Paths of Glory

World War One was one of the most brutal wars in the history of mankind. It's a war that changed the course of human history and set humanity on a charter, which we can still see wakes from today. Many movies have been made about this infamous point in time, but maybe none other more affecting than our subject today. A movie equal parts war and courtroom drama, it comes almost four decades after the war's end and from a true master of cinema.

So if you’re like me and you enjoy film and the impact and emotions they convey, then grab a glass of your preferred liquid and join me for the next little while. For me that’s a bottle of Labatt Blue from our friends in the great city of Toronto. So sit back, relax, and let's talk about the love of film. Welcome to Glazed Cinema.

Our subject today follows Colonel Dax in the French Army during World War I who is tasked with a fruitless operation by his ranking officer. Without any choice and recognizing the hopelessness and likely sacrifice of half his men, he orders the attack, leading to an unsuccessful outcome. The commanding General, wanting to send a message, orders for three random soldiers within the Colonel’s group to be tried for cowardice. The Colonel, disagreeing with the charge and the systematic practice stands up to defend his soldiers during a trial prosecuted by his two commanding officers, which threatens the men’s very lives.

Paths of Glory is loosely based on a book of the same name, written by Humphrey Cobb in 1935. A novel about actual events that happened in France in 1915, called The Souain Corporals Affair. It is one of the most appalling of the documented acts in which soldiers were executed by their own army.

In doing research for this episode I stumbled upon some statistics that were pretty haunting. I learned that this thought process of executing soldiers by firing squad to send a message to others was not a rare or selective affair. I learned that it was quite the opposite in fact, which really saddened me. Some countries during World War I didn’t record this very well, if at all like Austria-Hungary and Russia for example, so we don’t know a clear total across the war. The countries that did record this macabre practice does give a rather horrifying insight into just how common this was.

Between France, Bulgaria, and Italy alone more than 2,200 soldiers were executed in this manner. Other countries like Great Britain and its territories, Belgium, Germany, and the United States practiced this fewer, but their combined total is estimated at around 400, 306 of those of Great Britain and its territories.

It’s a bit of history that most countries hide away, with few monuments attributed to the men executed by their own. I can’t help but be saddened by these executions. I mean, these were young men, fighting an absolutely brutal and chaotic war. Trapped in trenches, gnawed by rats, surrounded by dead they couldn’t bury, and bombarded by shellings and under threat of biological weapons prior to the Geneva Protocol. It was an awful place to be from any side of no man’s land, but to worry about being killed by your own on top of that makes an already unthinkable situation so much more grave.

Paths of Glory plays on that subject, time period, and mindset. The director asked Jim Thompson, his screenwriter on The Killing to compose the script. Thompson’s screenplay rewrote the events of the book to fit a new aesthetic, highlighting a minor character as the lead.

Colonel Dax is an intelligent, resilient, and honest man, who fights alongside the men he is leading in the trenches. Fighting for France, Colonel Dax and his men fight survive between the wooden clad walls and amidst the fog of war. Dax is also a lawyer and understands how to strategically approach tough situations. When ordered to take Anthill, however, he finds it difficult to see an end in which he doesn't lose a lot of men in the process. With little choice, he carries out the attack, which as expected does not end in the way his commanding Generals had hoped. This leads to a scapegoating of three soldiers who are tried for cowardice, who General Dax must defend.

Paths of Glory is a film by one of the best film directors of all time, Stanley Kubrick. Released in 1957, it’s the third film in his impressive catalog. Up to the point of releasing our subject today, Kubrick cut his teeth behind the camera with The Killer’s Kiss and The Killing. These two efforts were stylized takes on film noir, which in the mid fifties was quite popular with audiences.

With Paths of Glory however, Kubrick takes his first step into cinematic genius. Exploring complex themes with that results in a multi-layered and thought-provoking film. A trend he would not abandon moving forward.

When casting the film the first choice of lead actor was Gregory Peck. Despite being interested in working on the project, the actor was busy starring in a play that had just debuted. Several actors were approached to play the part, all either busy or uninterested. Eventually it made its way to Kirk Douglas who expressed immediate interest, but had reservations, which he voiced to Kubrick, stating:

“Stanley, I don’t think this film will ever make a nickel, but we have to make it.”

By that time Douglas was already a popular star, having been cast as the lead in several movies before ‘57. Pictures like The Champion, Bad and the Beautiful, and Ace in the Hole all showcased his skill and aptitude to capture audiences. He recognized the poignant and influence that the message had and thus felt he needed to be involved. He also knew however, that the subject Kubrick was going for wouldn’t pull audiences into theaters in thralls.

He was accurate in his commentary as well. At the time, more than a decade after World War II, studios were not interested in producing more war films. In fact, when they approached MGM about the film one executive stated:

“Enough with war films. They’re death at the box office.”

