PATHS OF GLORY (1957)

Paths of Glory is a 1957 American anti-war film[5] co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Set 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 attempts to defend them against charges of cowardice in a court-martial.

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. 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.

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 foolish idealism, but Dax in turn denounces Broulard's callousness.

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. Dax leaves without informing the men that they have been ordered to return to the front and the continuing carnage of the trenches.
Cast

Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, commanding officer, 701st Infantry Regiment
Ralph Meeker as Corporal Philippe Paris, 701st Infantry Regiment
Adolphe Menjou as Major General Georges Broulard, corps commander
George Macready as Brigadier General Paul Mireau, divisional commander
Wayne Morris as Lieutenant Roget, company commander, 701st Infantry Regiment
Richard Anderson as Major Saint-Auban, Mireau's aide de camp
Joe Turkel as Private Pierre Arnaud, 701st Infantry Regiment (credited as Joseph Turkel)
Christiane Kubrick as German singer (credited as Susanne Christian)
Jerry Hausner as café proprietor
Peter Capell as president of the court martial (and narrator)
Emile Meyer as Father Duprée
Bert Freed as Staff Sergeant Boulanger, 701st Infantry Regiment
Kem Dibbs as Private Lejeune, 701st Infantry Regiment
Timothy Carey as Private Maurice Ferol, 701st Infantry Regiment
Fred Bell as shell-shocked soldier
John Stein as Captain Rousseau, artillery battery commander
Harold Benedict as Captain Nichols, artillery liaison officer
James B. Harris as soldier in attack (uncredited)