Paths of Glory

Template:Short description Template:Other uses Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Template:Infobox film Paths of Glory is a 1957 American anti-war film<ref name="tcm.com">Template:Cite web</ref> directed by Stanley Kubrick, from a screenplay he co-wrote with Calder Willingham and Jim Thompson. It is adapted from the 1935 novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> which was in turn was based on the Souain corporals affair during World War I. The film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of French soldiers who refuse to continue a suicidal attack, after which Dax defends them against charges of cowardice in a court-martial. It also features Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris and Richard Anderson.

The film was co-produced through Douglas's film production company, Bryna Productions, and a joint venture between Stanley Kubrick and James B. Harris, Harris-Kubrick Pictures.<ref name="motionpictureher204quig"/><ref name="variety203-1956-08"/><ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Due to the film's negative depiction of the French military, it could not be filmed there, and was instead shot in West Germany. It was likewise not released in France until 1972.<ref name="NRobertson" />

Paths of Glory was released by United Artists on December 20, 1957. It received critical acclaim and several international accolades, including a BAFTA Award nomination for Best Film, and is considered one of the greatest war films ever made. In 1992, the film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.<ref name=":0" />

Plot

In 1916, during World War I in Northern France, French Major General Georges Broulard orders his subordinate, Brigadier General Paul Mireau, to take "the Anthill", a well-defended German position. Mireau refuses, citing the impossibility of success. However, when Broulard mentions a potential promotion, Mireau quickly convinces himself that the attack will succeed.

In the trenches, Mireau throws a private out of the regiment for showing signs of shell shock. Mireau leaves the planning of the attack to Colonel Dax, despite Dax's protests that the result will weaken the French Army.

Before the attack, drunken Lieutenant Roget leads a night-time scouting mission, sending one of his two men ahead. Overcome by fear while waiting for the man's return, Roget lobs a grenade, accidentally killing the scout. Corporal Paris, the other soldier on the mission, confronts Roget, who denies any wrongdoing and falsifies his report to Colonel Dax.

The next morning, the attack on the Anthill is a failure. Dax leads the first wave of soldiers over the top into no man's land under heavy rifle and machine gun fire. None of the men reach the German trenches, and B Company refuses to leave their trench after seeing that defeat. Mireau orders his artillery to open fire on them to force them onto the battlefield. The artillery commander refuses to fire without written confirmation of the order.

To deflect blame for the attack's failure, Mireau decides to court-martial 100 of the soldiers for cowardice. Broulard orders Mireau to reduce the number and Mireau arrives at three, one from each company. Corporal Paris is chosen because his commanding officer Roget wishes to keep him from testifying about what happened in the scouting mission. Private Ferol is picked by his commanding officer because he is a "social undesirable". Private Arnaud is chosen at random.

Dax, a criminal defense lawyer in civilian life, volunteers to defend the men at their court-martial. The trial, however, is a farce. There is no formal written indictment, a court stenographer is not present, and the court refuses to admit evidence that would support acquittal. In his closing statement, Dax angrily denounces the proceedings. Later, in a meeting with Broulard, Dax informs him that Mireau had ordered the artillery to fire onto French trenches to dislodge the soldiers refusing to attack. Nonetheless, the three are sentenced to death and shot by firing squad.

Following the executions, Broulard tells Mireau that he will be investigated for ordering artillery to fire on his own men. Mireau denounces this as a betrayal by his commanding officer. After Mireau leaves, Broulard then offers Mireau's command to Dax, assuming that Dax's attempts to stop the executions were a ploy to gain Mireau's job. Discovering that Dax was sincere, Broulard rebukes him for his idealism, but Dax in turn denounces Broulard's nihilism.

After the execution, some of Dax's soldiers are carousing at an inn. They become more subdued as they listen to and then join in with a captive German girl working as a barmaid and entertainer as she sings a sad German sentimental folk song, The Faithful Hussar. Dax leaves without informing the men that they have been ordered to return to the front and the continuing carnage of the trenches.

