"When the going gets tough, they call for the sons of bitches"...Adm. Ernest King

Rating: Null/10 (5 November 2003)

Patton is a movie about a man who on one hand was one of America's greatest generals, and on the other hand was only marginally saner than Gen. Jack D. Ripper. According to several vets I got to talk to (who actually served under the real Patton!), George C. Scott's portrayal was spot-on. A few observations on the movie: Even when I was a kid, seeing Patton when it came out in 1970, I was suspicious of the tanks used in that battle scene in North Africa. Even then, they didn't look like the classic German tanks...Patton's speech in the beginning of the movie was edited for content. If you ever read the original version of his speech, it makes the movie version sound like a church sermon.
I also wished that the movie had pointed out that in WW1, Patton commanded the first ever American tank battalion, and was severely wounded in battle, yet kept fighting until he just about passed out from loss of blood. I thought this should have been brought out that he had practiced what he preached... Gen. Omar Bradley: portrayed in the movie as Patton's "buddy", he was nothing of the sort. Jealous of Patton, the real life Bradley would go to Eisenhower behind Patton's back to stymie George's success.
Monty: Sorry, Monty fans, but the movie points out one historical fact. Monty usurped needed gas and supplies from Patton in September of '44 for his disastrous "Market Garden" attack (watch Richard Attenborough's "A Bridge Too Far" as a companion movie to "Patton"). Thanks to Monty, the war went on much longer than it probably would have if Patton had been allowed to drive into Germany. Patton's arrogance helped win battles. Monty's arrogance gave us the Battle of the Bulge, the fire bombing of Dresden, not to mention countless Jewish lives lost. Patton had the Germans reeling in the fall of 1944, and, as the movie pointed out, had the army in just the right place at the right time to end it. Unfortunately, thanks to Monty's political pull and crappy generalmanship, the war went on longer than it should have...