9. The 1957 Kubrick film "Paths of Glory" stars which American actor as Colonel Dax?
From Quiz Shining Metal Paths
Answer:
Kirk Douglas
Born Issur Danielovitch in 1916 to Jewish immigrants from Belarus, Kirk Douglas attended acting school, where he met Lauren Bacall, who later helped to get him established as a film star. Douglas played primarily dominant roles and had parts in several war movies. He became one of Hollywood's leading men and is listed as number 17 in the American Film Institute's 'greatest American male screen legends of all time'. In the 1956 film "Lust For Life", he played Vincent Van Gogh, a role for which many thought he deserved an Oscar.
"Paths Of Glory" opens in France, 1916 and WWI. Officers live in luxury and make life or death decisions that will reflect well on themselves, while the soldiers in the trenches suffer and die. "The Marseillaise" is heard in a low, menacing tone.
Adolphe Menjou is the corrupt and charming General Broulard, commander of French forces, and George Macready is the neurotic General Mireau. When the story begins, the fortified positions of both French and German troops have been held for more than a year; advancements are small and extremely costly. The two French generals decide that their best chance for further promotion is to make a suicidal attack on 'Ant Hill', a position they have no chance of taking. Kirk Douglas plays Colonel Dax, who is horrified when told that he must send his men to certain death.
The troops, unable to advance, fall back or are killed. This failure is blamed on their cowardice under fire and three men are chosen to represent the troops in a court martial whose outcome has been predetermined. At the end of their mock trial, the three are sentenced to death by firing squad. The balance of the film shows how these men and the rest of the company react until their execution. A recurring theme in Kubrick films, the atrocity of war, is represented by the men's own leaders whose closest contact with the fighting is through field glasses. Their white gloves are never dirtied.
'The paths of glory lead but to the grave.' is from Thomas Grey's "Elegy in a Country Churchyard".