Patton
(
UK
:
Patton: Lust for Glory
) is a 1970
movie
about
United States Army
General
George S. Patton
, and his role in the
Second World War
.
Patton
starred
George C. Scott
in the title role, and it was released by
20th Century Fox
. The movie became very
popular
, and won an
Academy Award
for Best Picture in 1971. A
sequel
,
The Last Days of Patton
, appeared in 1986, also starring Scott.
Patton's
widow
was approached not long after her husband died (after an
automobile
accident), with an offer to make a
Hollywood
movie about Patton's life and career. His family did not agree right away, and it was many years before they approved a
dramatic
movie to be made. The movie's
screenplay
was based on a well-written
biography
of General Patton,
Patton: Ordeal and Triumph
, and
A Soldier's Story
, a
memoir
by General
Omar N. Bradley
, who served with Patton.
The story covers the time from the American defeat at the
Battle of the Kasserine Pass
in
North Africa
during 1943, when Patton was sent to take command, through his victories in
Africa
and
Sicily
, his time as a "
decoy
" before
D-Day
, The
Battle of the Bulge
, and his last weeks, after the war was over in 1945.
The movie did not give much time to showing
combat
and battles, but explained Patton's role in several important battles and
campaigns
. It also showed his
character
as a person, as a soldier, and as a leader. Patton made good choices, such as
appointing
Omar Bradley to assist him, and bad choices, such as striking soldiers physically when they showed fear or
cowardice
, or giving his personal opinions to the
media
, when they differed widely from what the Allied commanders expected. The movie showed a mix of both bad and good things about Patton.
The movie appeared nearly twenty-five years after Patton died. American
attitudes
toward war, toward fighting, and toward the
military
had changed in many ways. The
Vietnam War
was happening at the same time the movie was made and shown. The older
generation
, who had fought in World War II or helped out on the
home front
, tended to support the war and the
draft
, which made young American men join the Army to fight. Younger people, who did not remember World War II or were born after it ended, were mostly against the war in Vietnam.
Patton
gave older and younger viewers a look back at an American war hero and leader, and it gave them things to think and talk about together.