“Paths of Glory” (1957), Stanley Kubrick’s film adaptation of Henry Cobb’s novel, will be screened 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 7 at the Billy Wilder Theater. The film was Kubrick's first major success as a filmmaker and entered him among the ranks of great directors.
When Roger Ebert interviewed Kirk Douglas — who stars in the film as Colonel Dax — in 1969, Douglas described the role as the pinnacle of his acting career. "There's a picture that will always be good, years from now. I don't have to wait 50 years to know that; I know it now," he said.
Set against the trenches of World War I, “Paths of Glory” tells the story of Dax, a French army officer, who has been ordered by his superiors to lead his men on a doomed mission to gain control of a German-held hill in France. The colonel is ordered by General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) to select three of his men to stand trial on grounds of cowardice, for which they will be executed. “These executions will be a perfect tonic for the entire division," Broulard says. "One way to maintain discipline is to shoot a man now and then.”
Kubrick’s stark dramatization of “Paths of Glory” indicates some of the major themes that he would later develop in his career regarding the hypocrisy and cynicism of authority.
Tickets for this event are $10 and can be purchased online. Click here.
