Kirk Douglashas starred in some of Hollywood’s greatest classic movies, but one anti-war film from 1957 remains his best.Douglas began acting in 1944and became a Hollywood leading man in the 1950s.Douglas has appeared in everything from war filmsand dramas to Westerns, and by the time he retired in 2008, he had starred in over 90 films. He earned three Academy Award nominations forChampion,The Bad and the Beautiful, andLust for Life, although he never won an Oscar. However, he did win the Cecil B. DeMille Award for Lifetime Achievement at the Golden Globes.
Kirk Douglas also helped out many talented individuals in Hollywood. He helped break the Hollywood blacklist when heagreed to star in the 1960 movieSpartacus, directed by Stanley Kubrick and written by Hollywood-blacklisted screenwriter Dalton Trumbo. When President John F. Kennedy ignored the blacklist and attended the film, it helped end the boycotting of these artist’s films. This alsowasn’t the first time that Douglas worked with director Kurbrick. He also agreed to star inthe director’s early war movie,Paths of Glory, and it remains Douglas’s best movie of his career.
Paths Of Glory Is Kirk Douglas' Best Movie
Stanley Kubrick Directed A Masterful Anti-War Movie
Stanley Kubrick only made three films before directingPaths of Glory, withThe Killingshowing his immense talent. ForPaths of Glory, Kubrick found a huge ally in Kirk Douglas. Based on the novel by Humphrey Cobb, the story follows the events after a Brigadier General messes up an attack in World War I andwants to cover for his incompetence by court-marshaling his troopsfor “cowardice.” He is asked to choose three to stand trial. Kirk Douglas stars as Colonel Dax, a commanding officer who is a criminal defense lawyer in real life. He is tasked with representing the soldiers.
The movie is an anti-war movie, showing three innocent soldiers killed by a firing squad to help the commanding officers in the military save face. This is shown in an essential moment in the film where Dax is ridiculed for his idealism, while he rebukes this by denouncing his commanding officer’s nihilism.
Kubrick set the camera up to make the scenes look realistic.
However, how Stanley Kubrick shot it makes this film stand out as one of the best in the genre. Kubrick set the camera up to make the scenes look realistic and not framed for a Hollywood film.Steven Spielberg also did this years later withSaving Private Ryan.Kubrick helped develop this technique of making his fictional film look like actual historical war footage, making the horrors of war and the soldier’s actions more realistic, resulting in an extremely unsettling look at what these men are forced to do and the repercussions if they fail.
Paths Of Glory’s Legacy Is Even More Impressive Considering The Movie’s Controversy
The Movie Was Banned In Several Countries For Its Anti-War Sentiments
The novel on whichPaths of Gloryis based presents a fictional look at the real executions that many countries ordered of their soldiers to force compliance and strengthen everyone else’s resolve to keep fighting. Every country did this other than the United States and Australia, and even the U.S. ordered executions for cowardice, although they never carried them out (viaGreat War). Kubrick had originally planned a happy ending, but Kirk Douglas demanded that they remain honest with how it all ended.
France, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States military establishments bannedPaths of Glory.
This led many to claim the movie was anti-war, which was an honest assessment. However, at that time, it had a negative connotation. As a result, many countries, including France, Spain, Switzerland, and the United States military establishments,bannedPaths of Gloryfrom screening. France criticized the depiction of their military forces, and it wasn’t shown there until 1975. Germany didn’t get the movie until 1959. Spain didn’t allow the film until 1986, 11 years after Franco died. Switzerland didn’t allow the film to be screened until 1970.
Reviews at the time slammed Kubrick’s bleak filmmaking and depressing ending, but as reappraisals began coming in, those were the things that people praised most about the war movie. WhilePaths of Glorywas not nominated for any Oscars, it remains one ofKirk Douglas’sbest movies and was entered into the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in 1992, proving its legacy and importance decades after its release.
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Paths of Glory, directed by Stanley Kubrick, is a war film set during World War I. The movie stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, a French officer who defends three soldiers accused of cowardice in a court-martial. The film explores themes of military hierarchy, the futility of war, and the moral dilemmas faced by soldiers and their leaders. Paths of Glory is notable for its critical portrayal of military bureaucracy.
