Dax's native cynicism about martial "paths of glory" is only reinforced. War is l'infamie.
In addition to Macready's great performance, Kirk Douglas outdoes himself as Dax, as does Adolphe Menjou as a general staff officer. The battle scene in which the doomed 701 launches its hopeless assault is one of the most terrifying ones I've ever seen, totally outclassing Spielberg's opening scene in the overrated "Saving Private Ryan."
It took only a few minutes to get over the dissonance of an all-American cast playing French soldiers and officers. Actually, I think the film's anti-war message was enhanced by getting it across in a "foreign" setting.
Highly recommended.
Customer Rating:
Summary: enough to make you weep...
Comment: Kirk Douglas' portrayal of the heartbreakingly courageous Col. Dax is a portrait in heroic futility. Dax is an French officer in the most pointless war, but most portentous war, of the Twentieth Century. His men are ordered to take an impregnable German position. Many men in the front ranks don't even get fully out of their trenches before they are slaughtered by an impenetrable hail of German lead and steel. The surviving rear ranks cower in the trenches rather than face inevitable death. The French General, who had pictured himself covered with medals, orders his artillery to shell his own lines. The artillery officer refuses to take verbal orders and demands them in writing. The General, who is more cowardly than the men he sent to death, refuses to put it in writing.
The General has a better idea--decimation. It's an ancient Roman custom. Should your army fail, execute every tenth man. Col. Dax, at the risk of his life and own reputation, refuses to obey such an incredible order. He can't, however, prevent it entirely. Three men--men dripping with combat medals--are to be shot for cowardice. Men who'd shown themselves to be heros in previous battles are shot as cowards.
Kirk Douglas is great. His character literally seethes with indignation and anger. The telling moment, however, comes at the end of the film. A terrified but lovely German girl--a captive of the French--is forced to sing in front of leering, jeering French soldiers. She sings a song of home. The words are German but every man understands. The ribald shouting dies down and rugged warriors openly weep. They are all truly the same and they're murdering one another. No one knows how to stop.
Ron Braithwaite author of novels--"Skull Rack" and "Hummingbird God"--on the Spanish Conquest of Mexico
Customer Rating: 
Summary: Pro-War movie with heart
Comment: Just now got to watching this oldie Pro-War movie of the 50s. It wasn't as good as I had heard, but the pro-war stance makes me want to go back to serve. Kirk's colonel Dax makes all officers proud of wartime service. Enlisted soldiers all could do much worse than Dax. You can tell he cares so much for this men, that it almost physically hurts him to follow through with absurd orders from up top. While this movie showcases the sometime ridiculous choices higher ups make in the name of wartime offense, it also more than makes up for it by making Dax the hero that populates the armoed forces.
This Pro-War movie of the 50s is labled as antiw-war, but there is no hiding the values and honorable service of the soldiers and officers portrayed in the movie. While it does give little screen time to the generals in the back, the real story highlightes the selfless, duty-bound service of the troops in the trenches. The 3 unlucky soldiers who get randomly picked to make up for the failed attack, are the usual sympathetic duty-bound conscripts of the time. They all don't like being there, but they are because of their patriotism and love for their country. Even if this is France, that country can be pround it had people like Dax and the 3 who are eventually punished. The pro-war aspect of this movie makes it all the more gung-hoie. Duty, honor, and comraderie are the top themes highlighted in this feature. I especially liked Dax's committment to his men and to the chain of command. He does an excellent job of following the rules and still coming out on top and alive. Overall, one of the greats of the PRO-WAR movie of the 50s. Worth a look, at least once, to showcase patriotism and duty to country.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Classic Anti-War Movie
Comment: This is an absorbing anti-war movie about the French army on the Western Front in WWI. There are moments of complete brilliance. The shot of Kirk Douglas as the attacking French colonel walking the length of the trench before going "over the top" and the reactions of his regiment as he passes them is one of the best and most moving pieces of film making I've ever seen. The firing squad scene and the bar scene at the end of the movie are also simply perfect.
Douglas is excellent in his role, as is the supporting cast.
I deduct one star for the lack of subtlety in portraying the French generals. Yes, generals in WWI were out of touch and were even criminally negligent in their tactics. But Kubrick does not attempt to portray the generals' point of view as having any legitimacy.
The film is shot in black & white, which captures the dirt and lack of romance of the battles fought at the time.
I highly recommend this great film.
Customer Rating:
Summary: a visual anti-war parable
Comment: A film with a strong message requires a skillful presentation in order not to become overbearing. Paths of Glory, while having a strong anti-war theme, rises to the top due to the exceptional photography, editing, and straightforward narrative structure coupled with the tension that arises from social injustice and poor leadership. Kubrick treats the story as a parable, allow us to see a range of actions under a shared experience. We see front line solders at their best and worst and we also see the French officers under similar but a bit more sophisticated situations.
Paths of Glory is probably based on an event in World War I during the French Nivelle Offensive whereby the men on the front lines were pushed to remain on the offensive and overtake points of no strategic worth while losing considerable lives. The offensive objective here is tellingly called "The Ant Hill". The men refused to attack but remained on the offensive in the trenches. The French officers fired thier artillery upon their own men. This incredible historic event lays the groundwork for this fictitious film.
Wisely the film narrows down the number of characters to basic types and individual concerns and conflicts. Thus we have careerist incompetent leadership negligently wasting the lives of their men on poorly developed plans and objectives. The film is tragic in that after the men refused to attack, men were selected at random to be executed for cowardice and executed before the troops as examples and to encourage more enthusiasm in the future.
Kirk Douglas plays the moral center for the film, playing Colonel Dax, a public prosecutor who joined the army. He defends the three men selected to represent the troops in a military judicial kangaroo court. Douglas is in top form and top shape. His performance is powerful and made more powerful by the subtle performances of his canny superior officers and the simple basic emotional responses of the men under his command.
Kubrick's film-making is superb and the careful photography of interiors reveals his early mastery of this art form. Kubrick recognized the ability of the context of action to cradle the narrative and give added dimension. Thus his shots of the trenches with long twisting tracking shots give one of the best impressions of World War I front line. The scenes of the court martial are high drama, revealing a stage with all the high drama of Greek tragedy. The execution scene is perfectly developed, revealing how the symetry of the troops in a geometric courtyard contrasts against the injustice that is about to occur. The scene of a captured German girl singing in a cafe is a bit overplayed but makes its point about the amazing manner in which men can be swayed from wrong to right and back again for in the end we are vastly limited.
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