Opening Sequence: "Patton" (1970)

"Patton" (1970)



An American Flag fills the frame.

Random chatter is heard in the background.

A-TEN-HUT!!!

The chatter dies as the audience stands at full attention.

Footsteps.

A lone figure, dwarfed by what we now see as a 25-foot American Flag, stands ready and salutes the audience as the bugle plays "To The Colors."

The bugle continues as we see...

Close-Up ("CU") shot of General George S. Patton's saluted hand and his right eye.

CU of Patton's left-hand holding his glove and military baton.

CU of Patton's left-breast heavily decorated with medals of every kind and color. Notice that a Purple Heart stands-out, signifying that this general has been wounded in battle.

Medium Shot ("MS") of Patton, shoulder-to-shoulder, saluting the audience and looking like an American Bald Eagle, especially with those white, bushy eyebrows.

CU of Patton's ivory-handled pistol.

CU of Patton's helmet, with his four general stars.

To The Colors ends and Patton lowers his saluting hand as we go back to the master shot.

"Be seated," Patton commands.

The chairs screech as the soldiers sit down.

Patton starts his monologue (with shot breakdowns)...

Master: "Now, I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country. Men, all this stuff you're heard about America not wanting to fight - wanting to stay out of the war, is a lot of horse dung."

MS: "Americans traditionally love to fight. All real Americans love the sting of battle. When you were kids, you all admired the champion marble shooter, the fastest runner, big league ball players, the toughest boxers. Americans love a winner and will not tolerate a loser. Americans play to win all the time. I wouldn't give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That's why Americans have never and will never lose a war, because the very thought of losing is hateful to Americans. Now, an army is a team - it lives, eats, sleeps, fights as a team. This individuality stuff is a bunch of crap. Now, we have the finest food and equipment, the best spirit, and the best men in the world."

CU: "You know, by God, I actually pity those poor bastards we're goin' up against. By God, I do. We're not gonna' shoot the bastard, we're going to cut out their living guts and use them to grease the treads of our tanks. We're going to murder those lousy Hun bastards by the bushel."

Long Shot ("LS"): Now, some of you boys, I know, are wondering whether or not you'll chicken out under fire. Don't worry about it. I can assure you that you will all do your duty. The Nazis are the enemy. Wade into them, spill their blood, shoot them in the belly."

MS: "When you put your hand into a bunch of goo that a moment before was your best friend's face, you'll know what to do."

Master: "Now there's another thing I want you to remember. I don't want to get any messages saying that we are holding our position. We're not holding anything. Let the Hun do that. We are advancing constantly and we're not interested in holding onto anything..."

LS: "...except the enemy. We're gonna' hold onto him by the nose and we're gonna' kick him in the ass. We're going to kick the hell out of him all the time and we're gonna' go through them like crap through goose."

MS: "Now, there's one thing that you men will be able to say when you get back home, and you may thank God for it. Thirty years from now when you're sitting around your fireside with your grandson on your knee, and he asks you: 'What did you do in the Great World War II?', you don't have to say: 'Well...I shoveled shit in Louisiana.'"

CU: "All right now, you sons-of-bitches, you know how I feel and I will be proud to lead your wonderful guys into battle...anytime...anywhere. That's all."

We go back to the Master shot of the American Flag as Patton walks down off-stage.


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This is one of the most audacious opening sequences in film history.

From the towering American Flag, to the American Bald Eagle-esque Patton galvanizing his troops with tough-love pep-talk, to the bugle-call montage.

It perfectly captures the humungous ego of Patton. Here's a guy who believed, as he stood by the Roman ruins, that he was actually THERE as three Roman legions defeated the Carthiginian Hord two-thousand years ago. As he says, "I was here!".

It is almost as if the 25-foot American Flag is not big enough for Patton. He towers over the scene. The American Flag is the opening act and Patton is the main event.

He talks to the troops about whipping the "Huns", a derogatory gesture to the German Nazis, reducing them to their Germanic Barbarian roots.

He tells them, graphically, that he would use the Hun's guts as grease for the tread of their tanks.

Then, he becomes emotional, telling them that we would be proud to lead them in battle, anytime, anywhere.

But most importantly, he embodies the American Bald Eagle...

...a rare, near-extinct, National bird-of-prey.