Production

Background

The title of Cobb's novel came from the ninth stanza of Thomas Gray's poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" (1751).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

<poem>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.</poem>

The book was a minor success when published in 1935, retelling the true-life affair of four French soldiers who were executed to set an example to the rest of the troops. The novel was adapted to the stage the same year by Sidney Howard, World War I veteran and scriptwriter of Gone with the Wind.<ref name=mcardle/> The play was a flop on Broadway because of its harsh anti-war scenes that alienated the audience. Nonetheless, Howard continued to believe in the relevance of the subject matter and thought it should be made into a film, writing, "It seems to me that our motion picture industry must feel something of a sacred obligation to make the picture."<ref name=mcardle>Phil McArdle. "Sidney Howard: From Berkeley to Broadway and Hollywood" Template:Webarchive, The Berkeley Daily Planet, December 18, 2007</ref> Fulfilling Howard's "sacred obligation", Stanley Kubrick decided to adapt it to the screen after he remembered reading the book when he was younger. Kubrick and his partners purchased the film rights from Cobb's widow for $10,000.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Gray's stanza reflects Kubrick's feelings about war as well, and that becomes clear in the narrative of the film – a long battle for something with such an unimportant name as the "Ant Hill". Some of Kubrick's unrealized projects contained themes of war as well. Kubrick once told a New York Times journalist;

Man isn't a noble savage, he's an ignoble savage. He is irrational, brutal, weak, silly, unable to be objective about anything where his own interests are involved – that about sums it up. I'm interested in the brutal and violent nature of man because it's a true picture of him. And any attempt to create social institutions on a false view of the nature of man is probably doomed to failure.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Paths of Glory is based loosely on the true story of the Souain corporals affair when four French soldiers were executed in 1915 during World War I under General Géraud Réveilhac for failure to follow orders. The soldiers were exonerated posthumously in 1934.<ref name=kufr>Template:Cite web</ref> The novel is about the French execution of innocent men to strengthen others' resolve to fight. The French Army did carry out military executions for cowardice, as did most of the other major participants, excluding the United States of America and Australia.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The United States sentenced 24 soldiers to death for cowardice, but the sentences were never carried out.<ref name=autogenerated1>Template:Cite web</ref> However, a significant point in 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 the Roman practice of decimation, which was rarely used by the French Army in World War I.

Development

Kubrick said of his decision to make a war film: "One of the attractions of a war or crime story is that it provides an almost unique opportunity to contrast an individual or our contemporary society with a solid framework of accepted value, which the audience becomes fully aware of, and which can be used as a counterpoint to a human, individual, emotional situation. Further, war acts as a kind of hothouse for forced, quick breeding of attitudes and feelings. Attitudes crystallise and come out into the open. Conflict is natural, when it would in a less critical situation have to be introduced almost as a contrivance, and would thus appear forced or, even worse, false."<ref>Template:Cite book Alternately titled Stanley Kubrick: Visual Poet, 1928–1999.</ref>

Although Kubrick's previous film The Killing had failed at the box office, it had managed to land on several critical top-ten lists for the year. Dore Schary, then head of production at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, liked the film and hired Kubrick and Harris to develop film stories from MGM's pile of scripts and purchased novels. Finding nothing they liked, Kubrick remembered reading Cobb's book at the age of 14 and the "great impact" it had upon him and suggested it as their next project.<ref name="auto">Kelly, A. (2011). Cinema and the Great War. London: Routledge, p.129. Template:ISBN</ref> Schary strongly doubted the commercial success of the story, which had already been turned down by every other major studio.

After Schary was fired by MGM in a major shake-up, Kubrick and Harris managed to interest Kirk Douglas in a script version that Kubrick had done with Calder Willingham. After reading the script, Kirk Douglas was impressed and managed to get an advance for a $1 million budget from United Artists to help produce the film.<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite book</ref> Of the roughly $1 million budget, more than a third was allocated to Kirk Douglas' salary.<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite web</ref> Prior to the involvement of Douglas and his Bryna Production Company, no studio had shown interest in the seemingly noncommercial subject matter and filming in black and white.<ref name="auto3">Template:Cite journal</ref> MGM rejected the idea of the film based on fears that the film would be unfavourable to European distributors and audiences.<ref name="auto2"/> United Artists agreed to back it with Douglas as the star.<ref name=Alpert>Template:Cite news</ref>

