Courtesy of Eureka Entertainment
by James Cameron-wilson
There are few greater pleasures, for me, than watching an old film that I have admired all my life resurrected in all its pristine glory. The distributor Eureka Entertainment is a dab hand at such home entertainment miracles and this week releases a Special Edition 4K Ultra-hd Blu-ray of Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war classic Paths of Glory. To be honest, I only watch the film about once a decade at most, but its power never diminishes. After watching it again, in the crispest print I have yet seen, I felt completely numb by the end. And rightly so. The war film has never been the same again since Saving Private Ryan in 1998, but Paths of Glory, made in 1957, summons up neither special effects nor the gore of war, just the abominable power of words and language, semantics used to distort the meaning of heroism and sacrifice.
by James Cameron-wilson
There are few greater pleasures, for me, than watching an old film that I have admired all my life resurrected in all its pristine glory. The distributor Eureka Entertainment is a dab hand at such home entertainment miracles and this week releases a Special Edition 4K Ultra-hd Blu-ray of Stanley Kubrick’s anti-war classic Paths of Glory. To be honest, I only watch the film about once a decade at most, but its power never diminishes. After watching it again, in the crispest print I have yet seen, I felt completely numb by the end. And rightly so. The war film has never been the same again since Saving Private Ryan in 1998, but Paths of Glory, made in 1957, summons up neither special effects nor the gore of war, just the abominable power of words and language, semantics used to distort the meaning of heroism and sacrifice.
- 3/8/2024
- by James Cameron-Wilson
- Film Review Daily
Francois Truffaut famously said, "There's no such thing as an anti-war film." But if there's a counter-argument, it's Stanley Kubrick's 1957 "Paths of Glory." Contrary to its title, the film depicts battle as anything but glorious.
Set in France during World War 1, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax. After infantrymen under Dax's command refuse to charge into a suicidal attack, three men, Paris, Ferol, and Arnaud, are chosen to be court-martialed for cowardice and made an example of via execution. The Colonel tries his best to get them acquitted but to no avail.
In another movie, the three men might be saved at the last minute by Dax's ingenuity, but in a Kubrick movie, they're slowly marched to the firing squad and executed. The movie underscores the meaninglessness of their deaths by ending with an acknowledgment that soon, their comrades will be thrown back into the meat grinder of combat.
Set in France during World War 1, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax. After infantrymen under Dax's command refuse to charge into a suicidal attack, three men, Paris, Ferol, and Arnaud, are chosen to be court-martialed for cowardice and made an example of via execution. The Colonel tries his best to get them acquitted but to no avail.
In another movie, the three men might be saved at the last minute by Dax's ingenuity, but in a Kubrick movie, they're slowly marched to the firing squad and executed. The movie underscores the meaninglessness of their deaths by ending with an acknowledgment that soon, their comrades will be thrown back into the meat grinder of combat.
- 8/20/2022
- by Devin Meenan
- Slash Film
Kino boosts the third United Artists Stanley Kubrick classic to 4K clarity, bringing out every nuance of the director’s fine B&w imagery. Kubrick’s major career achievement this time was forming a mutually positive relationship with a big star. Their show is an artful anti-militaristic shout that accuses the French officer corps of willful murder. Producer-star Kirk Douglas gets the best grandstanding soapbox of his career, while Kubrick proves he can shape a dozen fine performances into a mainstream movie masterpiece.
Paths of Glory 4K
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date August 23, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel, Timothy Carey, Suzanne Christian, Jerry Hausner, Emile Meyer, Bert Freed.
Cinematography: George Krause
Production Designer: Art Director: Ludwig Reiber
Film Editor: Eva Kroll
Original Music: Gerald Fried
Written by Stanley Kubrick,...
Paths of Glory 4K
4K Ultra HD
Kl Studio Classics
1957 / B&w / 1:66 widescreen / 88 min. / Street Date August 23, 2022 / available through Kino Lorber / 39.95
Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel, Timothy Carey, Suzanne Christian, Jerry Hausner, Emile Meyer, Bert Freed.
