The Last Days of Patton

The first Patton movie was a classic, but some stupid TV exec had to convince George C. Scott that this sequel was a good idea. Of course you wouldn't expect much from a TV movie, but this... What were they thinking? This depressing slop just seems to drag on and on, until at the end you're almost happy he's finally dead. The last few days of Patton's life would never be fit for an entire movie. The ending of one, maybe, but it should impossible to stretch Patton dying in a bed into feature length. Yet somehow they did, and even longer. My theory is that at the last minute, someone told the writer they wanted a two-parter. That would explain the huge amounts of padding in this film. My advice, stick to the original and forget this one ever existed.

This film, a made-for-TV sequel to the movie "Patton", is exceptionally well done. With essentially the same cast as the film, it follows the career of General George S. Patton from victory in Europe to his untimely death following an automobile accident in Bavaria. While the movie "Patton" portrays the brusque, sometimes profane side of General Patton, this sequel shows his softer side. He was a brilliant strategist and tactician but also felt deeply the role and demands of the common soldier, with whom he desired to be buried. The script for this film was derived from the book by Ladislav Farrago, author of the excellent biography "Patton". Farrago was a WWII OSS agent who experienced the rigors of war firsthand. At the time he wrote "The last days..." and writing about Patton's painful last days in the hospital, he was himself dying of cancer. His wife and son finished the work. This film is an important footnote to history and should be recorded on DVD.

I'm curious about the assertion that some have made that the film was a "character assassination." I myself saw nothing that would lead one to come to such a conclusion. Certainly, the film indicated he was not without faults, but I believe this only served to make this formidable militarist icon more approachable, actually breathing life into a dusty history lesson.

I enjoyed the film a great deal, even though I think it could have benefited by some reduction in the length. The ending was quite moving- -giving us a personal glimpse into the last moments of a living, breathing human being--instead of just a decorated martinet. It forced me to turn my thoughts to my own mortality and the events that have shaped my own life. As a result, I had a long and fruitful discussion with my parents which had been long over due.

I'd recommend the film highly, giving it an "8" out of 10.

Following World War II and the events depicted in the wildly successful "Patton" (1970), victorious George C. Scott (as George S. Patton) remains in Germany to work on the defeated county's reconstruction. The US general's decision to employ ex-Nazis (and sympathizers) irks superior Richard Dysart (as Dwight "Ike" Eisenhower) and Patton is reassigned to a desk job. Even worse, he is involved in a serious car crash. While Mr. Scott suffers life-threatening injuries, flashbacks continue to reveal events from General Patton's young adulthood (as Ron Berglas). The title strongly hints our hero will very likely not survive...

This belated sequel to "Patton" (1970) appeared as a CBS-TV three-hour (including commercials) epic movie. It was a popular success, but surprisingly garnered only one "Emmy" award (for make-up) and one further nomination. Allyn Ferguson's music lost, but it is one of this story's main strengths. It evokes the 1940s. The more critically acclaimed 1970 film won most of that year's "Oscar" awards. It featured make-up and music that looked and sounded more like 1970 than the 1940s. The soundtrack music was beautifully composed, but Jerry Goldsmith should have added 1940s flavor, as Mr. Ferguson does...

Scott continues to breathe life into the role for which he is most famous. There isn't much excitement left in Patton's life, but Scott and director Delbert Mann manage to move it along well, considering. Both this sequel and the original 1970 "Patton" will seem too long for the average viewer. Along with an improvement in setting, "The Last Days of Patton" boasts superior supporting performances. Most valuable player is Murray Hamilton (as Hobart "Hap" Gay). And, Patton's love-life is well-represented by cheated-on wife Eva Marie Saint (as Beatrice Ayer) and former "Dark Shadows" TV regular Kathryn Leigh Scott (as Jean Gordon).

******* The Last Days of Patton (9/14/86) Delbert Mann ~ George C. Scott, Murray Hamilton, Eva Marie Saint, Kathryn Leigh Scott

... but it isn't as bad as the other commentators might make you think.

Based on Ladislas Farago's followup to Patton: Ordeal and Triumph (one of the source materials for the original film), Last Days shows Patton on his deathbed, and intercuts flashbacks, mostly of his early life, his courtship of Bea Ayers, his days at the Point and before the first world war. (Patton's adventures on Pershing's 1916 Punitive Expedition to Mexico, and in World War I could make another great film, in the right hands.)

Eva Marie Saint plays Bea very well, and it's always nice to see a pair of contemporaries playing an aging couple, rather than allowing the casting to be dictated by "who's hot," and then relying on makeup to age them.

Overall, a good movie, although I'm tempted to agree that is was an unnecessarily long movie.