Making Patton: A Classic War Film's Epic Journey to the Silver Screen

by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes

Forever known for its blazing cinematic image of General George S. Patton (portrayed by George C. Scott) addressing his troops in front of a mammoth American flag, Patton won seven Oscars in 1971, including those for Best Picture and Best Actor. In doing so, it beat out a much-ballyhooed M*A*S*H, irreverent darling of the critics, and grossed $60 million despite an intense anti-war climate. But, as Nicholas Evan Sarantakes reveals, it was a film that almost didn’t get made. Sarantakes offers an engaging and richly detailed production history of what became a critically acclaimed box office hit. He takes readers behind the scenes, even long before any scenes were ever conceived, to recount the trials and tribulations that attended the epic efforts of producer Frank McCarthy—like Patton a U.S. Army general—and Twentieth Century Fox to finally bring Patton to the screen after eighteen years of planning. Sarantakes recounts how filmmakers had to overcome the reluctance of Patton’s family, copyright issues with biographers, competing efforts for a biopic, and Department of Defense red tape. He chronicles the long search for a leading man—including discussions with Burt Lancaster, John Wayne, and even Ronald Reagan—before settling on Scott, a brilliant actor who brought to the part both enthusiasm for the project and identification with Patton’s passionate persona. He also tracks the struggles to shoot the movie with a large multinational cast, huge outlays for military equipment, and filming in six countries over a mere six months. And he provides revealing insider stories concerning, for example, Scott’s legendary drinking bouts and the origins of and debate over his famous opening monologue. Drawing on extensive research in the papers of Frank McCarthy and director Franklin Schaffner, studio archives, records of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, contemporary journalism, and oral histories, Sarantakes ultimately shows us that Patton is more than just one of the best war films ever made. Culturally, it also spoke to national ideals while exposing complex truths about power in the mid-twentieth century.

272 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2012

About the author

Nicholas Evan Sarantakes is a historian specializing primarily in U.S. military, diplomatic, and political history during the World War II and Cold War eras. He is an associate professor in the Department of Strategy and Policy at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

Reviews

[Christopher Saunders · Rating 4 out of 5]

This enjoyable tome tackles Hollywood's most iconic war movies. Many movies spend years in gestation, but Patton was first mooted in 1951, not reaching the screen until 1970. Sarantakes provides fascinating profiles of the movie's main movers and shakers, from George C. Scott through Francis Ford Coppola. Producer Frank McCarthy comes off as the hero, doggedly pursuing his vision through innumerable hurdles: difficulty securing screen rights, the hostility of George Patton's family, competing projects, studio chicanery, a revolving door of directors (Richard Brooks, John Frankenheimer, John Huston), writers (Calder Willingham) and stars (John Wayne, Burt Lancaster). Sarantakes compares the movie Patton to the historical figure, arguing Omar Bradley's input distorted his portrayal. There's also a brief chapter analyzing Patton's outsized influence on both pop culture and understanding of World War II. A fun book about a classic movie.

[James · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Patton" is one of my favorite films, and for decades I've tried to watch it every year on my birthday. I suppose I was expecting a measure of pleasure from this book, but it failed to deliver.

I will agree with the reviewer who described this book as must-reading for anyone wishing to become a producer or film executive, as I have never before seen the development process described quite so well in all its frustrating detail. That said, it is still a very dry book.

Each of the major figures associated with the film gets a chapter: General Patton himself, producer Frank McCarthy (who kept the project alive for almost twenty years), screenwriter Francis Ford Coppola, director Franklin Schaffner, actor George C. Scott, and technical advisor General Omar Bradley. Most of the book is devoted to the film's pre-production, production, and post-production, after which follows examinations of how the film was received by various groups in the short-term, and what cultural impact it's had in the long-term.

At the beginning of the end notes, author Nicholas Evan Sarantakes goes on for pages and pages about American culture and society in the 1960s and 1970s, making little actual mention of "Patton." I came away from that section with the impression that this material either belonged in a separate book or historical journal, or that Sarantakes had intended it for the main body of the book, been told by his editor to cut most of that material out, as it would bore the average reader, and so he had included a little bit of it in the end notes because he considered it to be so important. It certainly adds nothing to the book.

I got the impression that the book had been rushed into print. It was poorly edited, and doesn't appear to have been proofread at all, filled as it is with gross errors of spelling, grammar, punctuation, and composition. When I saw "alma mater" written once as "alma matter," I assumed the author was merely careless, but when I saw it a second time I had to assume he didn't actually know the correct term.

The book appears to be well-researched, but most of the books cited in the bibliography seem to pertain to the socio-political history that the author talks so much about in the end notes, rather than to the film, World War II, or General Patton.

[Mike Kershaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book about how the movie "Patton" was brought to the big screen. For those interested in the histiography of this movie, I would also recommend the tribute to the producer, Frank McCarthy, that is contained on the anniversary DVD set.

[Nicholas Evan Sarantakes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this Sarantakes kid can write

[Debra Mulligan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed reading this book. As a fan of the movie Patton, I was intrigued but not surprised by the length it took to see the film to its end. This analysis is especially good when it describes the trials and tribulations of Frank McCarthy, who wanted to make a film of George S. Patton, Jr. However, Chapter 9, "Legacy" is a bit drawn out in its list of all the Patton references in film and television.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love the movie “Patton” as much as I do then you will enjoy this book about the making of the movie. I did not know about any of the hidden problems and workarounds that had to be overcome to bring the script to the screen. I really enjoyed this book.

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating book on the making of the movie Patton, starring George C. Scott (for a long time John Wayne or Burt Lancaster were considered the forerunners for this role.) The idea for making a movie about General Patton generated in the 1950's, post WWII, but wasn't actually made until 1970. There were a lot of historical and cultural changes during that time. The author breaks the chapters down to: The General, The Producer, The Screenwriter, The Director, The Actor, The Field Marshal, The Patton Company, The Audience, The Legacy, The Impact...and the impact has been great. Go to Google and look up "best quotations from the film Patton" and you will see how many have infiltrated our current culture and are used over and over again in movies and television as a hip jumping off place to indicate power and control over an enemy. The Simpson's cartoon show about a bully, various teen movies, as a motivator at the beginning of football games with coaches and their players (including the soundtrack.) It's pervasive. And yet, it took quite a time for the film to be made, and many times it almost wasn't made.

[Steve Gross · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't know that it took 20 years to bring Patton to the screen. Lots of detail, sometimes more than is needed.

[Jim Cullison · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely superb dissection and description of the laborious construction of a Hollywood classic. Great work.