Based on a notorious incident in World War I in which the French Army executed four of its own soldiers on charges of cowardice, Paths of Glory is a direct and forceful anti-war picture that eschews the digressive philosophizing that characterizes Kubrick’s other forays into the genre. Starring Kirk Douglas as the morally righteous Colonel Dax, who’s tasked with leading his men on a suicidal mission to attack a well-defended German post, the film’s concentrated scope includes the bureaucratic lead-up to this military action, a thrilling set piece dramatizing the offensive itself and the messy aftermath of its disastrous outcome, whereby Douglas is given ample spotlight for virtuous speechifying. The film leaves less room for the imagination than other works in the Kubrick oeuvre, but its admirable clarity, supported by resourceful direction and some of the greatest trench sequences in cinema history, earned it a distinguished place in the Library of Congress.