Which Kubrick film adapts Humphrey Cobb's 1935 antiwar novel of the same name?
Answer
Paths of Glory
Answer
Paths of Glory
Which Kubrick film adapts Humphrey Cobb's 1935 antiwar novel of the same name? Paths of Glory does.
Kubrick's 1957 film follows French soldiers during World War I after a disastrous attack. Senior officers attempt to shift blame onto ordinary troops, leading to a military court-martial and executions intended to preserve the commanders' reputations. Kirk Douglas stars as Colonel Dax, the officer who defends the accused soldiers.
Humphrey Cobb published the novel Paths of Glory in 1935 after serving in the First World War. Its story was based partly on the Souain corporals affair, in which four French soldiers were executed for cowardice in 1915. The film keeps the novel's central criticism of military hierarchy and institutional injustice.
Full Metal Jacket is another Kubrick war film, but it is based on Gustav Hasford's 1974 novel The Short-Timers and concerns the Vietnam War. Spartacus is a historical epic, while The Killing is a heist film, so neither is the adaptation described here.
Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026