Patton (1970)

Directed by Franklin J. Schaffner. Starring George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Edward Binns, Michael Bates, Paul Stevens, Siegfried Rauch, Lawrence Dobkin, Stephen Young, Richard Münch, Michael Strong, Frank Latimore, John Doucette, Morgan Paull, Karl Michael Vogler, Tim Considine, Peter Barkworth. [PG]

Sterling biography of famed maverick General George S. Patton (Scott), presented as an epic war film, a magnificent spectacle dominated not by scope or landscapes or thunder or special effects, but by a magnetic lead portrayal that so capably embodies the spirit of the controversial military genius-slash-madman. Focuses on his campaigns in North Africa, the strategy of making him a decoy (against his will) to divert the enemy’s attention prior to D-Day, his sweep across Europe until the surrender of Germany, and his friendship (steeped in rivalry) with Omar Bradley (Malden, quite good). By standards of big Hollywood period epics, a surprisingly intelligent and historically accurate account, not to mention persuasive in a way that few non-propaganda films are (just ask those who knew Richard Nixon…). As described by one of his German opponents, Patton was “the pure warrior…a magnificent anachronism”; unfortunately, the film actually suffers a small measure because nothing else in the film can match his force-of-nature presence—notice how the film never tops its famous opening scene, where all that’s visible for over five minutes is a giant American flag backdrop and the general addressing an unseen crowd. The robust musical score is provided by Jerry Goldsmith. Scott won the Best Actor Oscar, but refused it on the grounds that he didn’t approve of acting contests or the voting process. Also won Academy Awards for Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing, Sound, and Art Direction-Set Decoration. Scott would play the general again sixteen years later in the made-for-TV movie, The Last Days of Patton.

88/100