Editing Paths of Glory (section)

==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>{{Cite web|url=https://www.filmsite.org/path.html|title=Paths of Glory (1957)|last=Dirks|first=Tim|website=AMC Filmsite|access-date=16 February 2019|archive-date=February 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217030108/https://www.filmsite.org/path.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

<blockquote><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></blockquote>

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 (film)|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. [http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-12-18/article/28760 "Sidney Howard: From Berkeley to Broadway and Hollywood"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220211351/http://www.berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/2007-12-18/article/28760 |date=December 20, 2014 }}, ''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>{{cite web |title='Paths of Glory': Stanley Kubrick's First Step Towards Cinema Immortality |url=https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/ |website=cinephiliabeyond |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035130/https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/ |url-status=live }}</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;
<blockquote>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>{{Cite news|url=https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/013072kubrick-profile.html|title=Nice Boy From the Bronx?|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-date=August 25, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825110333/https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/library/film/013072kubrick-profile.html|url-status=live}}</ref></blockquote>

''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>{{Cite web
 | first = Philippe
 | last = Huneman
 | title = Les Sentiers de la gloire
 | website = kubrick.fr
 | date = November 2003
 | url = http://www2.cndp.fr/TICE/teledoc/dossiers/dossier_sentiers.htm
 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20071203014203/http://www.kubrick.fr/sentiers5.htm
 | archive-date = 2007-12-03
}}</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>{{Cite web|url=https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/desertion|title=Desertion and the death penalty|date=23 October 2017|website=Australian War Memorial|access-date=16 February 2019|archive-date=February 17, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190217031727/https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/encyclopedia/desertion|url-status=live}}</ref> The United States sentenced 24 soldiers to death for cowardice, but the sentences were never carried out.<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite web |author=Rob Ruggenberg |url=http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-shotatdawn.html |title=The Heritage of the Great War / First World War 1914 - 1918 |publisher=Greatwar.nl |access-date=2014-03-17 |archive-date=September 5, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120905105830/http://www.greatwar.nl/frames/default-shotatdawn.html |url-status=live }}</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 (Roman Army)|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>{{cite book |last=Duncan |first=Paul |year=2003 |title=Stanley Kubrick: The Complete Films |location=Köln |publisher=Taschen GmbH |isbn=978-3836527750 |oclc=51839483 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XBQi4cCEYNIC |page=11 |access-date=December 20, 2014 |archive-date=August 26, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160826091619/https://books.google.com/books?id=XBQi4cCEYNIC |url-status=live }} Alternately titled ''Stanley Kubrick: Visual Poet, 1928–1999''.</ref>

Although Kubrick's previous film ''[[The Killing (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. {{ISBN|0826404227}}</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">{{Cite book|last=Kagan|first=Norman|date=2000|title=The Cinema of Stanley Kubrick|doi=10.5040/9781501340277|isbn=9781501340277}}</ref> Of the roughly $1 million budget, more than a third was allocated to Kirk Douglas' salary.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1633-paths-of-glory-we-have-met-the-enemy|title=Paths of Glory: "We Have Met the Enemy . . ."|last=Naremore|first=James|website=The Criterion Collection|language=en|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-date=March 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190304134941/https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/1633-paths-of-glory-we-have-met-the-enemy|url-status=live}}</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">{{Cite journal|last=Kelly|first=Andrew|date=1993|title=The brutality of military incompetence: 'Paths of Glory' (1957)|journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television|language=en|volume=13|issue=2|pages=215–227|doi=10.1080/01439689300260221|issn=0143-9685}}</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>{{cite news|last=Alpert|first=Hollis|title='2001': Offbeat Director In Outer Space|url=http://partners.nytimes.com/library/film/011666kubrick-2001.html|access-date=August 1, 2011|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 16, 1966|archive-date=November 6, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111106072414/http://partners.nytimes.com/library/film/011666kubrick-2001.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Writing===
Kubrick eventually hired [[Calder Willingham]] to work on the script of ''Paths of Glory'' (1957), of which [[Jim Thompson (writer)|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>{{cite book|last1=Polito|first1=Robert|title=Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson|date=1996|publisher=Vintage|location=New York|isbn=978-0679733522|pages=403–409}}</ref><ref name=Baxter>{{cite book|last1=Baxter|first1=John|title=Stanley Kubrick: A Biography|date=1997|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0786704859|pages=88–89|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PKMZ4_i60LYC&q=stanley%20kubrick&pg=PA88|access-date=19 August 2015}}</ref><ref name=LoBrutto>{{cite book|last1=LoBrutto|first1=Vincent|title=Stanley Kubrick: A Biography|date=1999|publisher=Da Capo Press|isbn=978-0306809064|pages=88–89, 91, 94–95}}</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>{{Cite journal|last=Miller|first=Cynthia J.|date=2006|title=Depth of Field: Stanley Kubrick, Film, and the Uses of History|journal=History: Reviews of New Books|volume=35|issue=1|pages=24–25|doi=10.1080/03612759.2006.10526982|s2cid=142729219|issn=0361-2759}}</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. {{ISBN|0415514827}}</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>{{Cite web|url=http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=21740|title=Paths of Glory (1957) {{!}} The Film Spectrum|last=Fraley|first=Jason|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218021209/http://thefilmspectrum.com/?p=21740|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://americanfilm.afi.com/issue/2014/7/screen-test|title=American Film|website=americanfilm.afi.com|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-date=February 18, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190218021528/https://americanfilm.afi.com/issue/2014/7/screen-test|url-status=live}}</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">{{Cite web|url=https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/|title='Paths of Glory': Stanley Kubrick's First Step Towards Cinema Immortality • Cinephilia & Beyond|date=2017-03-25|website=Cinephilia & Beyond|language=en-US|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-date=February 16, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035130/https://cinephiliabeyond.org/paths-glory-stanley-kubricks-first-step-towards-cinema-immortality/|url-status=live}}</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.{{citation needed|date=June 2024}}<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|thumb|244x244px|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>{{cite web |title=The Brutality of Military Incompetence: Paths of Glory and King and Country |url=https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2016/09/24/brutality-military-incompetence-paths-glory-king-country/ |website=scrapsfromtheloft |date=September 24, 2016 |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=June 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190615064123/https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2016/09/24/brutality-military-incompetence-paths-glory-king-country/ |url-status=live }}</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>{{Cite web|url=http://www.absolutefilms.net/tim_carey/unomas.html|title=Uno Mas "The Wonderful Horrible Life Of Timothy Carey"|website=www.absolutefilms.net|access-date=2019-02-17|archive-date=September 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170914034252/http://www.absolutefilms.net/tim_carey/unomas.html|url-status=live}}</ref> He was replaced in the scenes remaining to be shot with a double.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Beyl |first1=Cameron |title=Stanley Kubrick's Pathe of Glory (1957) |url=https://directorsseries.net/2016/02/11/stanley-kubricks-paths-of-glory-1957/ |website=directorsseries |date=February 11, 2016 |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=February 16, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190216035228/https://directorsseries.net/2016/02/11/stanley-kubricks-paths-of-glory-1957/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The film cost slightly less than $1 million and just about broke even.<ref name="Gritten2019">{{cite web |last1=Gritten |first1=David |title=Paths of Glory: Stanley Kubrick's greatest war film? |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/10804982/Paths-of-Glory-Stanley-Kubricks-greatest-war-film.html |website=The Telegraph |date=May 3, 2014 |access-date=15 February 2019 |archive-date=February 15, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215215849/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/classic-movies/10804982/Paths-of-Glory-Stanley-Kubricks-greatest-war-film.html |url-status=live }}</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:
{{blockquote|He made the veteran actor Adolphe Menjou do the same scene 17 times. "That was my best reading." Menjou announced. "I think we can break for lunch now." It was well past the usual lunch time but Kubrick said he wanted another take. Menjou went into an absolute fury. In front of Douglas and the entire crew he blasted off on what he claimed was Kubrick's dubious parentage and made several other unprintable references to Kubrick's relative greenness in the art of directing actors. Kubrick merely listened calmly and after Menjou had spluttered to an uncomplimentary conclusion said quietly: "All right, let's try the scene once more." With utter docility, Menjou went back to work. "Stanley instinctively knew what to do," Douglas says.<ref name=Alpert/>}}

