Paths of Glory – Cinema Sundays!

Stanley Kubrick’s 1957 Paths of Glory, based on the 1935 novel by Humphrey Cobb, is a retelling of an event experienced by 4 French soldiers court-martialed and executed for mutiny as an example to the rest of the French troops during World War I.  The movie stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, commanding officer, who was a criminal defense lawyer in civilian life and who volunteers to defend the soldiers and Ralph Meeker as Corporal Paris, one of the executed soldiers.

Paths of Glory was a rare anti-war movie from an era that celebrated the military and combat.  The message of Paths of Glory was designed as a protest of sorts over the execution of innocent men to strengthen others’ resolve to fight.  As it was, most countries involved in World War I carried out cowardice executions, save the US, but most of those country’s citizens felt it was unfair to single out a few of the soldiers for execution as punishment for the whole unit vs holding them all accountable for their cowardice.  It was a practice that was rare in the French army but received great attention for it’s unfairness.

Paths of Glory was released with modest interest however with high critical acclaim to Kubrick.  Although not banned outright in France, Paths of Glory was not allowed to be screened in France until 1975.

Join us for the screening of # 3 in our Cinema Sundays! Over There Series, May 25, 2014 @ 3 pm.