Writing

Kubrick eventually hired Calder Willingham to work on the script of Paths of Glory (1957), of which Jim Thompson had written earlier drafts. The specific contributions by Kubrick, Thompson, and Willingham to the final script were disputed, and the matter went to arbitration with the Writers' Guild.<ref name=Polito>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=Baxter>Template:Cite book</ref><ref name=LoBrutto>Template:Cite book</ref> Willingham claimed that Thompson had minimal involvement in the final script of the film, claiming responsibility for 99 percent of Paths of Glory for himself and that Thompson had not written any of the dialogue. When Thompson's draft screenplay was compared to the final film, it was clear that Thompson had written seven scenes, including the reconnaissance mission and the scene with soldiers the night before their executions by firing squad. In the end, the Writers' Guild attributed the script in the order of Kubrick, Willingham and then Thompson.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Parts of the screenplay were taken from Cobb's work verbatim. However, Kubrick made several changes to the narrative of the novel in his adaptation, most notably his shift of focus to Colonel Dax, as opposed to Paris, Ferol and Arnaud as in the novel.<ref>Kagan, N. (2003). The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick. New York: Continuum, p.63. Template:ISBN</ref> One speculated addition is when General Mireau says "show me a patriot, and I'll show you an honest man", and Colonel Dax responds that Samuel Johnson once said: "Patriotism is the last refuge of the scoundrel".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Primarily, Kubrick and Thompson had added a happy ending to the film to make the film more commercial to the general public, where the men's lives are saved from execution at the last minute by the general. However, these changes were reversed back more closely to the original novel at the demand of Kirk Douglas.<ref name="auto3"/><ref name="auto4">Template:Cite web</ref> On the Criterion Collection Blu-ray, James B. Harris claims to have gotten this ending past distributors by sending the entire script instead of just the reversed ending, in the knowledge that those distributors would not read through the whole script again. After viewing the film, United Artists was happy with the changes and left the ending as it is.Template:Citation needed<ref>Kubrick, S. (Director). (2010, August 26). Paths of Glory (The Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray] [Blu-ray, NTSC, Special Edition, Black & White, Widescreen]. Criterion Collection (Direct).</ref>

Filming

File:Kubrick on the set of Paths of Glory (1957 publicity photo).jpg

Kubrick on the set of Paths of Glory (1957 publicity photo)

Production took place entirely in Bavaria, Germany, especially at the Schleissheim Palace near Munich.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Timothy Carey was fired during production. He was reportedly extremely difficult to work with, even to the extent of faking his own kidnapping, holding up the whole production.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He was replaced in the scenes remaining to be shot with a double.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film cost slightly less than $1 million and just about broke even.<ref name="Gritten2019">Template:Cite web</ref>

Due to having three years' military training, around 600 German police officers were used as extras for soldiers. The last scenes filmed were those that take place on the battlefield. For the construction of the battlefield, Kubrick hired 5,000 square yards (0.4 hectares) of land from a local farmer.<ref name="auto"/> It took Kubrick a month to set up the filming of the assault, arranging props and tearing up the field to look like a war zone. For the filming of the battle sequence, the battlefield was divided into five regions where explosive charges were specifically placed. This made it easier for Kubrick to film the dying of extras as he split the extras into five groups, one for each of the regions, and each man would die in his own zone by an explosion that was near him.<ref name="auto1"/>

An early critical test of Kubrick's obsession with control on the set came during the making of Paths of Glory. As recalled by Kirk Douglas: Template:Blockquote

The only female character in the film, the woman who sings "The Faithful Hussar", is portrayed by German actress Christiane Harlan (credited in the film as Susanne Christian). She and Kubrick later married; the couple remained together until his death in 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was on set that they originally had met.<ref name="auto4"/>

Kubrick's use of visual imagery and mise-en-scene

Paths of Glory employs both camera-work and audio cues to create a sense of realism, thus making it easier for the audience to sympathize with the plight of the accused soldiers. In the beginning of the film a snare drum plays, and the music is reminiscent of war era newsreels. During the battle sequences, the camera keeps pace with the soldiers but in other ways, the shots look like old trench warfare footage from World War I. The film's choice of black and white further emphasizes its similarity to the actual newsreels of the conflict.

