After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.After a failed attack on a German position, a general orders three soldiers, chosen at random, court-martialed for cowardice and their commanding officer must defend them.
- Nominated for 1 BAFTA Award
- 5 wins & 3 nominations total
- Pvt. Pierre Arnaud
- (as Joseph Turkel)
- German Singer
- (as Susanne Christian)
- Capt. Sancy
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaBanned in Spain under Gen. Francisco Franco's dictatorship for its anti-military message. It wasn't released until 1986, 11 years after Franco's death.
- GoofsCol. Dax commits a glaring military faux pas by jamming his hands into his pants pockets while standing and walking in the courtroom during the trial. No military officer would do such a thing, particularly in such a formal setting as a court martial.
- Quotes
General Broulard: It would be a pity to lose your promotion before you get it. A promotion you have so very carefully planned for.
Colonel Dax: Sir, would you like me to suggest what you can do with that promotion?
General Broulard: [angry] Colonel Dax! You will apologize at once or I shall have you placed under arrest!
Colonel Dax: [with building anger] I apologize... for not being entirely honest with you. I apologize for not revealing my true feelings. I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you're a degenerate, sadistic old man. And you can go to hell before I apologize to you now or ever again!
General Broulard: Colonel Dax, you're a disappointment to me. You've spoiled the keenness of your mind by wallowing in sentimentality. You really did want to save those men, and you were not angling for Mireau's command. You are an idealist... and I pity you as I would the village idiot. We're fighting a war, Dax, a war that we've got to win. Those men didn't fight, so they were shot. You bring charges against General Mireau, so I insist that he answer them. Wherein have I done wrong?
Colonel Dax: Because you don't know the answer to that question. I pity you.
- ConnectionsEdited into Hai-Kubrick (1999)
- SoundtracksLa Marseillaise
(1792) (uncredited)
Written by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle
In the score during the opening credits
Now, fifty years later, the film is still timely, having lost none of its power to illuminate. Thanks be to Kirk Douglas for taking a chance on an unproven Stanley Kubrick and getting Allied Artists to finance what was so clearly a non-commercial project. I suspect too, that it was at AA's insistence that Hollywood veterans be cast, even though the movie was shot to great advantage amidst the majestic settings of old Europe. Given the film's message, I think Kubrick would have preferred no-name principals, but then, who could have surpassed the oily charm of Adolphe Menjou's diabolical general, or the pathetic repulsiveness of Timothy Carey's sacrificial dog-face. (It's ironic that the part of the cowardly lieutenant went to an authentic war-hero, naval air-ace Wayne Morris, then only two years away from an untimely death.) This many decades later, I still have mixed feelings about the celebrated final scene. On one hand, it's so clearly manipulative (someone once called it a "male weepie"), that I try to steel myself against its undeniable force; on the other, it's so superbly well done that the humming chorus of universal brotherhood never fails to move me, even after this many viewings.
Researchers digging into origins of 60's counter-culture should check out themes and characterizations of the screen-play, particularly Timothy Carey's social outcast and Fred Bell's absolutely stunning thirty seconds of emotional break-down. For this is one of the few films from the conformist Eisenhower era to cast a shadow forward in time and serve as a reference point for future generations. The film's abundant cynicism may no longer be as revealing as it once was, thanks to Vietnam. Yet the emotional honesty remains as fresh and compelling as ever in its search for a gut-level depiction of real human anguish. Above all, Kubrick's anti-war classic points toward a more civilized potential amidst the barbarities and passions of combat, whether French or American, and given present political realities, still has many lessons to offer.
- dougdoepke
- May 24, 2008
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Details
Box office
- Budget
- $935,000 (estimated)
- Gross worldwide
- $8,290
- Runtime1 hour 28 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix