Patton (1970)

Patton
Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner
Written by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North
1970/USA
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Instant

Patton: Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

This excellent biopic rubbed me entirely the wrong way on the wrong day of Lockdown.

The film begins with Patton (George C. Scott) delivering a speech in front of a huge American flag.  The story covers the WWII phase of his career and begins as he takes command of II Corps during the North African Campaign.  He will repeatedly butt heads with British Field Marshall Montgomery both there and as he leads the Corps in the invasion of Sicily.  During this time General Omar Bradley (Karl Malden) becomes his confidant and right hand man.

But Bradley, “the GI’s General” does not really appreciate the way he treats his men and eventually becomes Patton’s boss.  Career-suicide strikes when Patton slaps a soldier hospitalized with shell-shock.  He redeems himself slightly when he takes charge of the Third Army as it presses toward Berlin.  He can’t keep his mouth shut however and is finally forced out of his role as Occupation Commander of Germany.

This is a beautifully made and acted movie with outstanding special effects.  No argument with anything except I would have been fine if it had been trimmed a half hour or more from its three-hour length.  However, Patton is portrayed as a grandiose, egotistical, prima donna whose whole aim is victory no matter the cost.  He views the soldiers’ deaths as glorious.  He reminded me quite a bit of our Dear Leader except that Patton had leadership skills that came in handy in a crisis,

I was in a super bad mood.  My sister-in-law has Covid and I’m waiting for other dominoes to fall.  No worries about us we live several hundred miles away and haven’t seen them in months.

Patton won Academy Awards in the categories of Best Picture; Best Director; Best Actor (refused); Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration; Best Sound; and Best Film Editing. It was nominated in the categories of Best Cinematography; Best Effects, Special Visual Effects; and Best Original Score.