Richard Anderson, who played the acerbic prosecutor, recalled of Kubrick: "As soon as we started shooting, I knew immediately what Stanley was interested in: The shot. Always the shot. He worked with George Krause, the German cinematographer, to make sure that everything looked like a newsreel of World War I. Kubrick had studied many photographs of the war in the library. The film was low keyed and had a grainy look to it. That's what Stanley was interested in."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Kubrick's vision of war was far bleaker than that of some other films of the era, which also influenced the director's choice to shoot the picture in black and white. The visuals also allow the audience to see the difference between "life in the trenches" and "life in the command". From the opulent mansion of the high-ranking officers, the audience notices wide shots from the exterior and the interior. The viewer misses nothing; every decadent piece of furniture, jewelry or bauble that the senior officers have, in sharp contrast to the trenches where the shots are much tighter. Close ups and point-of-view shots (e.g. from Colonel Dax's perspective) are cramped and tight, suffocating for the audience. Switching to a shot in front of Dax's person, e.g. a walking shot, the audience becomes much like the other soldiers accompanying him in the trenches, feeling stuck and trapped in the confined and dangerous space.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

Score and use of sounds

The musical score by Gerald Fried makes extensive use of percussion instruments, specifically military drums.<ref>Hischak, Thomas S. (2015), The Encyclopedia of Film Composers Template:Webarchive. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield, Pg. 242</ref>

Kubrick used sound, or the lack thereof, to build tension and suspense in the film, particularly towards the beginning when the three soldiers are given orders to check on the Anthill. This scene is in silence, with no use of diegetic/non-diegetic sound, working well to add depth and rawness. Much of what the viewer can hear throughout the film is explosions in the distance and the sound of a whistle being blown, further adding to the overall documentary style of the film. The lack of a big bold score gives no suggestion of heroism to the plot of the film, and the sounds of people dying are a common trope associated with Stanley Kubrick's films. The song towards the ending happens within the narrative.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In the tavern with the French soldiers of Dax's regiment, a young woman sings a traditional German folk song of that era, "Der treue Husar". With Kubrick's use of mise-en-scene, the audience is able to see the German woman's performance bring the men to tears through various close-ups and angles. The troopers begin to hum and eventually sing along to the tune in an expression of their basic humanity. Paths of Glory later ends in the same way it began with the familiar snare/drum roll used in the opening, indicative of a lack of change throughout the film. Kubrick's use of sounds and song functions as a kind of narration for the audience, linking each sound to a later or earlier scene in the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Release

The film had its "world premiere" in Munich, Germany, on November 1, 1957.<ref name="MPDnov4">"'Paths' Opens Dec. 20", Motion Picture Daily, November 4, 1957, p. 3. Retrieved via Internet Archive, July 23, 2022.</ref> A month and a half before that event, on September 18, a special screening of Kubrick's production was also presented in Munich, but then to a very select audience.<ref name="Gordon57">Gordon, Frank (1957). "'Vikings' $1,000,000 Over Its Budget; VIP Turnout for 'Paths'", Variety (New York, N.Y.), September 27, 1957, p. 2. Retrieved via Internet Archive, August 5, 2022.</ref> Frank Gordon, reporting from the Bavarian capital for the widely read New York trade paper Variety, describes the earlier presentation in the paper's September 27 issue:Template:Blockquote

In the United States, the picture was not officially released nationwide until January 1958, although it was shown in two major cities prior to that: in Los Angeles, California at the Fine Arts Theatre on December 20, 1957, and then five days later, on Christmas Day, in New York City at the Victoria Theatre.<ref name="MPDnov4"/><ref name="NYT">Crowther, Bosley (1957). "Screen: Shameful Incident of War / 'Paths of Glory' Has Premiere at Victoria", review, The New York Times, December 26, 1957, p. 23. Retrieved via subscription to ProQuest Historical Newspapers (Ann Arbor, Michigan), July 23, 2022. Template:ProQuest</ref> The American trade journal Motion Picture Daily explained at the time that "Paths" was being shown in those cities before the end of 1957 to ensure the film would qualify for nominations for the next Academy Award ceremonies, which were to be held on March 26, 1958.<ref>"Four in First Three Months", Motion Picture Daily, November 19, 1957, p. 7. Retrieved via Internet Archive, July 23, 2022.</ref>