The only female character in the film, the woman who sings "[[The Faithful Hussar]]", is portrayed by German actress [[Christiane Kubrick|Christiane Harlan]] (credited in the film as Susanne Christian). She and Kubrick later married; the couple remained together until his death in 1999.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/falling-in-love-with-a-story-christiane-kubrick-on-the-legacy-of-stanley-kubrick|title=Falling In Love With A Story: Christiane Kubrick on the Legacy of Stanley Kubrick|website=kcet|date=October 30, 2012|access-date=15 February 2019|archive-date=February 15, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190215220210/https://www.kcet.org/shows/artbound/falling-in-love-with-a-story-christiane-kubrick-on-the-legacy-of-stanley-kubrick|url-status=live}}</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>{{Cite web |title=American Legends - Paths of Glory |url=https://americanlegends.com/Interviews/paths_of_glory.html#:~:text=This%20anti-war%20theme%20was,(who%20remained%20safely%20behind). |access-date=2025-03-04 |website=americanlegends.com}}</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>{{Citation|last=Indie Film Hustle|title=Stanley Kubrick: Paths of Glory & Kirk Douglas Years (The Directors Series) – Indie Film Hustle|date=2018-01-16|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XohngVy9cho| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201109023545/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XohngVy9cho| archive-date=2020-11-09 | url-status=dead|access-date=2019-02-17}}</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), ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=Xz99CAAAQBAJ&q=paths+&pg=PA242 The Encyclopedia of Film Composers] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190209180024/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Xz99CAAAQBAJ&pg=PA242&lpg=PA242&dq=paths+of+glory+score+only+percussion&source=bl&ots=54n6niRjqr&sig=ACfU3U16vru2m1UtujXwfvn59D0s7Uu89w&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjQhOOei6zgAhUyrHEKHW4zBWgQ6AEwCXoECAcQAQ#v=onepage&q=paths%20 |date=February 9, 2019 }}.'' 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>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xz99CAAAQBAJ&q=paths+&pg=PA242|title=The Encyclopedia of Film Composers|last=Hischak|first=Thomas S.|date=2015-04-16|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442245501|language=ar|access-date=October 5, 2020|archive-date=April 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415222244/https://books.google.com/books?id=Xz99CAAAQBAJ&q=paths+&pg=PA242|url-status=live}}</ref> In the tavern with the French soldiers of Dax's regiment, a young woman sings a traditional German folk song of that era, [[The Faithful Hussar|"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>{{Cite web |url=https://www.academia.edu/20223220 |title=Similarities and differences on Paths of Glory and Full Metal Jacket |last=Haft |first=Nima |date=2016-01-13 |website=[[Academia.edu]] |language=en |access-date=August 15, 2024 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220719035629/https://www.academia.edu/20223220 |archive-date=July 19, 2022}}</ref>