Paths of Glory - 1957

I believe I found this movie from a list of WWI movies. It's based on a book by Humphrey Cobb written in 1935.

The French army (with surprising American accents) are ordered to charge and secure a German stronghold called the Anthill. The general is aspiring for some glory, and he's willing to risk the lives of his men to get it. At first, I thought he was going to stand up for the men, but the temptation of glory took over.

He goes to a colonel and orders him to take the Anthill the next day. The attack goes terribly wrong, and the general is witness to the whole thing. He notices that one set of troops isn't leaving the trenches and orders the artillery to fire on their own men.

In the aftermath, the general is looking for someone to pay. The hill could've been taken if the troops hadn't been cowards. He wants to court-martial 100 men. The colonel speaks up for his men, and in the end, they compromise on three. One from each company that was in the first wave. One of the men was picked for personal reasons. He was one of my favorites, and I hated that he was just doing his duty and had to deal with the pettiness of his commanding officer.

The colonel does his best, but he can't save the men. He even exposes the general, but all that does is give the impression the colonel was after the general's job. Which isn't even what was going on. At the end, the troops somberly listen to a song before being ordered back to the front.

It made me sad the men ended up being sacrificed for nothing. I don't think it accomplished much of anything. In fact, nothing that happened in the movie accomplished anything. The attempt to take the Anthill just resulted in dead and wounded soldiers. This is one of the better anti-war movies I've seen. It didn't leave me with a happy feeling when it ended, but it was a Good Movie!

(By the way, I was pleasantly surprised to see Richard Anderson - Oscar from Six Million Dollar Man - in this!)