Box office

Assessments vary with regard to the film's ultimate success at the box office, with some sources citing it as a modest financial success and others noting that it only managed to recoup most, if not all, of its production costs.<ref name="Gritten2019"/><ref>Kubrick remembered as filmmaker who transcended the medium, CNN News, Accessed November 2007 Template:Webarchive.</ref> The film did, however, earn Kubrick widespread critical acclaim, while it also generated widespread controversy, especially in Europe.

Reception and influence

File:Paths of Glory (1957) - Trailer.webm

Original trailer (1957)

Although the film did not receive a single nomination for the Academy Awards of 1958, it was nominated for and collected several international awards. Those awards and many positive reviews from film critics further enhanced Kubrick's already growing reputation. The film was nominated for a BAFTA Award under the category Best Film but lost to The Bridge on the River Kwai. The production also received in Finland the Jussi Awards' Diploma of Merit, was nominated for a Writers' Guild of America Award in 1959, and won the prestigious Grand Prix of the Belgian Film Critics Association.<ref>The Gods of Filmmaking, Paths of Glory Template:Webarchive Accessed November 2007.</ref> Kubrick himself received on February 17, 1959, in Rome the Italian critics' Silver Ribbon, an award recognizing him as "the best foreign director of 1958 for his movie 'Paths of Glory'."<ref>"Italians Cite Director of 'Paths of Glory'", news item, The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 17, 1959, p. A-13. "Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers", database with images, sponsored jointly by the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Library of Congress. Retrieved July 24, 2022.</ref>

Controversy

On its release, the film's anti-military tone was subject to severe public criticism and governmental censorship.

• In France, both active and retired personnel from the French military vehemently criticized the filmTemplate:Emdashand its portrayal of the French ArmyTemplate:Emdashafter it was released in Belgium. The French government placed enormous pressure on United Artists (the European distributor) not to release the film in France. The film was eventually shown in France in 1975 when anti-war attitudes were more acceptable.<ref name="NRobertson">Template:Cite news</ref>
• The film was withdrawn from the Berlin Film Festival to avoid straining relations with France.<ref name="Taschen">Template:Cite book</ref> It was then not shown in Germany until two years after its theatrical release in the United States.
• In Spain, the fascist government of Francisco Franco objected to the film. It was not shown there until 1986, 11 years after Franco's death.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
• The Swiss government banned any presentations of the film until 1970 on the grounds that it was "incontestably offensive" to France, its judicial system and its army.<ref name="NRobertson"/>
• The film was banned in all United States military establishments, both at home and overseas, due to its content.<ref name="auto"/>

Reviews in the United States, 1957Template:Endash1958

Despite the film's harsh reception in Europe by various governments, French war veterans, and media outlets, in the months after the motion picture's initial screenings in the United States, reactions to Kubrick's production featured in American newspapers and trade publications were generally positive. Nevertheless, perceived deficiencies in the film's structure and content were expressed by some of the nation's leading reviewers in 1957 and 1958.

Issues with "colloquial English" dialogue

In his December 26, 1957, review for The New York Times, Bosley Crowther credits Kubrick for creating a visually "terrific", highly intense picture. In particular, Crowther draws attention to the story's execution scene, which he describes as "one of the most craftily directed and emotionally lacerating that we have ever seen." He does, though, also identify two "troubling flaws" that he saw in the film, one being within the "realm of technique", the other within the "realm of significance":<ref name="NYT"/>Template:Blockquote

