“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.”

Patton. All you need to hear is one name, the last name of one of America’s greatest generals. His is a name that conjures up images of some of the greatest military commanders in the history of warfare. Patton. General George S. Patton, a man whose entire life led up to the very thing he felt he was put on the Earth to do: lead American soldiers in battle.

Such a singular man in history deserves the very best Hollywood has to offer, and boy did they deliver. In a time when America was mired in the jungles and rice paddies of a confusing, and some say unjust, war in Vietnam; in a time when American soldiers were coming home in countless black body bags in a war that was being won on the ground yet lost back at home; in a time when even patriots were taking to the streets in protest against an unseen enemy and an unclear cause, America needed a hero to fit the time.

”The bilious bastards who came up with that stuff about individuality know as much about battle as they do about fornicating.”

General Patton was a loyal and brave soldier, but he was anti-establishment. He knew what he wanted to achieve and how to achieve it, but “the man” was always in his way. He had an idealistic viewpoint and wasn’t afraid to speak his mind, but clueless politicians constantly impeded his progress. Patton was punished for his free-thinking and suffered for it. Through it all, he still was able to show what made him great. He was there for America when it needed him the most. What seemed like an enormous gamble, a big rah-rah war picture in a time of civil strife, turned out to be just what America was craving. Patton was a huge hit and an amazing achievement in cinema.

The film opens with the iconic scene of George C. Scott as Patton, a tiny figure against an enormous American flag. Through a series of close-ups, we get a measure of the man: His unique uniform and stern presence. In his passionate, incredible, curse-laden speech, we have the perfect introduction to the character, the tone, and the film itself. The audience quickly realizes that they are certainly in for an interesting ride with this man.

The film, over an amazingly breezy 170 minutes, maintains a very tight focus on the man; from his first battles of the Second World War in North Africa, through his conquering of Sicily, and on to his victories in Europe. Director Franklin J. Schaffner (Planet Of The Apes, Papillion) does an amazing job of maintaining this focus. One of the finest achievements of the film is that, through all of the battles, the cast of thousands, and the hundreds of locations, he never once loses sight of what the story is: A character study.

And what a character Patton was.

”God, how I hate the twentieth century.”

General Patton was a man out of place in history. His was the personality of a man who should have been leading the Roman Legionnaires. Patton’s drive, energy, creativity, and genius were all inspired by warfare and all for the sake of mastering it. He was a Renaissance man who designed ornate uniforms, sabers, and field equipment. He wrote poetry and was well read, even though he was dyslexic. He was a master horseman, an Olympic fencer, and a master of tactics and strategy. He was devoutly religious, yet constantly peppered his speech with endless curse words. He believed deeply in reincarnation and claimed to have been general Hannibal, a legionnaire, a Napoleonic field marshal, and other historical military figures. He based his plans of invasion on battles of the past and learned from those mistakes and victories.

As one could imagine, this would be a role that every actor would both crave and have a respectful fear of. George C. Scott was more than up to the challenge. He didn’t mimic General Patton, he inhabited him. Scott did extensive research on Patton and was a perfectionist on set. While those quirks may have been frustrating during production, it certainly paid off on screen. Scott carried this film in ways that few actors could have done. At the time, he wasn’t a big movie star, so the baggage of what those big stars would bring to the part wasn’t an issue. Imagine if John Wayne had succeeded in lobbying for the part as he was rumored to have done. I think it would be safe to say that I wouldn’t be writing this review. As a testament to Scott’s phenomenal performance, I don’t think there is any child of the ‘60s and on who doesn’t immediately think of George C. Scott when the name Patton is mentioned. In fact, Scott so became that roll that he revisited it in the limp TV movie The Last Days Of Patton and aped it in lesser (but still enjoyable) films like Taps.

As I mentioned before, this film was about focus. As we stay squarely with Patton throughout, the only other major character who is a part of Patton’s life from beginning to end was General Omar Bradley, played by Karl Malden. Bradley was the yin to Patton’s yang. While Patton was eccentric, boisterous and elitist, Bradley was down-to-earth, grounded, and in touch with the common soldier. Bradley was referred to as “the soldier’s general” and his gentle way and plain uniform allowed him to blend in. Patton, on the other hand, had a very flamboyant uniform, one that he had designed and one that matched his outsized personality. General Bradley begins the film as Patton’s second in command, but becomes Patton’s superior as the film progresses. Patton, while a brilliant field commander, was a lousy politician.

