Patton (1970)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

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

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

US TV Schedule:

Wed. Nov. 11

12:30 PM

AMC

Cast

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
Richard Münch	...	Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl (as Richard Muench)
Siegfried Rauch	...	Capt. Oskar Steiger
Michael Bates	...	Field Marshal Sir Bernard Law Montgomery
Paul Stevens	...	Lt. Col. Charles R. Codman
Gerald Flood	...	Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder
Jack Gwillim	...	Gen. Sir Harold Alexander
Edward Binns	...	Maj. Gen. Walter Bedell Smith
Peter Barkworth	...	Col. John Welkin
Lionel Murton	...	Third Army chaplain
David Healy	...	Clergyman
Sandy Kevin	...	Correspondent
Douglas Wilmer	...	Maj. Gen. Francis de Guingand
John Doucette	...	Maj. Gen. Lucian K. Truscott
Tim Considine	...	Soldier who gets slapped
Abraxas Aaran	...	Willy
Clint Ritchie	...	Tank captain
Alan MacNaughton	...	British briefing officer
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brandon Brady	...	Lt. Young (uncredited)
Charles Dennis	...	Soldier (uncredited)
Paul Frees	...	Voice (uncredited) (voice)
Hellmut Lange	...	Maj. Dorian von Haarenwege (uncredited)
Harry Morgan	...	Senator (uncredited)
Bruce Rhodewalt	...	Cynical wounded soldier (uncredited)

Directed by
Franklin J. Schaffner

Writing credits
Ladislas Farago		(book "Patton: Ordeal and Triumph")
Omar N. Bradley		(book "A Soldier's Story")
Francis Ford Coppola		(screen story) and
Edmund H. North		(screen story)
Francis Ford Coppola		(screenplay) and
Edmund H. North		(screenplay)

Produced by
Frank Caffey	....	associate producer
Frank McCarthy	....	producer

Original Music by
Jerry Goldsmith

Cinematography by
Fred J. Koenekamp		(as Fred Koenekamp)

Film Editing by
Hugh S. Fowler		(as Hugh Fowler)

Art Direction by
Urie McCleary
Gil Parrondo

Set Decoration by
Antonio Mateos
Pierre-Louis Thévenet		(as Pierre-Louis Thevenet)

Makeup Department
Del Acevedo	....	makeup artist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervisor (as Dan Striepeke)

Production Management
Francisco Day	....	unit production manager
Eduardo García Maroto	....	unit production manager (as Eduardo G. Maroto)
Tadeo Villalba	....	unit production manager
Francisco Ariza	....	production manager (uncredited)
James Blakeley	....	post-production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Eli Dunn	....	assistant director
José López Rodero	....	assistant director (as Jose Lopez Rodero)
Michael D. Moore	....	second unit director (as Michael Moore)

Art Department
Jose Luis Del Barco	....	storyboard artist
Julián Martín	....	painter (uncredited)
Dennis J. Parrish	....	property master (uncredited)
Jack Senter	....	assistant supervising art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Don J. Bassman	....	sound production (as Don Bassman)
James Corcoran	....	sound supervisor
Theodore Soderberg	....	sound re-recordist (as Ted Soderberg)
Murray Spivack	....	sound re-recordist
Douglas O. Williams	....	sound re-recordist (as Douglas Williams)

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Art Cruickshank	....	special photographic effects
Alex Weldon	....	mechanical effects

Stunts
Joe Canutt	....	action coordinator
Joe Canutt	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Stefano Capriati	....	stunt double (uncredited)
Bill Hickman	....	stunts (uncredited)
Kim Kahana	....	stunts (uncredited)
Carey Loftin	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Cecilio Paniagua	....	camera operator: second unit
Ramiro Sabell	....	first assistant camera
Clifford Stine	....	camera operator: second unit
Mike Benson	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Music Department
Arthur Morton	....	orchestrator

