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decoy, which works; German Col. Gen. Alfred Jodl (Richard Münch) posits that
Patton will lead the charge through Eu rope. Afraid he will miss out on the rest of
the war, Patton pleads with his former subordinate, Omar Bradley, for a leader-
ship role, and he is put in charge of the Third Army. Patton excels at his post and
rapidly advances through France, but his tanks are halted when they run out of
fuel, which is mostly consigned to Montgomery’s Operation Market Garden (17–25
September 1944), much to Patton’s disgust. Later, during the Battle of the Bulge
(16 December 1944–25 January 1945), Patton’s forces relieve the besieged town of
Bastogne and then punch through the Siegfried Line and into Germany. In an off-
the- record short speech at a war- drive event in Knutsford, England (25 April 1944),
Patton said “it is the evident destiny of the British and Americans (and, of course,
the Rus sians) to rule the world.” Media coverage omits the reference to Rus sia, so
Patton’s remarks are viewed as an insult to the Soviet Union. After Germany capit-
ulates (5 May 1945), Patton, through an interpreter, insults a Rus sian general to
his face at a postwar dinner. The Rus sian amuses Patton by insulting him in kind,
and the two officers proceed to have a drink together. Later, Patton makes the
mistake of comparing the Nazi Party to American po liti cal parties. Patton’s com-
ments lead to his second loss of command. Patton is then seen away from the war,
talking his dog, Willie. In voice- over, Patton describes how a returning hero of
ancient Rome was honored with a “triumph,” a victory parade in which “a slave
stood behind the conqueror, holding a golden crown, and whispering in his ear a
warning: that all glory is fleeting.”
Reception
Patton had an East Coast premiere in New York City on 4 February 1970 and a
West Coast premiere two weeks later. During its domestic theatrical run the movie
made $61.75 million ($389 million in 2017 dollars). Patton earned an additional
$28.1 million in video rentals later on— a grand total of almost $90 million against
an estimated production cost of $12 million (i.e., a $78 million profit, minus pro-
motion and advertising expenses). Patton received 10 Oscar nominations and won
7 Oscars at the 43rd Acad emy Awards (April 1971), including Best Picture and Best
Original Screenplay. George C. Scott won the Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of
General Patton, but declined to accept the award on the grounds that acting should
not be treated as a competitive enterprise. Reviews were overwhelmingly positive,
with many critics citing George C. Scott’s per for mance as one of the greatest ever
committed to celluloid.
Reel History Versus Real History
In his book, History by Hollywood: The Use and Abuse of the American Past, Robert
Brent Toplin includes a chapter on Patton entitled “Patton: Deliberately Planned as a
Rorschach Test” (1996, pp. 155–175). Evidently unaware of Francis Ford Coppola’s
pragmatic reasons for writing an ambiguous script, Toplin argues that, given
its time of release—at the height of the Vietnam War in 1970— Patton had to be
carefully calibrated so as to pres ent a balanced depiction of George S. Patton; at a