Actors - Patton

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	Actors - Patton

Patton is a 1970 biographical film which tells the story of General George Patton's commands during World War II. It stars George C. Scott, Karl Malden and Michael Bates.

In 2003 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Plot

The film documents the story of General George Patton during World War II.

The film also showed some of Patton's more controversial actions during the Second World War years. The infamous slapping incident was represented by a scene in which Patton slapped a solider at an Army hospital. Patton's later troubles following the fall of Germany with him comparing the Nazis to losers in a political election was also shown.

Production

There were several attempts to make the movie, starting in 1953. The Patton family was approached by the producers for help in making the film. They wanted access to Patton's diaries and input from the family members. By coincidence, the day they asked the family was the day after the funeral of Beatrice Ayer Patton, George Patton's widow. After that, the family was dead-set against the movie and refused to give any help to the filmmakers.

Due to a lack of help from the family, Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North wrote the film from two biographies: Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and A Soldier's Story by Omar Bradley. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. In 2005, his wife's "Button Box" manuscript was finally released by his family, with the posthumous release of his daughter's, Ruth Ellen Patton Totten, book, The Button Box: A Daughter's Loving Memoir of Mrs. George S. Patton.

Awards

Scott's performance as Patton won him an Academy Award for Best Actor (which he famously refused, stating that the Oscars were "a meat parade"), and has been called "one of the great performances of all time". Roger Ebert has said, Patton is not a war film so much as the story of a personality who has found the right role to play.

The film won six additional Academy Awards, for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. It was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Special Visual Effects and Best Music, Original Score.

Cast

George C. Scott
- George S. Patton
Karl Malden
- Omar Bradley
Stephen Young - Chester B. Hansen
Michael Strong - Hobart Carver
Carey Loftin
- Bradley's Driver
Michael Bates
- Bernard Law Montgomery
Frank Latimore - Henry Davenport
Morgan Paull - Richard N. Jenson
Karl Michael Vogler
- F.M. Erwin Rommel
Bill Hickman - Patton's Driver
Siegfried Rauch- Captain Steiger
Richard Münch- Alfred Jodl

Sequels

A made-for-television sequel, The Last Days of Patton, was produced in 1986. Scott reprised his title role. The movie was based on Patton's final weeks after being mortally injured in a car accident with flashbacks of Patton's earlier life.

Trivia

At the end of the movie, Patton is nearly run over by a cart and says, "Imagine, after all I've been through, imagine me going out like that!". In December 1945, Patton was injured in a freak vehicle accident and died a few weeks later.
The movie writers of Patton's famous speech actually had to tone down Patton's actual words and statements.
Patton's driver was played by Scott's golf instructor, George Slingerland.
The M-4 "Sherman" was used in large numbers in Patton's forces (with the M-26 "Pershing" becoming available). However, the U.S. tanks in the film resemble M-26 "Pershing" tanks of the mid-to-late 1940's, but also resemble ironically the M-47 "Patton" of the 1950's.
Richard Nixon often watched this film for inspiration, especially after the start of the Watergate crisis.
First shown on TV November 19, 1972

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