1970--Patton, Franklin J. Schaffner

1970—Patton—Franklin J. Schaffner

Nominated: Airport, Five Easy Pieces, Love Story, MASH

Should have won: Patton

Be sure to see:Beneath the Planet of the Apes, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory

“When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do.”--George Patton

     It is an iconic image. General George S. Patton, standing in front of Old Glory so big it fills the frame. He addresses the audience as though we were about to be sent into battle. It is a lasting moment in cinema history...and the screenwriter, Francis Ford Coppola, was fired because the producers thought the idea of the audience being his troops was weird.

     With Planet of the Apes director Franklin J. Schaffner at the helm, Patton tells the story of a General so tough he makes Vince Lombardi look like a pee wee coach. United States Commander General George S. Patton leads his men to the conquest of Sicily, England, and Normandy during World War II. He lifts the siege of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge and is forced by President Eisenhower to make way for the northern front. This is one of the best war movies ever made and the funny thing is there is very little screen time for battles. Only about eleven minutes of the nearly three hour long picture was during battle.

     Patton was born to be a leader during wartime. He oozed toughness and a no-nonsense, “win this war” attitude. When he walks into a room, people didn’t stand at attention out of respect, it was out of fear. A key moment that triggers an important segment in the film is when he goes off on a crying soldier. While visiting the injured soldiers, he finds some are severely injured and some who, according to him, should get back out on the battlefield. One kid who works there is crying over seeing such carnage. Patton hits him and sends him directly to the front lines to fight. Word of this outburst leaks out and he is forced to apologize. This results in him getting massive amounts of letters from parents of soldiers, 89% in his favor.

     Patton has a big mouth, and admits it; never denies it. In a speech to a group of old ladies in England he says he wants to team up with the Brits and rule the world. He doesn't include the Russians in this speech so the Russians believe the United States and England intend to rule the world. He explains if he had been speaking to a group of Russians he would not have said it and he was told there would be no press at this meeting. Nevertheless this causes him to be in the most trouble yet which I won't spoil.

    There are not too many battle scenes but Scott’s performance is so commanding he could have been leading the local middle school cheer leading squad and I would have been interested. The movie opens and closes with poetic soliloquies. As mentioned, the one in front of the flag and at the end he speaks of Roman conquerors riding in chariots with prisoners in chains and a slave holding a golden crown, whispering all glory is fleeting. I watched this scene four times.

     Patton is one of the better best picture winners and certainly one of the best war movies even with little on screen combat. But it is all because of George C. Scott.It should be noted that Scott won the Oscar for best actor but refused to accept it. He believed actors should not be in competition with each other and called the whole Academy Award process a cattle call and meat parade. Perhaps George C. Scott and George S. Patton were torn from the same cloth.