Editing Paths of Glory (section)

===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>