Stream Stanley Kubrick’s Timeless ’50s Anti-War Classic for Free Now

“Paths of Glory” unfolds a harrowing narrative of moral decay and cowardice against the grim backdrop of World War I. The film begins with Major General Broulard (played by Adolphe Menjou) delivering orders to General Mireau (George Macready) for an almost suicidal assault on a German stronghold known as the Anthill. When the mission fails, Mireau, in a bid to deflect blame, decides to court-martial three soldiers—Private Pierre Arnaud (Joe Turkel), Private Maurice Ferol (Timothy Carey), and Corporal Philippe Paris (Ralph Meeker)—on charges of cowardice, despite their innocence. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), leading the 701st Infantry Regiment, is appointed as their defense counsel, only to discover the trial is a mere charade.

Despite being released 69 years ago, “Paths of Glory” remains a powerful indictment of bureaucratic injustice, its relevance undiminished over time. The film’s strength lies in its historical authenticity, drawing from real events during World War I. In 1915, a tragic incident saw 24 soldiers of the 21st Company court-martialed after refusing a futile attack under heavy artillery. Four corporals faced execution by firing squad, a miscarriage of justice later addressed with pardons. This grim episode inspired Humphrey Cobb’s 1935 novel, “Paths of Glory,” which profoundly affected Kubrick during his youth, prompting him to adapt it for the screen.

The film’s production was initially seen as a gamble by United Artists, mainly due to its challenging subject matter. However, the project moved forward thanks to Kirk Douglas’ keen interest in the screenplay, crafted by Calder Willingham, Jim Thompson, and Kubrick himself. “Paths of Glory” anticipates themes Kubrick would revisit in “Full Metal Jacket,” with its divided structure. The film captures the bleakness of war through breathtaking scenes of French soldiers in the oppressive confines of the trenches, highlighting the fragile boundary between life and the desolate expanse of No Man’s Land.

In 1915, 24 soldiers of all positions within the 21st Company were court-martialed in the wake of their refusal to attack a German outpost, in spite of being barraged by overwhelming waves of artillery assaults. Of those men, four corporals had their death sentences carried out by firing squad in Sourain. While the men were eventually pardoned, this shameful injustice would become the crux of Humphrey Cobb’s 1935 novel “Paths of Glory,” which Stanley Kubrick set out to adapt after remembering how much it impacted him reading it in his teenage years. 

The 1957 film was seen as a risk by United Artists, especially with the subject matter, but it ultimately got made on account of Kirk Douglas’ interest in the screenplay, which was co-written by Calder Willingham, Jim Thompson and Kubrick. “Paths of Glory” parallels what Kubrick would accomplish later in his career with “Full Metal Jacket,” in that the film is split into two distinctive halves. The eventual conflict is set up by awe-inspiring vistas of French soldiers engulfed in the cramped trenches, creating a thin line between them and the muddy graveyards of No Man’s Land. 

Kubrick then makes a brilliant juxtaposition with the opulent 18th-century castle that houses the three soldiers’ sham trial, in addition to the Major General’s lively parties. You can see the throughline of the comically cruel bureaucratic ignorance that Kubrick would later refine in the 1964 satire “Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.”

It’s no wonder “Paths of Glory” is considered among the best films of Kirk Douglas’ career, given that he commands the screen with a simmering contempt towards the central injustice. When it comes time for the execution, not even a head injury prevents the French Army from propping up Joe Turkel’s Private Arnaud against the firing squad pole while he’s unconscious on a stretcher. Among other things, this fictional depiction of their cruelty led to the film being banned in France, in addition to several other countries. But tensions have fizzled in the decades since, with “Paths of Glory” now being recognized as one of the best anti-war movies ever made.

The most interesting companion piece to Kubrick’s masterpiece is the double-length “Tales from the Crypt” episode “Yellow.” Based on a tale of the same name published in the 1950s comic magazine “Shock SuspenStories,” the Robert Zemeckis-directed episode tells the tale of scared WWI Lieutenant Kalthropp (Eric Douglas) having to face similar accusations of cowardice, with his superior officer and father played by none other than his real-life dad, Kirk Douglas. 

General Kalthropp is a fascinating inversion of the Colonel Dax character, as he’s the one who ultimately sentences his son to the firing squad. The tension-laden family war drama angle may not make it immediately jump out as a “Tales from the Crypt” story, but “Yellow” very much plays into the brand of mean-spirited dark humor the horror series excelled at. It’s a cleverly-staged homage to “Paths of Glory,” while the casting of the elder Douglas adds a great deal of weight and suspense to the proceedings.