Cinematography: George Krause
Production Designer: Art Director: Ludwig Reiber
Film Editor: Eva Kroll
Original Music: Gerald Fried
Written by Stanley Kubrick,...
- 8/16/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
A script co-written by Stanley Kubrick has been found by a British film academic who was researching the legendary director’s last picture, “Eyes Wide Shut.” The screenplay, “Burning Secret,” is an adaptation of a 1913 novella by Austrian novelist and playwright Stefan Zweig.
It was written by Kubrick and author and screenwriter Calder Willingham (“The Graduate”) in 1956. The story follows a mother and son on a holiday and a mysterious man who befriends the young boy in an attempt to seduce his mother.
It was known that Kubrick had worked on “Burning Secret” but not to what extent, or whether there was a completed screenplay. Nathan Abrams, a film professor at Bangor University in Wales, told BBC radio Monday that he was shown the 100-plus-page screenplay by the son of one of Kubrick’s collaborators, who wants to remain anonymous. The Guardian reported the find on Sunday.
“It’s a full script: beginning,...
It was written by Kubrick and author and screenwriter Calder Willingham (“The Graduate”) in 1956. The story follows a mother and son on a holiday and a mysterious man who befriends the young boy in an attempt to seduce his mother.
It was known that Kubrick had worked on “Burning Secret” but not to what extent, or whether there was a completed screenplay. Nathan Abrams, a film professor at Bangor University in Wales, told BBC radio Monday that he was shown the 100-plus-page screenplay by the son of one of Kubrick’s collaborators, who wants to remain anonymous. The Guardian reported the find on Sunday.
“It’s a full script: beginning,...
- 7/16/2018
- by Stewart Clarke
- Variety Film + TV
Here we are, at the top of the mountain. We’ve had plenty from every war imaginable, some supportive of war efforts, some not. But the more interesting war films really focus on the people; the internal struggles those men and women have about what they are doing. Whether made in America, Germany, the United Kingdom, or anywhere else, war is not just a battle between good and evil. It’s a life and death struggle between opposing sides that may not be that different. The movies at the top of this list may be subtle or straightforward, but each of them is a clear snapshot that lets audiences see what it means to fight, so they don’t have to.
10. Paths of Glory (1957)
Directed by: Stanley Kurbick
Conflict: World War I
Before Stanley Kubrick grabbed the rights, the source material for Paths of Glory had a long history. The novel,...
10. Paths of Glory (1957)
Directed by: Stanley Kurbick
Conflict: World War I
Before Stanley Kubrick grabbed the rights, the source material for Paths of Glory had a long history. The novel,...
- 7/2/2014
- by Joshua Gaul
- SoundOnSight
There are few auteurs as instantly recognizable and divisive as Stanley Kubrick, few filmmakers as idiosyncratic or groundbreaking. His work spans the entirety of life itself–sometimes in the same film–and has inspired almost as much derision as hosannas. There is no easy consensus on Kubrick’s films–though you may not be terribly surprised by our writers’ choice for his best, it’s hard to imagine that your ranking of his work will line up wholly with ours–nor on the messages imparted within. Is The Shining secretly about the moon landing? Is 2001? What is he really saying about violence in society in A Clockwork Orange? And so on. Closing out (some weeks late, granted) our monthly theme on his works, here is Sound on Sight’s ranking of the films of Stanley Kubrick. Enjoy. Share. Debate. We know you’ll want to debate.
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey...
1. 2001: A Space Odyssey...
- 4/23/2014
- by Josh Spiegel
- SoundOnSight
War is hell, for sure, but war can make for undeniably brilliant movie-making. Here, the Guardian and Observer's critics pick the ten best
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 comedy movies
• Top 10 horror movies
• Top 10 sci-fi movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
10. Where Eagles Dare
As the second world war thriller became bogged down during the mid-60s in plodding epics like Operation Crossbow and The Heroes of Telemark, someone was needed to reintroduce a little sang-froid, some post-Le Carré espionage, and for heaven's sake, some proper macho thrills into the genre. Alistair Maclean stepped up, writing the screenplay and the novel of Where Eagles Dare simultaneously, and Brian G Hutton summoned up a better than usual cast headed by Richard Burton (Major Jonathan Smith), a still fresh-faced Clint Eastwood (Lieutenant Morris Schaffer), and the late Mary Ure (Mary Elison).
