| | [[Image:George_C._Scott.jpg|right|200px|thumb|George C. Scott as Patton in the 1970 film; unlike the gravel-voiced Scott, Patton spoke with a falsetto: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYjnWXFTQkM&feature=related]]] | | [[Image:George_C._Scott.jpg|right|200px|thumb|George C. Scott as Patton in the 1970 film; unlike the gravel-voiced Scott, Patton spoke with a falsetto: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYjnWXFTQkM&feature=related]]] |
| − | Patton became famous to new generations due to an Oscar-winning 1970 movie starring George C. Scott in the title role. It is a biographical film, based based on the books ''Patton: Ordeal and Triumph,'' by Ladislas Farago, and ''A Soldier's Story'', by General of the Army [[Omar Bradley]] (Bradley served as technical adviser in the film, and was himself played by Karl Malden). The opening scene is one of the most familiar in film history, with Patton standing before a large American flag and delivering a speech to unseen troops based upon one he gave on June 5th, 1944<ref>http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html</ref>, yet sanitizing away several of the obscenities. Patton used harsh and foul language and castigated cowards, or "psychoneurotics," and those who used self-inflicted wounds to get out of combat. The basic message was "shoot and keep shooting"<ref>Pullen (2005)</ref>, keeping with the General's standing order of "Always take the offensive; never dig in." | + | Patton became famous to new generations due to an Oscar-winning 1970 movie starring George C. Scott in the title role. It is a biographical film, based based on the books ''Patton: Ordeal and Triumph,'' by Ladislas Farago, and ''A Soldier's Story'', by General of the Army [[Omar Bradley]] (Bradley served as technical adviser in the film, and was himself played by Karl Malden). The opening scene is one of the most familiar in film history, with Patton standing before a large American flag and delivering a speech to unseen troops based upon one he gave on June 5th, 1944<ref>http://www.pattonhq.com/speech.html</ref>, yet sanitizing away several of the obscenities. Patton used harsh and foul language and castigated cowards, or "psychoneurotics," and those who used self-inflicted wounds to get out of combat. The basic message was "shoot and keep shooting,"<ref>Pullen (2005)</ref> keeping with the General's standing order of "Always take the offensive; never dig in." |
| | The movie was originally filmed and presented on 70mm wide-screen film, and had a dimension of spectacle which cannot be fully appreciated in home video. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and originally distributed by 20th Century Fox, ''Patton'' won seven academy awards including "Best Picture." Critic Roger Ebert said it was ''"released at the height of the unpopular war in Vietnam, was described by many reviewers at the time as "really" an anti-war film. It was nothing of the kind. It was a hard-line glorification of the military ethic, personified by a man whose flaws and eccentricities marginalized him in peacetime, but found the ideal theater in battle. In this he was not unlike Churchill; both men used flamboyance, eccentricity and a gift for self-publicity as a way of inspiring their followers and perplexing the enemy. That Patton was in some ways mad is not in doubt--at least to the makers of this film--but his accomplishments overshadowed, even humiliated, his cautious and sane British rival, Montgomery."''<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020317/REVIEWS08/203170301/1023</ref> | | The movie was originally filmed and presented on 70mm wide-screen film, and had a dimension of spectacle which cannot be fully appreciated in home video. Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner and originally distributed by 20th Century Fox, ''Patton'' won seven academy awards including "Best Picture." Critic Roger Ebert said it was ''"released at the height of the unpopular war in Vietnam, was described by many reviewers at the time as "really" an anti-war film. It was nothing of the kind. It was a hard-line glorification of the military ethic, personified by a man whose flaws and eccentricities marginalized him in peacetime, but found the ideal theater in battle. In this he was not unlike Churchill; both men used flamboyance, eccentricity and a gift for self-publicity as a way of inspiring their followers and perplexing the enemy. That Patton was in some ways mad is not in doubt--at least to the makers of this film--but his accomplishments overshadowed, even humiliated, his cautious and sane British rival, Montgomery."''<ref>http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20020317/REVIEWS08/203170301/1023</ref> |