Patton

It takes us about fifteen minutes to get a grasp on the character of George S. Patton (George C. Scott) as seen in the 1970 Best Picture winner, Patton. Yet we will see this dramatized for another two and a half hours without hardly any further enlightening of his character. Nearly everything the filmmakers want us to understand about him is summed up in an opening monologue speech delivered in front of a massive American flag. This speech may feel like dramatic license, but it was actually a speech the man gave, minus some of the more colorful language, and it is both humorous and frightening at the same time. It is also so iconic that it has been parodied many times in the years since.

General Omar N. Bradley served as a consultant on the picture. This is of particular note because Omar served alongside Patton during the World War II campaign and knew him intimately. However, this leads to a bit of a one-sided depiction because Omar is presenting himself in the best possible light, and that makes for a rather bland interpretation of his character. It is also a disservice to Karl Malden, who is an amazing actor but is given little nuance to work with. This is in stark contrast to George C. Scott, who is playing Patton to the hilt, chewing the scenery, and plowing his way through the narrative the way the real Patton did through Europe and Africa. With so much focus on this character, though, we come away not fully understanding the whys about him. We get his foibles, his weaknesses, and his odd personal beliefs, but we don’t understand what drives him nor why he is the way he is. This is a direct result of having to pussy-foot around the surviving Patton family, who didn’t want this film to even be made. 

This film focuses on a few years towards the end of World War II as General George S. Patton assumes command of II Corps in Tunisia, North Africa. Rommel has just scored a major victory over the Americans, and Patton is entering the field at a disadvantage. But he has read Rommel’s book and feels he understands the Nazi commander. He also has little regard for the health and safety of his men except in how they can best serve his ambitions. Despite initial difficulties with the men and his disdain for British field commander, General Bernard Montgomery (Michael Bates), whom he feels is monopolizing the Allied efforts for his own needs, Patton manages to secure victory at the Battle of El Guettar. 

This leads to plans for invading Sicily. Patton and Montgomery submit alternative plans, with Patton’s being far more aggressive and risky. General Harold Alexander (Jack Gwillim) opts for Montgomery’s more cautious plan, with Patton’s men expected to provide flank support. While Patton obliges, he pushes his subordinates to make risky moves, regardless of the cost in life. It is during this part of his campaign that his most notorious action takes place. While visiting a military hospital, he shows reverence for the men wounded in battle but verbally assaults a man suffering from PTSD, slaps him, and demands the man be sent to the front immediately. Patton will be forced to issue a formal apology for the incident but loses any chance of leading the push to Berlin because of the fallout from this action. 

Patton sees himself as a warrior, reincarnated from past warriors, and cannot imagine a war going on where he is not in the thick of things. “The last great opportunity of a lifetime and I’m left out of it? God will not allow it to happen.” He would hate living in times of peace. Later, after the Nazis surrender, he believes he will be sent on to Japan or be allowed to command his troops in an offense against the Russian allies. This is a man who wants to be at war and cannot comprehend the value of peace. 

Patton is the protagonist, but we are not to like him. Even when he is making humorous quips, they are wrapped in barbed wire to inflict damage. The film wants us to see him as a man who is a bit unhinged; therefore, we get moments like when he shoots a farmer’s mules because they are slowing down the troops’ advancement across a bridge. For a movie that would normally be about humanizing the central figure, this film does the opposite. We come to it thinking we’re going to get an expose on a great military genius, and instead, what we have is a portrait of a cold and calloused man who drove his men to exhaustion for his own ego, often to the detriment of the grander scheme. 

His ego is portrayed so heavily and his love for fighting so universal that I was reminded of a character played in the spoof film Hot Shots! Part Deux who looks dead into the camera and proclaims “War! It’s fantastic!” For a drama about World War II, I should not be thinking about spoofs and broad comedy. I should be drawn into the conflict. Yet this is one of the film’s biggest weaknesses. By focusing on the General, we lose the focus on the battles. Patton is always away from the action the soldiers are experiencing, so we either see battles from a distance or only the aftermath. This is a largely bloodless film, and for a film about war, that neuters the effectiveness of it. We see the occasional explosions and bodies being launched by the blast, but we never see gunplay or hand-to-hand combat, just the effects after the fact. Even a film like The Longest Day, which was made eight years before, managed to convey the horrors of battle better than this film does. 

This film was written originally by Francis Ford Coppola, who penned the first draft in the early 1960s. His script was heavily stylized and influenced by The Longest Day. It focused heavily on Patton’s obsession with being reincarnated, and after a heavy rewrite, George C. Scott was offered the role. He, having read the original script, insisted that the studio go back to that version if they wanted him in the lead. While some re-writing was still insisted upon, the studio did revert to the original script for filming. 

Famously, George C. Scott refused to acknowledge his Oscar nomination for Patton. He had been nominated for films before and had been burned with all the self-promoting only to lose so when it was announced that he was nominated again for Patton, he requested that his name be removed. It didn’t happen, and he won the Oscar that year, but he was not present at the ceremony nor did he accept the award. 

Patton is a fascinating movie to watch for about an hour, then it becomes repetitive. There is nothing new we learn about his character that we didn’t already know in the first half. The film also assumes you are fully aware of the details of World War II and doesn’t bother to explain anything that is happening. This means important battles like the Battle of the Bulge are not even highlighted nor their importance explained. If you didn’t pay attention in history class and haven’t seen films like Battlefield, you’re likely to get lost in the geography and the importance of each engagement. 

This is a film that I wanted to like more than I ultimately did. George C. Scott is fabulous in it and deserved the praise he got at the time. But the film is too long and does a poor job of getting into the head of our protagonist. One soldier quips that there goes Blood and Guts. “Our Blood and his Guts.” That’s about as much real insight as we will get into this enigmatic leader who we feel will never be comfortable in times of peace. That he died so soon after the end of the war seems fitting. That bit of history was explored, with George C. Scott back in the role, in the sequel: The Last Days of Patton.

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: Frank McCarthy (won)

Best Director: Franklin J. Schaffner (won)

Best Actor: George C. Scott (won)

Best Story and Screenplay - Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced: Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North (won)

Best Art Direction: Urie McCleary, Gil Parrondo, Antonio Mateos, and Pierre-Louis Thévenet (won)

Best Cinematography: Fred J. Koenekamp

Best Film Editing: Hugh S. Fowler (won)

Best Original Score: Jerry Goldsmith

Best Sound: Douglas Williams and Don Bassman (won)

Best Special Visual Effects: Alex Weldon

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Release Date: April 2, 1970

Running Time: 172 minutes

Rated PG

Starring: George C. Scott and Karl Malden

Directed By: Franklin J. Schaffner