PATHS OF GLORY Clip - 'Trenches' (1957) Stanley Kubrick

PATHS OF GLORY Clip - "Trenches" (1957) Stanley Kubrick

PLOT: During World War I, commanding officer General Broulard (Adolphe Menjou) orders his subordinate, General Mireau (George Macready), to attack a German trench position, offering a promotion as an incentive. Though the mission is foolhardy to the point of suicide, Mireau commands his own subordinate, Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas), to plan the attack. When it ends in disaster, General Mireau demands the court-martial of three random soldiers in order to save face.
Release date: December 20, 1957 (Los Angeles)
Director: Stanley Kubrick
CAST: Kirk Douglas, Adolphe Menjou, Ralph Meeker

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[LZXray]

A Kubrick masterpiece. One of Kirk Douglas' finest roles.

[a.fuentes]

By this time, 65 years later and this scene still looks authentic to the point that I had to double check to make sure that this movie was actually from the 1957. The acting and chaos was exceptional, I've never been interested in 1950's movies but this one caught my immediate attention. Now I need to watch the full movie.

[picklerix]

I distinctly remember my grandfather describing the WWI flares that lit up the trenches at night. My mother told me that my grandfather was injured during a German gas attack and was in the hospital for several months. In his 60’s, he suffered from emphysema and had difficulty walking. He sat in his favorite chair, watching the birds at his feeder.

[whiskey_tango_foxtrot__]

The power of this scene. Done with ZERO CGI.

[MetaVita]

I don't know how he did it, but the look and feel of these men as Douglas was walking through the trench is probably the most realistic feel/look of men in combat I can think of. Wow.

[chrisjpfaff]

This is, by far, the best war movie I have ever seen. All the actors are incredible. The plot shows just how little the upper echelon thought about the carnage they were creating. By the way, the only female in the movie is played by Kubrick's wife. She is also fabulous.

[johnconnolly]

This film is such a forgotten classic and, in my opinion, the best war film ever made. One of Kirk Douglas' best performances and a Kubrick masterpiece.

[edthilenius]

Truly one of the very best WW1 battle scenes. The details such as uniforms, military parlance, French doctrine, and so much more. Outstanding, thanks for sharing!

[MrMoggyman]

A magnificent performance, in re-enactment so faithful to what the men of WW1 had to endure. My great grandfather would have never have watched this. He was at Passchendaele, and this would have brought back so many bad memories. Imagine this scene, but in a quagmire of mud. It rained fourteen days and nights solid before the attack. He saw his friend, Fred, literally cut in two vertically by a shell right to one side of him, and was splattered with his blood. Hand to hand fighting with Germans. Rifles, bayonets, even trench shovels to kill one another. Wounded men drowning in rain filled shell holes. 325, 000 men dead on the allied side alone in that campaign. That is a sea of blood. And the generals? Their only solution was to throw more and more men into the fight. My great grandfather never called it a war. He called it a carnage of good men on both sides. A total utter waste of good fine men.

[vesselinkrastev]

Damn impressive for 1957. If someone showed me this scene and told me it was a modern film, I'd believe them.

[jaegermeister]

My grandfather fought for the Austrian monarchy in World War I and for the German Wehrmacht in World War II. He survived both wars and didn't die until 1983 when I was 15. He didn't like to talk about the war, but he often said to me that nothing scared him and his comrades in WWI more than the use of gas on the front lines.

[ant]

A masterpiece by Kubrik with a brilliant performance by Kirk Douglas and others.

[cullingthegenepool]

A long, long time ago when television still had dignity and would go off the air around 2am. One summer vacation, I was probably 11 - 12, and a station in my area was the first to pull all-nighters. They would run classic movies. This was one movie that I watched and for the first time, I was in awe. It touched me. I have watched it 50 times or more over the many decades and this is one of the best movies I'll ever see. This movie should be seen by everyone at some point in their lives. They will never make movies like this again. Haven't for the past 50 years.

[onlyiforgive]

Kirk Douglas walking through the trench with bombs going off all around him and he is completely unfazed with that camera shot is one of the greatest moments in cinema, can't believe this was 1957, kubrik is the best and most revolutionary director of all time

[envitech]

Brilliant cinematography!! It is extremely difficult to shoot these type of invasion scene involving hundreds of actors and crew. In 1957, no such thing as a Steadicam and much less any CGI. Zanuck's The Longest Day won't be shot till about 5 years later, and Saving Private Ryan, 41 years. As one of Kubrick's early pioneering films, this was way ahead of it's time.

[insanelook]

Simply a classic, one of all time best war movie I have ever seen in my life, if not the best. Very tragic and sad ending for those poor soldiers that refused the order.

[timtheskeptic]

One of my favorite Kubrick films. Can you imagine trying to film in a trench?

[jimvanlieshout]

By far my favorite scene from a film filled with great ones. From the straight shot, to seeing the looks of fear, apprehension, and most jarring of all, the look of men surrendering to their fate-the knowledge that most all would be dead, or seriously maimed once their much respected leader blows his whistle.

[greg]

Incredible scene. Stanley Kubrick was a genius. My only negative comment would be the sounds of the machine guns. Those were totally unrealistic of what machine guns back then sounded like in WW I. It almost sounds like some sort of Star Wars sound effect. You can find what the machine guns of that era really sounded like here on YouTube.

[philipryan]

One of the better movies, Kirk Douglas gives a powerful performance one of my favourites.