Paths of Glory (1957)

Director:

Stanley Kubrick

Writers:

Stanley Kubrick (screenplay) &
Calder Willingham (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

25 October 1957 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | War

Tagline:

Never has the screen thrust so deeply into the guts of war!

Plot:

When soldiers in WW1 refuse to continue with an impossible attack, their superiors decide to make an example of them.

Plot Keywords:

General | Soldier | French Army | Cannon Fodder | Controversy

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 wins & 2 nominations

Cast

Kirk Douglas	...	Col. Dax
Ralph Meeker	...	Cpl. Philippe Paris
Adolphe Menjou	...	Gen. George Broulard
George Macready	...	Gen. Paul Mireau
Wayne Morris	...	Lt. Roget
Richard Anderson	...	Maj. Saint-Auban
Joe Turkel	...	Pvt. Pierre Arnaud (as Joseph Turkel)
Christiane Kubrick	...	German Singer (as Susanne Christian)
Jerry Hausner	...	Proprietor of Cafe
Peter Capell	...	Narrator of Opening Sequence / Chief Judge of Court-Martial
Emile Meyer	...	Father Dupree
Bert Freed	...	Sgt. Boulanger
Kem Dibbs	...	Pvt. Lejeune
Timothy Carey	...	Pvt. Maurice Ferol
Fred Bell	...	Shell-Shocked Soldier
John Stein	...	Capt. Rousseau - Battery Commander
Harold Benedict	...	Capt. Nichols - Artillery Spotter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Leon Briggs	...	Capt. Sancy (uncredited)
Paul Bös	...	Maj. Gouderc (uncredited)
Herbert Ellis	...	Small Role (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Wally Friedrichs	...	Col. De Guerville (uncredited)
Halder Hanson	...	Doctor (uncredited)
James B. Harris	...	Private in the Attack (uncredited)
Rolf Kralovitz	...	K.P. (uncredited)
Ira Moore	...	Capt. Renouart (uncredited)
Marshall Rainer	...	Pvt. Duval (uncredited)
Roger Vagnoid	...	Cafe Owner (uncredited)

Directed by
Stanley Kubrick

Writing credits
Stanley Kubrick		(screenplay) &
Calder Willingham		(screenplay) and
Jim Thompson		(screenplay)
Humphrey Cobb		(based on the novel "Paths of Glory" by)

Produced by
James B. Harris	....	producer
Kirk Douglas	....	producer (uncredited)
Stanley Kubrick	....	executive producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Gerald Fried

Cinematography by
Georg Krause		(photographed by) (as George Krause)

Film Editing by
Eva Kroll

Art Direction by
Ludwig Reiber

Costume Design by
Ilse Dubois

Makeup Department
Arthur Schramm	....	makeup artist

Production Management
John Pommer	....	production manager: American
Helmut Ringelmann	....	unit manager
George von Block	....	production manager: German

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Dixie Sensburg	....	assistant director (as D. Sensburg)
Franz-Josef Spieker	....	assistant director (as F. Spieker)
Hans Stumpf	....	assistant director (as H. Stumpf)

Sound Department
Martin Müller	....	sound
Al Gramaglia	....	sound re-recording mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Erwin Lange	....	special effects

Camera and Electrical Department
Hans Elsinger	....	camera grip
Hannes Staudinger	....	camera operator
Stanley Kubrick	....	additional cinematographer (uncredited)
Lars Looschen	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Helene Fischer	....	assistant editor

Other crew
Trudy von Trotha	....	script clerk
Baron von Waldenfels	....	military adviser (as Baron v. Waldenfels)
Sid Stogel	....	publicity director (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Bryna Productions (presents)

Distributors

• United Artists (1957) (USA) (theatrical) (released thru)
• United Artists (1957) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• United Artists Films (1958) (Finland) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1958) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Bison Film (1965) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Mainostelevisio (MTV3) (1965) (Finland) (TV)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1968) (USA) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (1983) (Finland) (TV) (2003) (2008)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)
• MGM/UA Home Video (1990) (USA) (VHS)
• Chapel Distribution (1997) (Australia) (theatrical) (new 35mm print re-issue)
• MGM Home Entertainment (1997) (USA) (VHS) (pan and scan)
• Warner Home Video (1999) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• MGM Home Entertainment (Europe) (2002) (Sweden) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Park Circus (2005) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• MGM Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2007) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2010) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)
• Cinemagia (Brazil) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (19??) (USA) (video) (laserdisc)
• International DVD Group (2009) (Argentina) (DVD)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (2007) (USA) (DVD) (as part of the pack 'UA 90th Anniversary Prestige Collection', )
• Warner Home Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)

