Patton (1970)

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

Ladislas Farago (book)
Omar N. Bradley (book)

Release Date:

2 April 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Biography | Drama | War

Plot:

The World War II phase of the controversial American general's career is depicted.

Plot Keywords:

General | Germany | American | Destiny | Military

Awards:

Won 7 Oscars. Another 17 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

George C. Scott	...	Gen. George S. Patton Jr.
Karl Malden	...	Gen. Omar N. Bradley
Stephen Young	...	Capt. Chester B. Hansen
Michael Strong	...	Brig. Gen. Hobart Carver
Carey Loftin	...	Gen. Bradley's driver (as Cary Loftin)
Albert Dumortier	...	Moroccan Minister
Frank Latimore	...	Lt. Col. Henry Davenport
Morgan Paull	...	Capt. Richard N. Jenson
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Bill Hickman	...	Gen. Patton's driver
Pat Zurica	...	1st Lt. Alexander Stiller (as Patrick J. Zurica)
James Edwards	...	Sgt. William George Meeks
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Col. Gaston Bell
David Bauer	...	Lt. Gen. Harry Buford
John Barrie	...	Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham

Also Known As:

Patton: A Salute to a Rebel
Patton: Lust for Glory (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

172 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | German | French | Russian | Arabic

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) | Mono (35 mm prints) | DTS 70 mm (70 mm re-release)

Certification:

Australia:M | Brazil:16 | New Zealand:PG | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Peru:14 | Singapore:PG | South Korea:12 | Sweden:15 | UK:PG | USA:M (original rating) | USA:PG (re-rating) (1970) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Almería, Andalucía, Spain

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

This film was originally titled "Patton: Salute to a Rebel" and pre-release promotional material carried that title. The title was changed just prior to general release.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: One of the planes seen in the film is a Cessna L-19 Bird Dog, which first flew in 1950.

Quotes:

[first lines]
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.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues (#11.6)" (1999)

Soundtrack:

To the Color

A film about the man not the war

Oliver Stone has said this film glorifies war, i disagree, what it does is show a man {Patton} who gloried in war, the war is shown through his perspective,and to Patton war is glorious and he revels in it.The performance of George c scott as Patton is brilliant, it shows a complex and demanding character riddled with contradictions ,who believes he was born to be a leader of men,the supporting cast is very good particularly karl Malden who plays general Bradley a calm experienced soldier with no dreams of glory, the perfect foil to the maverick Patton, the combat scenes are well shot and are never more than is necessary to support the narrative,the film rises above being very good to excellence due to George c Scotts intuitive grasp of the character.