It explodes in the no-man's land no picture ever dared cross before!

Starring: Kirk Douglas, Ralph Meeker, Adolphe Menjou, George Macready, Wayne Morris, Richard Anderson, Joe Turkel, Peter Capell

DML Rating: ★★★★★★★★★★ - perfect

"I apologize, sir, for not telling you sooner that you're a degenerate, sadistic old man. And you can go to hell before I apologize to you now or ever again!" - Colonel Dax

Why watch this? ... it's a superb war film set in the trenches of the first World War.

Plot Summary: Colonel Dax, a French officer in World War I, is ordered by his superiors to lead his men in a suicidal assault on a German position known as the "Ant Hill". The mission ends in disaster and the French General, in an effort to deflect blame from himself, demands that three soldiers be court-martialed and executed for cowardice. Dax, a former lawyer, volunteers to defend his men against the blatant injustice of the proceedings.

Dad's Preview: The significance of Kirk Douglas on American cinema cannot be overstated. Where his contemporaries (Wayne, Stewart, Peck, or Tracy) filled roles as the dependable hero, Douglas often played the more complex man. He was usually conflicted, sullen, explosive, difficult to read. He was an acting force. In this film he plays a French commander who refuses to send his men on a suicide attack and faces trial by court-martial. This powerful anti-war effort is engrossing, mostly attributed to Douglas' performance.

Bryna Productions, Harris-Kubrick Pictures Corp.; United Artists