weezeralfalfa Review of The Last Days of Patton

The Last Days of Patton (1986 TV Movie)

Post-accident portion is too long and boring

[6/10 · 3 April 2018]

For those who aren't familiar with George S. Patton's activities after the surrender of Nazi Germany, in the spring of '45. The viewer must be tolerant of relatively mundane matters, after the pivotal war events Patton was instrumental in during WWII, briefly covered in the 1970 film "Patton". Certainly, the viewer should see that film before this one, if possible. This film covers the approximately 7 months between the surrender of Germany and Patton's ironic death on Dec. 21, '45, resulting from a low speed car accident in which his cervical vertebra were damaged, resulting in near total paralysis from the neck down......It's been suggested(but not in this film) that his accidental death was, perhaps, a blessing in disguise for him, because he would have been bored without an army to command during wartime or reconstruction after a war, such as he was briefly employed in Bavaria during this period. He was convinced that a war between the Soviets and their satellites vs. western Europe and the US would commence within 5 years, and he wanted to be a part of it, if possible. Of course, it turned out that the main ground wars pitting communist and anti-communist forces within this time frame would occur in China and Korea. The US was not in the mood to get involved in a war within China, and Korea was within the sphere of influence of Gen. Douglas MacArthur. It wasn't likely that these 2 prima donnas would get along in that conflict.....Back to this film: the pre-accident period is relatively interesting, with the political friction between the American public and their leaders, who demanded denazification of Germany as the first priority, and Patton's priority of getting the basic infrastructure repaired, using the best people he could find, regardless of past political affinity. This was important to avoid widespread famine and death from freezing during the coming winter. The American politicians didn't see this as an important goal at this time. Patton's military superior: Dwight Eisenhower told Patton that "Those qualities that made you great in wartime are a pain in the neck in peacetime"........More difficult to justify is the overly long post-accident portion of the film, in which Patton is laying on his back, gabbing, with some difficulty, about this and that, and we get periodic medical reports on his condition. Occasionally, we see a flashback of some activity in his relative youth. But these are too fleeting and too few to maintain interest during this segment. Incredibly, Washington politicians demanded that he be flown to the US, or at least out of Germany, before he died. Doctors knew this would likely kill him, in his current condition. Preliminary steps were taken to get him ready, but it was too late. See it at YouTube.