The absence of any spoken French or suitably accented English dialogue in a highly focused portrayal of French soldiers continued to be a point of debate in American critical analysis of Paths of Glory. Philip K. Scheuer, who wrote about films for the Los Angeles Times from the 1920s to 1967, was another reviewer who addressed the issue again in the newspaper's January 16, 1958, edition.<ref>"Philip K. Scheuer papers", Special Collections, Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Beverly Hills, California. Retrieved archive profile July 24, 2022.</ref><ref name="Scheuer">Scheuer, Philip (1958). "Views Diverge on War Film: Question of Foreign Accents Raised by 'Paths of Glory'", Los Angeles Times, January 16, 1958, p. B11. Retrieved via ProQuest, July 25, 2022. Template:ProQuest</ref> In a follow-up discussion about the "controversial war picture", in a commentary subtitled "Question of Foreign Accents Raised by 'Paths of GloryTemplate:' ", Scheuer cites the style of speech used in the film and the screenplay's "weak" ending as two reasons he omitted the production from his "selection of 1957's best".<ref name="Scheuer"/> Like Bosley Crowther, he found the "linguistic" aspects of the dialogue wholly distracting. "In 'PathsTemplate:' ", Scheuer writes, "the actors all...employ ordinary colloquial EnglishTemplate:Sndmuch of it, I felt, delivered badlyTemplate:Sndalthough Adolph Menjou, being of French descent, did convey a certain quality of Frenchness," adding, "The others were simply Hollywood types."<ref name="Scheuer"/>

The film's "grim" plot

The overriding tone of the motion picture also evoked comments about the picture's marketability, namely its scant appeal to a very large segment of moviegoers. "Grim" is the word that frequently appears in contemporary reviews of the film, an adjective understandably applied given the story's brutal subject matter, and a word still commonly used even in complimentary assessments by critics. In its March 18, 1958 edition, the Chicago Daily Tribune summarizes the release as "a grim, forceful story, presented in blunt, unvarnished fashion, entirely lacking in the customary cliches, deftly directed."<ref>Tinee, Mae (1958). "Film Indicts 2 Soldiers of World War I", Chicago Daily Tribune, March 18, 1958, p. a5. Retrieved via ProQuest, July 25, 2022. Template:ProQuest The name of this reviewer, "Mae Tinee", was a pen name used over the years by a series of film critics working at the Chicago Daily Tribune, a name derived as a humorous reconfiguration from the word "matinee".</ref> Whitney Williams, a critic for Variety, previewed the film six weeks before it opened at the Fine Arts Theatre in Los Angeles. In his review, which was published on November 20, 1957, Williams anticipates limited interest as well as limited box-office revenue for the picture:Template:Blockquote Harrison's Reports, an independent and advertisement-free film review journal in 1957, agreed with Variety's critic and in November expressed doubts too that the "World War I melodrama" would be successful commercially after its general release in January 1958.<ref name="HR57">"'Paths of Glory' with Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou and Ralph Meeker", review, Harrison's Reports (New York, N.Y.), November 23, 1957, p. 188. Retrieved via Internet Archive, July 30, 2022.</ref><ref name="AFIa">"Paths of Glory (1958)", production details, catalog of the American Film Institute (AFI), Los Angeles California. Retrieved July 26, 2022.</ref> "Just how it will fare at the box-office is a matter of conjecture", Harrison's stated, characterizing its central theme as "a grim and unpleasant study of man's inhumanity toward man".<ref name="HR57"/>

Views on the screenplay's ending

Edwin S. Schallert, a fellow critic of Philip Scheuer at the Los Angeles Times, also attended the film's first screening in Los Angeles on December 20, 1957. The following day the newspaper published Schallert's evaluation, which begins by classifying Paths of Glory as "A minor contribution but an interesting one to the war effort on the screen".<ref name="Schallert57">Schallert, Philip (1957). "'Paths Of Glory Evidences Power In Its Court-Martial", Los Angeles Times, December 21, 1957, p. B3. Retrieved via ProQuest, July 26, 2022. |Template:ProQuest </ref> Next he describes the drama's storyline in some detail before addressing specifically the film's final scene, which he found odd and disconnected in its presentation so soon after "the grim gray execution". "Susanne Christian", Schallert writes, "is seen as the German girl forced to sing to a huge body of [French] troops right at the end of the pictureTemplate:Snda peculiar sort of payoff for the miscarriage of justice to which the whole gathering of men seems to be oblivious."<ref name="Schallert57"/> He then concludes, Template:" 'Paths of Glory' is a commendably sincere picture, very well told for the most part, though it does not fulfill itself in the best screen and entertainment terms. It is practically like a documentary."<ref name="Schallert57"/>

