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Stanley Kubrick: Kirk Douglas
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In 1957, Kubrick directed Paths of Glory (1957), an adaptation that he, Calder Willingham, and Jim Thompson wrote of the best-selling Humphrey Cobb novel of the same name. No studio had been willing to take on this particular project until Kirk Douglas agreed to star. Filmed in Germany, Paths of Glory is about three soldiers tried for cowardice; it is regarded as one of the best films ever made about the insanity of war.
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In 1957 Kubrick made Paths of Glory," starring Kirk Douglas, which was set in the First World War and was one of the most uncompromising anti-war films in the history of the cinema. Kirk Douglas subsequently hired Kubrick to direct Spartacus (1960), the most intelligent of the then current epic films, and the one and only film on which Kubrick did not have complete control.
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The 1960s saw Kubrick rise to the top ranks in Hollywood. At the request of producer-star Kirk Douglas (who headed Paths' cast), Kubrick took over the reins on Spartacus (1960), which did expectedly big business and received critical favor. Alas, disenchanted with having to bow to the demands of Douglas and others, the experience led Kubrick to seek greater creative control on his films. He gained it upon moving to England, where he made the controversial Lolita (1962) and the wildly popular black comedy Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964), each employing the talents of Peter Sellers in multiple roles.
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The actor profiles show Kubrick’s liking for what I’ll call the ‘pose.’ That’s basically a blanket euphemism for the control Kubrick places on the image. In these photos, setting and subject bend to the artist’s will and the sense of manipulation is readily apparent. This is especially of interest in the Clift profile: the actor was a manipulator in his own right, and there’s a strong sense of a meeting of two very distinct and individual minds that adds a tension to the image. As much as Clift exudes his own sort of confidence, it’s ... evident that Kubrick has an equal control. It foreshadows Kubrick’s later, conflicted dealings with high profile actors such as Kirk Douglas and Sterling Hayden, and may partly explain why he cast blander and more easily controlled leading men in many of his later films.
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Kirk Douglas