| | Patton's fame derives primarily from his record as an outstanding practitioner of mobile armored warfare. Quick-tempered and bluff in speech, he was frequently involved in political controversy, not least because of his propensity to racist and anti-Semitic remarks. He was nicknamed "Old Blood and Guts" by his men, who disliked his minute attention to dress codes even in battle zones. Patton's war diary was published posthumously in 1947 under the title "War As I Knew It." | | Patton's fame derives primarily from his record as an outstanding practitioner of mobile armored warfare. Quick-tempered and bluff in speech, he was frequently involved in political controversy, not least because of his propensity to racist and anti-Semitic remarks. He was nicknamed "Old Blood and Guts" by his men, who disliked his minute attention to dress codes even in battle zones. Patton's war diary was published posthumously in 1947 under the title "War As I Knew It." |
| − | [[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: [https://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 5, 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." This movie even had to tone down the strength of Patton's real speeches, in order to make them palatable to a general civilian audience. | | 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 5, 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." This movie even had to tone down the strength of Patton's real speeches, in order to make them palatable to a general civilian audience. |