”We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything except the enemy. We're going to hold onto him by the nose and we're going to kick him in the ass. We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we're going to go through him like crap through a goose.”

Patton comes from a rare breed. There was a time when America’s elite families would send their best and brightest (those who would become the future leaders of both soldiers and society) to the elite military institutions. Patton, descended from a long line of soldiers, went to West Point. These officers knew a life of privilege and often looked down on the common man. With that came a larger responsibility as well. This was a time of the battlefield general, where high ranking officers not only led their men into battle, they were at the front lines with them. When Patton was in the midst of battle, he had no equal; but when the fighting paused, he was often in trouble. Patton had no qualms about arguing strategy and tactics, gave no mind to what he said to the press, and felt it his right to maintain honor and respect among his troops. In this down time, Patton sabotaged his own career. He wasn’t a politician and he knew it. Even as he tried to play the game to get his way, it would inevitably blow up in his face. That pattern is what kept his career from moving upwards with a steady pace like those who were formerly beneath him.

”Thank the general and tell him I have no desire to drink with him or any other Russian son of a bitch.”

The few moments that the movie moves away from Patton are just as enlightening about the man and his impact. We see German officers in a war room. They have an intelligence officer whose mission was to research Patton, know how he thinks, and anticipate his actions. They witnessed first hand how Patton humiliated their troops and drove the Nazis out of North Africa. They were watching as it seemed this man alone was driving them from Sicily. When Patton was relieved of command, due to an incident where he slapped a soldier in a hospital suffering from shellshock, calling him a coward, the Germans assumed it was only a ploy; that Patton would lead the invasion into Europe. While the Americans were moving Patton around, an officer without a command, to keep him out of trouble, the Germans were following his movements closely, waiting for some hint as to where he would strike next. The brilliance of General Dwight D. Eisenhower is that the Allies realized this, and used Patton as a decoy to keep the bulk of the German army away Normandy so that the real invasion could begin.

”Rommel, you magnificent bastard. I read your BOOK.”

While Patton could not be controlled outside of battle, he was a brilliant tactician. His usefulness became clear as the Allies attempted to move through France. Patton was given a command and tasked to do what he did best. Even with politics slowing him down (allowing Leclerc to retake Paris and the Russians to take Berlin) he still pressed forward hard and fast. “Old Blood And Guts” moved his tanks farther and faster than any leader before him. Patton was not just at war, he made it his mission to outshine both his enemies (German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel) as well as his allies (the similarly diva-ish English general, Bernard Law Montgomery).

Again, peacetime dogged him. After the fall of Berlin, he found himself as an administrator. He again created waves by keeping Nazis in key positions and pressing for an attack on the Russians. Patton felt that these were our next enemies and that the time to strike was then, while they were beaten and tired. Finally, having enough, the Allies again relieved Patton of command.

”In 10 days I'll have a war on with those Communist bastards, and I'll make it look like THEIR fault.”

This is where the film ends, and it is perfect. There was no need to follow his last, sad days as a man without a mission. Better to allow the old soldier to fade away. In every way, this was a perfect film. Hollywood never quite got the war picture right until this point, and they have rarely done so since. If this movie were made today, we would be forced to slog through the forced introductions of an Eisenhower character (and probably even a Roosevelt, a Churchill and a Hitler), tons of CGI, and not nearly the care and attention given to character. These characters are there and present, yet they always loom ominously in the background. Eisenhower is portrayed almost godlike in his way of affecting Patton while never once being seen or heard. Scott was allowed to play Patton with lots of long monologues. As Shakespeare has proven, done correctly, a monologue can be revealing, fascinating, and mesmerizing. In addition, Jerry Goldsmith’s score, while brilliant, is also very spare. Over the full 170 minutes of the film, there are only 32 minutes of music; amazing restraint that seems to be lost today. But the film holds. It doesn’t need to rely on music to drive the emotion of the audience when the visuals and performances do this just fine.

The credit for this film must be equally shared. Shaffner would’ve made Patton proud of his ability to move an army of a film company around the globe yet maintain his razor sharp focus. He won an Academy Award for his efforts. The words and big scenes were crafted by a young Francis Ford Coppolla and polished by Edmund H. North (The Day The Earth Stood Still), also Academy Award winners who met for the first time at the ceremony. Scott, the face on the screen and the voice in your ears, was awarded Best Actor and famously denounced it, never showing up for the event. In all, Patton took home eight Oscars (including Best Picture) in 1971.

”There's only one proper way for a professional soldier to die: the last bullet of the last battle of the last war.”

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