The review in Harrison's Reports addressed the ending as well, maintaining that it was the "picture's one weak spot", was "difficult to understand", and "leaves one with a feeling that it is inconclusive".<ref name="HR57"/> The journal then offered its own interpretation of the final scenes. From Harrison's perspective, as Colonel Dax is returning to his quarters after his confrontations with his superior officers, "he notices his soldiers enjoying themselves in a cafe. It disgusts him to think that they had so quickly forgotten their executed comrades, but he compassionately realizes that life must go on."<ref name="HR57"/> Whitney Williams in Variety also commented about the film's finale, noting that it "ends so abruptly [the] audience is left with a feeling of incompletion."<ref name="Variety57a"/>

Other assorted critics in newspapers and trade publications viewed the film's ending and the production's significance cinematically far differently than the cited critics at the Los Angeles Times or the reviewers for Harrison's Reports and Variety. Richard Gertner of the New York-based trade paper Motion Picture Daily was one of them. He, unlike Edwin Schallert, did not see Paths of Glory as a "minor contribution" to the genre of wartime portrayals. Nor did he find its closing scenes "peculiar"; but instead, "poignant".<ref name="Gertner57">Gertner, Richard (1957). "REVIEW: Paths of Glory", Motion Picture Daily (New York, N.Y.), November 18, 1957, pp. 1, 7. Retrieved via Internet Archive, July 28, 2022.</ref> After viewing what he termed "a brilliant and arresting film" only a few weeks after its world premiere in Munich, Gertner highly recommended it to his readers, many of whom were theater owners.<ref name="Gertner57"/> He then advised those motion picture "exhibitors" not to misjudge the film's content in advance:Template:Blockquote Finally, in contrast to Philip Scheuer's omission of the production from his "selection of 1957's best",<ref name="Scheuer"/> Gertner ends his appraisal emphatically: "No doubt about itTemplate:Snd'Paths of Glory' is one of the strongest dramas of the year."<ref name="Gertner57"/>

Opinions regarding Kubrick's direction and editing

In spite of issues being raised in various reviews about the film's manner of dialogue, its anticipated marketing challenges, and its ending, in the United States in 1957 and 1958 there was near universal admiration expressed for the directorial abilities and technical expertise that the 29-year-old Kubrick exhibited in the production. Jay CarmodyTemplate:Sndthe drama critic for The Evening Star in Washington, D.C., and winner of the Screen Directors Guild's "Critic of the Year" award for 1956Template:Sndcommended Kubrick for directing a "film with sting" and doing so with "chilling incisiveness".<ref>Carmody, Jay (1958). "Keith's Film Takes a Wry Look at War", The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 27, 1958, p. A-18. Retrieved via Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers, online archive, co-sponsored by NEH and the Library of Congress, July 25, 2022.</ref><ref>Hailey, Jean R. (1973). "Jay Carmody, Longtime Drama Critic", obituary, The Washington Post, June 20, 1973, p. C9. Retrieved via ProQuest, July 27, 2022. Template:ProQuest</ref> At the New York Herald Tribune, critic William Zinsser judges the film to be "outstanding" in his December 26, 1957 review and describes Kubrick's direction and editing as first-rate. "His scenes", Zinsser observes, "are vivid and well composed, and he knows the art of cuttingTemplate:Sndthe scenes make their point, with economy and bite, and move on."<ref>Zinsser, William K. (1957). "'Paths of Glory'", New York Herald Tribune, December 26, 1957, p. 14. Retrieved via ProQuest, July 25, 2022. Template:ProQuest</ref> Even at this relatively early stage in Kubrick's career directing feature films, he had already gained a reputation in the motion picture industry for commanding all aspects of his projects and being, as one colleague described him, "'meticulous with everything, from scripting to editing'".<ref>Baxter, John. Stanley Kubrick: A Biography. New York: Carroll & Graf Publishers, Inc., 1997, p. 37. Retrieved via Internet Archive, July 28, 2022.</ref> What is notably missing, however, from Zinsser's comments or in other contemporary reviews about the quality of the production's "cutting" are any allusions to Eva Kroll, the film's credited editor, and to her contributions in helping to construct or at least refine the end product.<ref name="AFIa"/>

