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Summary
Kirk Douglas , a name synonymous withHollywood ’s golden geezerhood , was n’t always a larger - than - life leading human beings . Before his success on screen , he served his country in World War II . This experience , though leaving him wounded , would shape his cinematic choice , facilitate him create an telling Hollywood bequest .
While his early use hinted at his potential difference , it was the fifties and 60s that sawDouglas solidify his Hollywood life history . His sinewy presence made him a natural convulsion for the war film genre . However , while his skills as an histrion were telling , there ’s no doubt that Douglas ' aptitude for war movies was inform by some touchable real - life sentence experience .
With a vocation spanning more than 60 years and over 90 pic , concealment legend Kirk Douglas truly bear as one of Hollywood ’s all - time greats .
Kirk Douglas Was A World War 2 Veteran
Before He Was A War Movie Star, Douglas Saw Real Action
Kirk Douglas enlist in the United States Navy in 1941 , after the attack on Pearl Harbor . As a communicating officer , he helped hunt down foe submarinesby relaying critical message during anti - submarine war . While stationed in the Pacific , a premature deepness charge detonation caused serious abdominal trauma that required hospitalization in San Diego for five months . He was also suffering from chronic amoebic dysentery . This result in his aesculapian discharge from the Navy in 1944 with the rank of deputy ( viaNavy Times ) . What followed was the making of a Hollywood legend .
He had already played minor roles on Broadway before he enlisted , but it was after his return that he achieved major succeeder . He worked in radio and commercials until his big - screen first appearance withThe Strange Love of Martha Iversin 1946 . His fictional character was the polar opposition of the roles he would go on to play . Nonetheless , reviewers at the metre identify his potential . In his top years of success in the 1950s and 1960s , he also acted in many Westerns .
Kirk Douglas Starred In Multiple Great War Movies
The Variety Of Douglas’ War Roles Made Him A Hollywood Legend
Jack Valenti , chairwoman of the Motion Picture Association of America , describe Kirk Douglas as having“an overpowering physical presence”on the crowing screen – this lent itself to the multiple not bad war movies he asterisk in . Douglas played many military characters with diverse personalities . These includeTop undercover Affair(1957)Spartacus(1960),Town Without Pity(1961),The Hook(1963),Seven mean solar day in May(1964),Heroes of Telemark(1965),In Harm ’s Way(1965),Cast a Giant Shadow(1966),Is Paris Burning(1966 ) , andThe Final Countdown(1980 ) . One particular vital achiever is the anti - war filmPaths of Glory(1957 ) .
Dax becomes a symbol of war ’s barbarity and the machinery that crushes humanity .
InPaths of Glory , maneuver by Stanley Kubrick , Colonel Dax ( Douglas ) precede a doomed Gallic attack on the Anthill , a heavily support German position . tear between loyalty and compassion , Dax becomes a symbolic representation of warfare ’s brutality and the machinery that crushes humanity . Douglas commented,“I bang it even though I knew it would never be a commercial success”(viaArchive.org ) . The story of Humphrey Cobb ’s novel of the same name absorb inspiration from the substantial - life tragedy of the Souain corporal . In 1915 , during World War I , four Gallic soldier were executed under General Réveilhac for disobey orders .
Kubrick said of his conclusion to make a war picture :
“ One of the attraction of a warfare or crime narration is that it provides an almost unique opportunity to contrast an individual or our contemporaneous society with a unanimous framework of recognized value . ”
viaSalon
Despite facing violent public backlash and government censoring for its anti - military implications , Paths of Gloryendures as a hefty and timeless geographic expedition of warfare , society , and military study . While its critical posture restrain its initial box situation achiever , the film is a testament toKirk Douglas ' ambition as an actor . His commitment to the project extended beyond simply play the lead , as his output caller , Bryna Productions , championed the film ’s initiation .
seed : Archive.org , Salon
