Stanley Kubrick:  Director and co-writer

Cast List:

 Kirk Douglas ....  Col. Dax (Commander of the 701st regiment)
Adolphe Menjou ....  Gen. George Broulard (Member of the French general staff)
George Macready ....  Gen. Paul Mireau (General of the division; Dax's immediate superior)
Wayne Morris ....  Lt. Roget/Singing man
Richard Anderson ....  Maj. Saint-Auban (Aide de Camp to the General)
Joe Turkel ....  Pvt. Pierre Arnaud  
Ralph Meeker ....  Cpl. Philippe Paris 
Timothy Carey ....  Pvt. Maurice Ferol
Christiane Kubrick ....  German singer (as Susanne Christian)
 Jerry Hausner ....  Proprietor of cafe
 Peter Capell ....  Narrator of opening sequence/Judge (colonel) of court-martial
 Emile Meyer ....  Father Dupree
 Bert Freed ....  Sgt. Boulanger
 Kem Dibbs ....  Pvt. Lejeune
 Fred Bell ....  Shell-shock victim

Runtime: 87 min

Questions:

 1.  What is the source from which the movie was taken?

 2.  In what year did the action of the movie take place?

 3.  What was the state of the conflict at this time?

 4.  What was the "ant hill"?

 5.  What was the condition of the division ordered to take the "ant hill"?

 6.  How did General Broulard of the French General Staff  'convince' the division commander, General Mireau, to commit his men to what he initially regarded as a hopeless endeavor?

 7.  How are the high command and staff officers portrayed in the movie?

 8.  Who is Colonel Dax?

 9.  What did he think about his orders to attack the "ant hill"?

10.  How much artillery preparation was going to be provided and why not any more?

11.  What 'habit' fairly characteristic of World War I officers is displayed by the cowardly lieutenant?

12.  What happened to the assault on the "ant hill"?

13.  What obstacles did the men face in their attempt to move through No-man's Land?

14.  How far was the regiment able to advance, despite its best efforts?

15.  What did General Mireau order in his attempt to force the troops out of their trenches?

16.  What did the battery commander, Captain Rousseau, demand before he would carry out such an order?

17.  How did Mireau propose to punish the regiment for its 'cowardice'?

18.  What 'compromise' was reached?

19.  How did the two generals treat the suggestion of Colonel Dax that they should make an example of him as the officer who had commanded the failed attack?

20.  How were the three men to be tried chosen?

21.  How many were among the men who had failed to leave the trenches?

22.  How would you describe the court martial?

23.  Who was the prosecutor and on what grounds might one argue that he had no moral right to take part in such a trial?

24.  On what grounds did Colonel Dax object to the entire proceedings?

25.  What mishap befell one of the three prisoners while awaiting execution?

26.  Did it make any difference?

27.  What did the general admit to Colonel Dax concerning the assault on the 'ant hill'?

28.  How did the colonel try to blackmail the General Staff in a desperate attempt to save his men?

29.  What was the final piece of sadism directed against the wounded man by General Mireau's orders?

30.  What ultimately happened to General Mireau?

31.  What did the commanding general think that the Colonel was trying to accomplish?

32.  How did he rationalize his part in the affair?

33.  How did the ending of the movie differ from the ending of the book?

34.  What is the purpose of the last scene and in what way might it be considered an appropriate addition to the movie?