Saturday, April 15, 2017

Script review - "Patton" (1969) by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund North

I'd love to know who contributed what out of Coppola and North -  much of this is fresh and invigorating, such as Patton addressing the troops in the opening monologue with the US flag in the background. Some of it is more conventional and clunky - such as the German soldier giving backstory about Patton and talking to him even though they're not in the same room, "you won't survive the war".

Patton is a fascinating character though and the film does him justice - his conceit, love of war, intelligence, skill, ineptness at diplomacy. It's a reasonably sympathetic account and the role of a lifetime to whoever got to play it.

Bradley is the biggest support role. It should be Montgomery, who is referred to a lot. There should be more Eisenhower too - he doesn't appear at all. Presumably this was due to legal problems.

So it's a flawed piece dramatically but with an amazing central character.

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