Must-watchWorld War II · Film · 1970
Patton
General George S. Patton takes over a beaten American corps in Tunisia and drives his men from the North African desert to Sicily, Normandy and the Ardennes, while his temper keeps threatening the career he believes he was born for.
Where it happened
Follow the story across 8 places.
Stop 1: Kasserine Pass, Tunisia
Patton arrives among the wrecked vehicles and dead of the American defeat and takes over a demoralised II Corps.
Stop 2: El Guettar, Tunisia
Key location
Having read Rommel's book, Patton waits for the German panzers in the valley and turns the attack into his first victory.
Stop 3: Gela, Sicily
Relegated to guarding Montgomery's flank, Patton lands his Seventh Army on the south coast of Sicily.
Stop 4: Palermo, Sicily
Ignoring the plan, Patton races northwest across the island and enters Palermo to cheering crowds.
Stop 5: Messina, Sicily
Patton wins the race to Messina, but the slapping of a shell-shocked soldier turns triumph into disgrace.
Stop 6: Knutsford, England
Kept in England as a decoy commander, Patton causes another uproar with an offhand speech at a welcome club.
Stop 7: Bastogne, Belgium
When the Germans surround Bastogne, Patton promises to turn his army north in 48 hours and prays for clear weather.
Stop 8: Bad Tölz, Bavaria
With the war won, the general's careless words to the press cost him his army one last time.
What really happened
Patton took command of the US II Corps on 6 March 1943, two weeks after the rout at Kasserine Pass, and led it to a defensive victory at El Guettar that month. In July he commanded the Seventh Army in the invasion of Sicily, swung west to take Palermo on 22 July and entered Messina on 17 August, just ahead of Montgomery's Eighth Army. Days earlier he had slapped two hospitalised soldiers suffering from combat fatigue, a scandal that cost him the command of the Normandy invasion.
In 1944 he was used as bait for Operation Fortitude, the deception that made the Germans expect a landing at Calais, before his Third Army broke out of Normandy in August and swept across France. In December 1944 it turned north in days to relieve Bastogne, reaching the town on 26 December. The film compresses events and invents some dialogue, but it closely follows Ladislas Farago's biography and Omar Bradley's memoir; Patton was removed from the Third Army in October 1945 after remarks comparing Nazi party members to ordinary political partisans.
Where to watch
Checking streaming services…
Full details
- Original title
- Patton
- Directed by
- Franklin J. Schaffner
- Countries
- United States
- Languages
- English, German
- Released
- 1970
- Period
- –
- Theaters of war
- Mediterranean & Africa, Western Europe
- Themes
- Combat
- Biography
- True story