This didn’t stop their momentum though. In fact, Douglas was so moved by the screenplay that he took it to United Artists for financial backing. After some negotiations United Artists agreed to the conditions proposed by Douglas and his agent…a deal that favored them considerably. In the deal, Douglas’ company got rights to filming while also dedicating one third of the project’s budget to Douglas’ agent. The deal was agreed upon and presented to Kubrick and Harris for approval. With no other offer on the table and several previous rejections, they accepted the deal and the project was green lit for filming based on the script.

The thing that makes this movie different from some of the other anti-war movies is the fact that it's as much of a sentiment on war as it is with the system of war. Kubrick's delivery of these kid of sentiments is phenomenal as well. Kubrick was a big believer in not letting his audiences off the hook and making them think about what is going on or what an outcome means. I’ve talked about this in a few episodes in the past and how affecting this is for the audience and a technique used by other greats of cinema. I found a quote from Kubrick, in which explains his thoughts on getting something across to the audience.

“If you really want to communicate something, even if it’s just an emotion or an attitude, let alone an idea, the least effective and enjoyable and least enjoyable way is directly. But if you can get people to the point where they have to think a moment what it is you’re getting at, and then discover it, that thrill of discovery goes straight to the heart.”

It's a technique we can see throughout Paths of Glory in both big and small ways, but I would argue that almost the entire movie acts on this belief. All of the themes and points are made clear...never using direct methods, but subtle ones. One instance is in the beginning when we witness the meeting between two generals, General Broulard and Mireau. General Broulard is the commanding general planning a high risk assault on a strategic position called Anthill to gain ground on the enemy. The discussion takes place in a palace of opulence. Polished floors, immaculate furnishings, large windows, and decorative frames around grand pieces of art. Sitting comfortably in chairs drinking tea, the two talk of battle, which hinges on the poor men living and dying in the trenches far away. Mireau is hesitant at first, stating that Anthill has been held by the enemy for over a year and that the effort would mean certain doom. After Broulard flashes the chance of promotion however, he quickly changes tune and accepts the offer. We can see from a short scene like that a lot of things like the dispassionate command and the corrupt sense of duty.

Kubrick was a visionary and a perfectionist. He is known for many things, among them are the amount of takes he used to get a scene just right. In Paths of Glory there is one dinner scene, which he shot sixty-eight takes to get the outcome within his mind. If you think for a moment about what all that entails, it’s pretty intense, especially in the film era. That means sixty-eight times he yelled action and cut, sixty-eight times actors and cameras had to be repositioned, and quite a few times that the film had to be unloaded and reloaded into the camera. Despite this, the resulting scene is certainly worth the effort and provides a very sobering moment in the film.

The film ended up grossing around eight million dollars worldwide from a budget that was around eight million to start. It caused quite a stir upon release causing critic acclaim and critic outrage alike. No stronger outrage was felt than that of the Swiss government who banned the film completely. They felt that the movie offended France, its army, and its judicial system. France itself did not ban the film, but instead didn’t distribute it. In some areas of France it wasn’t shown until 1975, almost two decades later.

There are a lot of great and moving scenes in the movie, but one of the most iconic is when Dax leads his men on their attack for Anthill. It's a scene that used a tracking shot, which Kubrick loved to use throughout his career. If you're unfamiliar with what that it, it's essentially when the camera is placed on a dolly and moves or tracks its subject, usually for a longer period of time than an average sequence. Some of these shots can be done moving sideways, forwards, or backwards. In this scene, we follow Colonel Dax as he travels through the trench to gain position to call his men to battle. The camera moves backward, facing Kirk Douglas as he walks through his men lined against the two opposing walls. He looks apprehensive, nervous, but confident all at once. Walking through his men we hear and see explosions as his men huddle to take cover as he walks tall. Coming to the end of the tunnel we hear a man counting down as Colonel Dax places a whistle in his mouth, climbs a ladder over the wall, and whistles his men onward.

Kirk Douglas did a fantastic job portraying the embittered Colonel and is one of the many reasons why this film works so well. I love how he emotes, delivers his lines, and carries himself as Dax, I found it really affecting. It's really a superb performance and one worth viewing and appreciating. With a great cast and director, the film has a quite the impact on screen that has lasted for generations.

I saw Paths of Glory for the first time when I was twenty-two years old and the subject captured my curiosity. I was on a Kubrick kick, watching his older films I hadn’t seen. When I watched it the first time it was on Turner Classic Movies. I had heard a lot about the film and TCM does a great job of introducing films they air with some tidbits about the movie. As the movie began I could sense myself captured by that initial juxtaposition of worlds. One which the generals reside and plan in far removed from the battlefield and the trenches themselves. Between the performances, camera shots, and dialogue, I became more invested in the film and by the end, I was floored by what I had seen. For some the ending of this movie might be a bit of a bitter conclusion and without spoiling anything, I'll leave you with this. That my friends...is the point.

If you’d like to watch Paths of Glory you can find it on a variety of streaming services. At the time of this recording you can find it on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, Prime Video, and Vudu for $3.99 to rent.

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