Paths Of Glory

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker Director: Stanley Kubrick Original UK Premiere: 1957 Dvd Release: 15th July, 2002 Number Of Discs: 1 Format: Black & White, Full Screen, PAL, Region 2 Encoding Subtitled In: Dutch, English, French, Spanish Dubbed In: French, German, Italian, Spanish

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Paths of Glory is a 1957 Stanley Kubrick film in which a French general seeking a promotion during World War I orders a small number of soldiers on a suicidal mission to take a hill. Paths of Glory was originally a 1935 novel by Humphrey Cobb. A minor success at the time, with a film planned, it was soon forgotten until a young Stanley Kubrick decided to adapt it to the screen. The boast of heraldry, the pomp of powr & all that beauty, all that wealth eer gave, Awaits alike thinevitable hour. The paths of glory lead but to the grave. Most of them die; of those who survive & escape back to their own lines, three are chosen arbitrarily & put on trial for cowardice, punishable by death. Kirk Douglas stars as Colonel Dax, who leads the attack & defends the three men at their trial & George Macready plays the general who orders the impossible assault. The movie is believed to be based on a true story. Production took place entirely in Bavaria, Federal Republic of Germany. The movie was banned in France until 1975.

DVD Extras: Paths of Glory on disc reproduces well in full-screen format, & Gerald Fried's bitingly ironic score comes through powerfully. There are five dubbed & six subtitled languages. The original trailer is a masterpiece of gritty reportage, well worth reviving. Along with Dr Strangelove & 2001, this is Kubrick's most focussed & durable film.

The pity of war has been a much-favoured film topic; the treachery of war much less so, though never more persuasively than in Paths of Glory, Stanley Kubricks breakthrough feature from 1957. Kirk Douglas gives one of his finest screen performances as Colonel Dax, the idealistic First World War soldier appalled by the arbitrary court-marshal meted out to three of his men after an impossible attempt to storm German lines goes disastrously wrong. George Macready is an utterly believable Gerneral Mireau, obsessed with his own honour & standing, whom Adolphe Majou complements tellingly as the urbane & cynical General Bruler. Those who know Kubrick from his later sprawling epics will be surprised at the tautness & concision shown here, even though the screenplay, which he co-wrote, has a certain theatrical stiffness.

Kirk Douglas is an American actor. He was born in Amsterdam, New York to Belarusian - Jewish parents. His son, Michael Douglas, is also an actor. Popular at home & around the world, Kirk Douglas received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1981 & the French Legion of Honor in 1985. Douglas received three Academy Award nominations for his work in Champion, The Bad & the Beautiful & Lust for Life. Douglas did not win any competitive Oscars, but received a special Oscar in 1996 for 50 years as a moral & creative force in the motion picture community. In October 2004, Douglas had a Palm Springs, California street named after him by the Palm Springs International Film Society & International Film Festival. It is called Kirk Douglas Way. Cast a Giant Shadow title role as Col. Mickey Marcus. Posters Of Kirk Douglas

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Ralph Meeker was a film actor who appeared as Mike Hammer in Kiss Me Deadly. He was born Ralph Rathgeber in Minneapolis, Minnesota on November 21, 1920, the son of Ralph & Magnhild Senovia Haavig Meeker Rathgeber. He made his film debut in 1951 with a small role in MGMs Teresa, followed by a starring role in the Swiss-made Four in a Jeep, directed by Leopold Lindtberg. For his performance in the play Picnic, Meeker was awarded the New York Critics Circle Award in 1954. Picnic became a classic film in 1956, with William Holden & Kim Novak starring in the roles originated by Meeker & Janice Rule. Meeker starred as Mike Hammer in the 1955 Robert Aldrich film of Mickey Spillane s Kiss Me Deadly. He was the producer of the movie My Boys Are Good Boys & has made quest appearances on numerous shows. A few of them are CHiPs, Toast of the Town & Studio One. He is a graduate of the Leelanau School in Glen Arbor, Michigan & a member of their Hall of Fame. Meeker married two times. His first wife was actress Salome Jens. The marriage lasted from 1964 to 1966.

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Stanley Kubrick was a Jewish American film director & producer who is widely considered to have been one of the most innovative & influential filmmakers of the late20th century. Kubricks films, most of which were adapted from literary sources, are characterized by technical brilliance, inventive, often economical storytelling & timeless wit. His trademarks include close-up shots, long tracking shots & extensive zooms & use of pop songs & classical music. // Kubrick was born on July 26, 1928 in the Bronx, New York City, United States, the first child of Jacques Kubrick & his wife Gertrude. A second child, Barbara, was born in 1934. Jacques, whose parents had been Jewish immigrants of Austro - Romanian & Polish origin, was a successful doctor. When Kubrick was twelve years old, his father taught him how to play chess. At thirteen Jacques bought Stanley a Graflex camera, triggering Kubricks fascination with still photography. At this time, he became interested in jazz & strove to become a drummer. Kubrick attended William Howard Taft High School from 1941 to 1945. Posters Of Stanley Kubrick

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