Other Companies

• Munich Symphony Orchestra  music performed by (uncredited)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | Latin

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:13 (original rating) | Australia:PG | Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) | Canada:G (Quebec) | Canada:PG (Manitoba/Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | France:(Banned) (original rating) | France:U (re-release) | Ireland:12 | Norway:16 | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) (passed with cuts) | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #18708) | Spain:T | Iceland:L | Spain:(Banned) (1957-1986) | West Germany:12 (f) | South Korea:15 | Brazil:14 | Argentina:Atp (re-rating) | Netherlands:12 (2007) (DVD) | UK:PG (tv rating) | UK:PG (video rating) (1989) (2002) | UK:PG (re-rating) (2005) | USA:TV-14 (TV rating) | USA:Not Rated | Italy:16+

Filming Locations:

Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Company:

Bryna Productions

Trivia:

Col. Dax's headquarters was placed in a severely damaged building, which looks like it was hit by shells. This set was actually the old castle of Schleissheim, opposite the-18th century castle, used as the set for the court martial, etc. During WWII the factories near Schleissheim were hit by an air raid. Some bombs fell on the old castle, causing heavy damage. So Col. Dax's headquarters were not set up by the film crew, they were actually damaged by war.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Near the beginning of the film Private Ferol, when asked by General Mireau, states that he has no wife - but while walking to the firing squad is crying on the shoulder of the priest that he will never see his wife again.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator of opening sequence:War began between Germany and France on August 3rd 1914. Five weeks later the German army had smashed its way to within eighteen miles of Paris. There the battered French miraculously rallied their forces at the Marne River and in a series of unexpected counterattacks drove the Germans back...

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Making of 'The Bridge on the River Kwai' (2000) (V)

Soundtrack:

Der Treue Husar

The most realistic, most emotionally draining, and most beautifully photographed movie ever made about trench warfare in WW I.

I think that Stanley Kubrick is the greatest of all film directors, and in my opinion "Paths of Glory" is Kubrick's best film because:

1. It is FAR AND AWAY the most realistic, most emotionally draining, and most beautifully photographed movie ever made about trench warfare in WW I, which has to be considered to be one of the significant episodes in all of human history. The story is fiction, but the events are patterned after some actual mutinies in the French army that took place in 1917.

2. I first saw this film 46 years ago, and it not only made me an avid Kubrick fan for the rest of my life, it made me want to watch it over and over again -- more than 250 times over the years, and every time I see it, I cry at the end (when Kubrick's future wife, and the only woman in the film, sings "The Faithful Hussar", causing the audience of French soldiers to change from a jeering crowd to a hushed, teary-eyed group of lonely men).

3. Everything about the movie is PERFECT!! There are no flaws in the acting, the pace of the movie, the photography, the dialogue, etc. Scene after scene is more powerful and ironic than the preceding one, building to a shattering climax. It is simply a gem.

4. Try as I might to think of actors that could have been substituted in their places, I think the casting for each and every part in the movie really could not have been any better. No one could have been better in their respective roles than George Macready, Adolphe Menjou, Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, and all of the others. Many of these actors appear in Kubrick's other films.

5. Has there ever been a better scene than the one in which one of the condemned soldiers (Ralph Meeker) stares at this cockroach and cries that tomorrow that bug will still be alive and he will be dead. Whereupon one of the other condemned men (the fatalistic Timothy Carey) squashes the cockroach and says "Now you got the edge on him".

6. You could probably change a few things in most of Kubrick's other masterpieces to slightly improve them, but I DEFY anyone to single out anything in "Paths of Glory" that could be improved upon. I could go on and on raving about the beauty and pathos of this film, but I think I will stop here.