7. Paths of Glory (1957)
Paths of Glory is one of the greatest war films of all time, trailing in second place behind Francis Ford Coppola's Apocalypse Now and sitting one spot ahead of Kubrick's own Full Metal Jacket. Paths of Glory is an anti-war film which, unlike Kubrick's other war film, offers a bleaker outlook which follows a team of French soldiers who refuse to follow a suicidal order of going "over the top" which would have seen them absolutely slaughtered. Their commander, Colonel Dax (Kirk Douglas again), then attempts to defend them against charges of cowardice which would have seen them killed. Following The Killing, Kubrick and James Harris were given free reign in MGM's pile of scripts and novels and stories to choose their next project. Kubrick had read Paths of Glory years ago and decided to film that, despite it having been rejected by every major studio. It was filmed in Germany and is noteworthy not only for its stark honesty and brutal depiction of war but of a Douglas story which recounts Kubrick's meticulous nature:
"He made the veteran actor Adolphe Menjou do the same scene 17 times. "That was my best reading." Menjou announced. "I think we can break for lunch now." It was well past the usual lunch time but Kubrick said he wanted another take. Menjou went into an absolute fury. In front of Douglas and the entire crew he blasted off on what he claimed was Kubrick's dubious parentage, and made several other unprintable references to Kubrick's relative greenness in the art of directing actors. Kubrick merely listened calmly, and, after Menjou had spluttered to an uncomplimentary conclusion, said quietly: "All right, let's try the scene once more." With utter docility, Menjou went back to work. "Stanley instinctively knew what to do," Douglas says"
Kubrick also met his lifelong wife during production, Christiane Harlan who sang In German in the final scene. They remained married until his death in 1999.