Transportation Department
Julio Sempere	....	military vehicles coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Omar N. Bradley	....	senior military advisor (as General of the Army Omar N. Bradley, USA)
Paul D. Harkins	....	technical advisor (as General Paul D. Harkins, USA, Ret.)
Glover S. Johns Jr.	....	technical advisor (as Colonel Glover S. Johns Jr., USA, Ret.)
Luis Martín Pozuelo	....	miltary advisor: Spain (as Lieutenant Colonel Luis Martín Pozuelo)
Richard Vetter	....	process consultant
Carl Williams	....	process consultant
Ralph M. Leo	....	production accountant (uncredited)
Julio Sempere	....	military equipment supervisor (uncredited)
Julio Sempere	....	army supervisor (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (Brazil) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (USA) (DVD)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (USA) (laserdisc)
• Abril Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1972) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CBS/Fox (USA) (laserdisc)
• Gativideo (1999) (Argentina) (DVD)
• Gativideo (1999) (Argentina) (VHS) (re-release)

Other Companies

• Armies of the World  props and costumes
• Pacific Title  titles
• Westrex System  sound recording

Also Known As:

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

Runtime:

170 min | Sweden: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) | DTS 70 mm (70mm 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 was the second, and last, film to be produced in the Dimension 150 process.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The extreme close-up of Patton's eyebrows in the opening scene shows the mesh netting of the fake eyebrows.

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 "Stargate SG-1: Avalon: Part 2 (#9.2)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

To the Color

A Strange Combinition Of Good And Bad

I saw this the same night I saw THE HURRICANE a movie that claims to be a bio-pic on Rubin Carter but which is nothing more than total fabrication . PATTON is an entirely different kettle of fish and while not being entirely accurate ( I'll come to that later ) does at least have many accurate points

Undoubtedly the best aspect of the movie is George C Scott who is physically almost identical to George Patton . He captures the arrogant mannerisms of the American general very well and few and far between are movies where a performance like this dominates a movie . Ironically this is a case of where an Oscar for best actor was fully deserved and yet the recipient turned down the honour . There's also obviously a lot of thought gone into the screenplay as to where to begin and end the story . Do you start when Patton was a child and find out what motivated him to be a soldier ? Do you start when he fought in the American Expidionary force in France 1917-18 ? Do you finish the story with his death ? I think that writers Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H North have got the settings right with starting the story with the immediate aftermath of The Kasserine Pass and finishing the story while Patton was still alive . The screenplay itself is somewhat knowingly ironic as Patton spouts " America has never and will never lose a war " while it was becoming obvious in 1970 there was no way the US were going to be victors in Vietnam . It was a well known fact that Patton despised Monty and much of Patton's motives were of beating Montgomery as much as the Germans and this might have led to needless deaths of men under Patton's command . The screenplay while not exactly spelling this out does hint that his dislike of Monty led to Patton's reckless streak and the audience are left to make up their own mind on this issue . It was also well known that Patton wanted to throw back the Soviets from Eastern Europe ( Monty also had a hatred of communism but was far less vocal about it ) and there are conspiracy theories that the car accident that killed Patton wasn't an accident at all . Thankfully the screenwriters and producers have absolutely no time for any conspiracy theories of any kind

While being a good movie PATTON fails to be great one simply because niggling little faults creep into the movie like historical inaccuracies . In the aftermath the Germans discuss the battle of Kasserine Pass where " The Americans were led by the British general Anderson " Who was Anderson ? The Americans who were badly defeated at the battle were led by American general Lloyd Fredendall without doubt the worst allied general of the war and it was this that led to Patton being appointed to his post . Rommel is portrayed as having the utmost respect for Patton and his American troops but in reality this wasn't actually the case . Throughout the war Erwin Rommel had contempt for American equipment ( With good reason since German Panther and Tiger tanks were far superior to the American built Shermans and the same applied to preceding equipment ) and servicemen and counted Monty as his arch nemesis not Patton . Also as with most American war movies made round about this time the tank battles fought between Americans and Germans seem to be composed of both sides using American tanks built in the 1950s

All in all a bio-pic that while being better than many others isn't flawless but like I said if you want to see how NOT to make a bio-pic watch THE HURRICANE