Parachuted into the German Alps, they have one...
• Top 10 action movies
• Top 10 comedy movies
• Top 10 horror movies
• Top 10 sci-fi movies
• Top 10 crime movies
• Top 10 arthouse movies
• Top 10 family movies
10. Where Eagles Dare
As the second world war thriller became bogged down during the mid-60s in plodding epics like Operation Crossbow and The Heroes of Telemark, someone was needed to reintroduce a little sang-froid, some post-Le Carré espionage, and for heaven's sake, some proper macho thrills into the genre. Alistair Maclean stepped up, writing the screenplay and the novel of Where Eagles Dare simultaneously, and Brian G Hutton summoned up a better than usual cast headed by Richard Burton (Major Jonathan Smith), a still fresh-faced Clint Eastwood (Lieutenant Morris Schaffer), and the late Mary Ure (Mary Elison).
Parachuted into the German Alps, they have one...
- 10/29/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Stanley Kubrick brings war criminals to justice in his unflinching portrayal of the war, but unfortunately history wasn't as kind
• More Reel history
Paths of Glory (1957)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: C
Trench warfare in the first world war (1914-18) involved intense hardship for soldiers and a massive toll of casualties (400,000-800,000 at Passchendaele; between 600,000 and a million at Verdun; perhaps more than a million at the Somme.
Strategy
The film begins on the French front in 1916. (In a rare moment of historical authenticity, Hollywood has resisted making the heroes American. The fact this is set a year before the Us entered the war wouldn't necessarily stop them.) General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) tells General Mireau (George Macready) that he must take a German position known as the Anthill. His reward will be a new star. "I'm responsible for the lives of 8,000 men," Mireau says. "What is my ambition against that?...
• More Reel history
Paths of Glory (1957)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Entertainment grade: A–
History grade: C
Trench warfare in the first world war (1914-18) involved intense hardship for soldiers and a massive toll of casualties (400,000-800,000 at Passchendaele; between 600,000 and a million at Verdun; perhaps more than a million at the Somme.
Strategy
The film begins on the French front in 1916. (In a rare moment of historical authenticity, Hollywood has resisted making the heroes American. The fact this is set a year before the Us entered the war wouldn't necessarily stop them.) General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) tells General Mireau (George Macready) that he must take a German position known as the Anthill. His reward will be a new star. "I'm responsible for the lives of 8,000 men," Mireau says. "What is my ambition against that?...
- 10/9/2013
- by Alex von Tunzelmann
- The Guardian - Film News
Kirk Douglas movies: The Theater of Larger Than Life Performances Kirk Douglas, a three-time Best Actor Academy Award nominee and one of the top Hollywood stars of the ’50s, is Turner Classic Movies’ "Summer Under the Stars" featured star today, August 30, 2013. Although an undeniably strong screen presence, no one could ever accuse Douglas of having been a subtle, believable actor. In fact, even if you were to place side by side all of the widescreen formats ever created, they couldn’t possibly be wide enough to contain his larger-than-life theatrical emoting. (Photo: Kirk Douglas ca. 1950.) Right now, TCM is showing Andrew V. McLaglen’s 1967 Western The Way West, a routine tale about settlers in the Old American Northwest that remains of interest solely due to its name cast. Besides Douglas, The Way West features Robert Mitchum, Richard Widmark, Lola Albright, and 21-year-old Sally Field in her The Flying Nun days.