Later reactions and references to the film

More than three decades after the release of Paths of Glory, American director Robert Zemeckis paid homage to the film with the 1991 Tales from the Crypt episode "Yellow".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The episode was an adaptation of the 1952 Shock SuspenStories story, "Yellow!", about a U.S. Army colonel whose son, a lieutenant, exhibits cowardice and is sentenced to face the firing squad. The father makes the son falsely believe that the firing squad will be firing blanks, so that the son will not exhibit cowardice before his execution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Zemeckis cast Kirk Douglas and his son Eric Douglas in the father and son roles.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

David Simon, creator of the critically acclaimed television series The Wire (2002Template:Emdash2008), has said that Paths of Glory was a key influence on the HBO crime drama. The influence of the film comes in its depiction of the tribulations of "middle management", in the form of Dax's unsuccessful attempt to protect his troops against the inhumane ambitions of his superiors, which in turn influenced The WireTemplate:Hsp's depiction of various institutions acting against individuals.<ref name="blog.nj.com">Template:Cite web</ref>

Chicago Sun-Times critic Roger Ebert added the film to his "Great Movies" list on February 25, 2005.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Years earlier, on a 1987 episode of the televised film review series At the Movies, critic Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune debated with co-host Ebert about the respective merits of several Kubrick productions. Siskel in their discussions declared Paths of Glory to be "a near perfect film," one that in his opinion was surpassed in overall quality only by Kubrick's dark comedy Dr. Strangelove.<ref>"Siskel & Ebert review Dr Strangelove and Paths of Glory and part 2 of their Full Metal Jacket debate", segment from 1987 televised episode of At the Movies co-hosted by Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert; video uploaded by "Kubrick's Tube" onto YouTube and freely available on that streaming service. Retrieved July 29, 2022.</ref>

An indication of the film's enduring popularity can be found on the American review-aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes. As of March 2025, the film holds a 96% rating based on 77 reviews with an average rating of 9/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Paths of Glory is a transcendentally humane war movie from Stanley Kubrick, with impressive, protracted battle sequences and a knock-out ending."<ref name="RT2022">Template:Cite web</ref> On Metacritic, the film has a score of 90 out of 100 based on reviews from 18 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Preservation and restoration

In 1992, the film was deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> In October and November 2004 the film was shown at the London Film Festival by the British Film Institute.<ref name="Timeout">Timeout London, Paths of Glory Template:Webarchive, Accessed November 2007</ref> 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 widow Christiane (who also appears in the closing scene as the German singer) made a guest appearance at the start of the performance.<ref>"Paths of Glory", BFI London Film Festival, viewers information leaflet, October 2004.</ref>

Home media

Paths of Glory was released on VHS on July 21, 1997, followed by the DVD version on June 29, 1999. The Criterion Collection's first release of the film was for a Laserdisc release in 1989.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was released on DVD and Blu-ray by The Criterion Collection with a high-definition digital transfer on October 26, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Eureka released a UK Region B Blu-Ray in 2016 as part of its Masters of Cinema line.

In 2022, Kino Lorber have detailed their upcoming 4K Blu-ray release of the film, restored from the original camera negative. This release also features an audio commentary by critic Tim Lucas. This edition was released on August 23, 2022.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

See also

• French Army mutinies
• List of American films of 1957
• List of films considered the best

Further reading

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite web
• Template:Cite web
• Paths of Glory: "We Have Met the Enemy . . ." an essay by James Naremore at the Criterion Collection

External links

• Template:IMDb title
• Template:TCMDb title
• Template:AFI film
• Template:Usurped at gonemovies.com (includes images) (archived)
• Template:Rotten Tomatoes