43rd Academy Awards · 1971
Patton
Directed byCooked up by Franklin J. Schaffner
“The Rebel Warrior”
“That opening speech in front of the giant flag? Aura 🇺🇸”
The storyThe lore 📖
"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Germany and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and habit towards insubordination.
General George S. Patton is a legendary and very intense American tank commander in World War II, leading troops through North Africa, Sicily, and into Europe 🪖. He's a military genius but also super stubborn and doesn't know when to stop talking, which gets him in trouble with his own bosses. A serious look at a complicated leader. Aura points: maxed.
What critics & audiences sayThe receipts 🧾
Tomatometer
92%
Fresh
#49 of 98 winnersFamous linesLines living rent free
I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor, dumb bastard die for his country.
Rommel... you magnificent bastard, I read your book!
Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time.
A slave stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a warning — that all glory is fleeting.
We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time, and we're going to go through him like crap through a goose!
Thirty years from now when you’re sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you: "What did you do in the great World War II?" You won't have to say, "Well, I shoveled shit in Louisiana.
Fixed fortifications are man's monument to stupidity.
Hell, I know I'm a prima donna — I admit it! What I can't stand about Monty is he won't admit it.
Bell: "Nuts!"
Patton: Keep them moving, Colonel. A man that eloquent has to be saved.
Okay. I'll drink to that. One son of a bitch to another!
Quotes via Wikiquote
Filming locationsWhere they shot it 📍
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Almería
Andalusia, Spain
The film's Tunisia and Sicily scenes were shot in the arid south of Spain around Almería.
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Pamplona
Navarre, Spain
The northern Spanish city stood in for France and Germany during Patton's Third Army advance.
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Segovia
Castile and León, Spain
The crew rushed here when snow fell to film the wintry Belgium and Battle of the Bulge scenes.
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Sevilla Studios
Madrid, Spain
The famous opening speech was shot here in one afternoon, the giant flag painted on the stage wall.
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Volubilis
Morocco
These Roman ruins played the ancient city, implied to be Carthage, that Patton drives up to.
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Royal Palace of Rabat
Rabat, Morocco
Hosted the early scene of Patton and Muhammed V reviewing Moroccan troops, including Goumiers.
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Knutsford
Cheshire, England
The welcome-centre dedication where Patton makes his notorious remarks was filmed at the actual site.
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Seville
Andalusia, Spain
The production filmed its interior shots in the Andalusian capital.
Fun factsFacts that go hard 🤓
- George C. Scott won Best Actor for Patton but declined the Oscar, citing a dislike of the voting process and of acting competitions; he was the first actor ever to refuse the award.Wikipedia · Accolades
- Lee Marvin, Burt Lancaster, John Wayne, Robert Mitchum and Rod Steiger all turned down the role of Patton, and Steiger later called it his greatest mistake.Wikipedia · Production
- According to Woodward and Bernstein's The Final Days, Patton was Richard Nixon's favorite film; he watched it repeatedly, and Henry Kissinger wrote that he escaped for an hour in the middle of one screening on the presidential yacht.Wikipedia · Critical response
- George C. Scott initially refused to perform the famous flag speech once he learned it would open the film, fearing it would overshadow the rest of his performance; director Franklin J. Schaffner assured him it would be shown at the end.Wikipedia · Opening
- To avoid an R rating, the writers toned down Patton's real language: in the opening monologue, the word 'fornicating' replaced the actual expletive he used about The Saturday Evening Post.Wikipedia · Opening
- The giant American flag behind Patton in the opening speech was painted on the back wall of a stage at Sevilla Studios in Madrid, and the whole scene was shot in one afternoon.Wikipedia · Opening
- The screenplay was co-written by a young Francis Ford Coppola, who drafted it in 1963; the film was originally to be called Blood & Guts, with William Wyler set to direct.Wikipedia · Development
- Patton was shot at 71 locations in six countries, mostly in Spain, which had plenty of surplus U.S. Army World War II equipment; the crew rushed to Segovia when snow fell to film the Battle of the Bulge scenes.Wikipedia · Filming
- An unannounced night battle scene filmed near the Royal Palace in Rabat, Morocco, raised fears in the neighborhood that a coup d'etat was under way.Wikipedia · Filming
- Jerry Goldsmith's score used an echoplex to loop trumpet 'call to war' triplets, a musical device meant to represent General Patton's belief in reincarnation.Wikipedia · Music