- 8/30/2013
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Paths of Glory Quick Thoughts:
I have not yet seen the whole of Stanley Kubrick's readily available filmography. The one film that eludes me is 1962's Lolita after finally watching Barry Lyndon last December. It wasn't until August 1, 2008 that I finally saw Paths of Glory for the first time, and with each viewing of a Kubrick film the feeling you are watching something special never escapes your conscience. His films are unlike most anything you've seen before and you can tell when today's filmmakers are trying to accomplish something along similar lines. Even earlier this year, Christopher Nolan's Inception was referred to as Kubrickian by indieWire's Anne Thompson and whether you agree or not, it's evident Kubrick's stamp on cinema is one that will be felt throughout the ages.
Kubrick's often discussed as being one of the only directors to tackle all genres, but as noted by his...
I have not yet seen the whole of Stanley Kubrick's readily available filmography. The one film that eludes me is 1962's Lolita after finally watching Barry Lyndon last December. It wasn't until August 1, 2008 that I finally saw Paths of Glory for the first time, and with each viewing of a Kubrick film the feeling you are watching something special never escapes your conscience. His films are unlike most anything you've seen before and you can tell when today's filmmakers are trying to accomplish something along similar lines. Even earlier this year, Christopher Nolan's Inception was referred to as Kubrickian by indieWire's Anne Thompson and whether you agree or not, it's evident Kubrick's stamp on cinema is one that will be felt throughout the ages.
Kubrick's often discussed as being one of the only directors to tackle all genres, but as noted by his...
- 11/2/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Hitting Blu-ray shelves today is director Stanley Kubrick’S 1957 meditation on man’s inhumanity to man in times of war and a true anti-war declaration, Paths Of Glory. Based on Humphrey Cobb’S World War I novel of the same name, Kubrick’S script was considered too hot for the times until star Kirk Douglas got behind it and got it made. Controversial in [...]...
- 10/26/2010
- by Bob Healy
- ReelRave
Stanley Kubrick, 1957
This is one of the darkest anti-war films ever made, in great part because its vision – that of the young director Stanley Kubrick (he was only 29, making his third full-length picture) – is as bleak as the story. The place is the western front of the first world war, in a section manned by the French army. An attack is decreed by General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), and passed on to General Mireau (George Macready) to execute.Everyone knows the attack is doomed because infantry advancing over open ground torn apart by artillery barrages will be cut down by the machine guns in the secure German lines. But when the plan fails, Broulard determines that there must be scapegoats – alleged cowards or malingerers – who betrayed the national purpose. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), who led the attack, is charged with picking three victims who will be subject to court martial and firing squad.
This is one of the darkest anti-war films ever made, in great part because its vision – that of the young director Stanley Kubrick (he was only 29, making his third full-length picture) – is as bleak as the story. The place is the western front of the first world war, in a section manned by the French army. An attack is decreed by General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou), and passed on to General Mireau (George Macready) to execute.Everyone knows the attack is doomed because infantry advancing over open ground torn apart by artillery barrages will be cut down by the machine guns in the secure German lines. But when the plan fails, Broulard determines that there must be scapegoats – alleged cowards or malingerers – who betrayed the national purpose. Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), who led the attack, is charged with picking three victims who will be subject to court martial and firing squad.
- 10/19/2010
- by David Thomson
- The Guardian - Film News
A suicide mission fueled by greed is the impetus behind the roundup of three soldiers for execution in one of Stanley Kubrick's earliest films, Paths of Glory. The young Kubrick set the bar incredibly high in his brutal, stark, black and white portrayal of World War I using Humphrey Cobb's 1935 antiwar novel of the same name as his guide. Kubrick exposes the cowardice and deceit rampant within military ranks during a time when the anxiety of war had men throwing their own into the fire -- and a time where there were no second chances. These misguided men with their loathsome military politics are at the helm of a mission which spotlights the unbearable injustice and corruption that all comes to a head in one defining moment.
A French army unit led by the avaricious General Mireau (George Macready) is ordered to do the impossible and things turn...
A French army unit led by the avaricious General Mireau (George Macready) is ordered to do the impossible and things turn...
- 4/9/2010
- by Alison Nastasi
- Cinematical
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