Colonel Dax is the rank held by Kirk Douglas’s character in Stanley Kubrick’s Paths of Glory.
Dax commands a French army regiment during the First World War and serves as its defense counsel after three soldiers are selected for a court-martial. The military tribunal follows a failed attack and becomes the film’s central examination of institutional injustice and military hierarchy.
Kirk Douglas played Dax in the 1957 film, which was adapted from Humphrey Cobb’s 1935 novel. The screenplay was written by Kubrick, Calder Willingham, and Jim Thompson. Dax’s position gives him enough authority to challenge the prosecution, but not enough power to overcome the senior commanders who control the proceedings.
The character’s rank is sometimes confused with that of the generals who order the attack. Dax is a colonel; General Broulard and General Mireau occupy higher positions in the French command structure.