"Patton" opened 50 years ago today
Thursday, April 2, 2020 at 7:35PM by Nathaniel R
Here's a timeline to marvel at. The war biopic Patton (1970) opened a half century ago today. The following Monday the Oscars celebrating 1969 were held. And an an entire year and a fortnight later, Patton would win Best Picture at the following Oscars. Isn't it crazy how slowly the movie world buzz used to turn? Now Hollywood never dreams of launching its big Oscar intendeds in the spring (not that they could at the moment but you understand). The only time we witnessed a long stretch from release to Oscar win like this in our moviegoing lifetimes was The Silence of the Lambs which won the Oscar in March 1992, a year and a month and a half after its initial release.
Which nominee would you have voted for in 1970?
We would've been a MASH voter among those five but that's not a stellar vintage. We assume that Women in Love was in the dread sixth spot.
Reader Comments (37)
Outside of Women in Love, 1970 is such a dreadful Oscar year. MASH is the first time Altman tried for greatness, but it's no Nashville. Patton is a perfectly fine stodgy biopic (certainly better than Schaffner's follow-up Nicholas and Alexandra). Airport is a slog—it's not really a disaster movie but rather a poor Ross Hunter melodrama. Love Story has not stayed with me at all since I saw it about a decade ago. I'm not as interested in Bob Rafelson's movies as most 70's movie aficionados seem to be, though I love Nicholson, Black, and Lois Smith in it.
So... MASH I guess? Of all the movies in contention that year, I'd probably go with Woodstock. The Landlord should have had more nominations too.
MASH but yeah. If I could skip voting this year and vote twice in 1971 I'd grab that deal with both hands.
Five Eay Pieces is the most rewatchable and contains fabulous Lead and Supporting turns esp Palm Apadoca.
@markgordonuk
Palm Apadoca is one of the most weirdly evocative character names in any movie.
Of those five (as full cohesive films), I'm in camp Five Easy Pieces. But: Beyond the Valley of the Dolls? Performance? Le Cercle Rouge? The Bird With the Crystal Plumage?
Five Easy Pieces because Jack Nicholson deeply moved me in it. I miss Jack.
"Airport" is more entertaining and it now has some camp value
Yeah, what a weird Oscar lineup. I’d vote for Five Easy Pieces, because of some amazing performances, though it doesn’t quite hit me as a Best Picture. I’m ultimately fine with Patton’s win since I’m not particular passionate about any one nominee.
On a recent rewatch, MASH struck me as far less enjoyable than I remember, not the least of which being that complete mishandling of Sally Kellerman in the back half of the film.
Airport’s nomination is WTF in my book... Though I’d be totally “onboard” with nominating Airplane! in 1980. Just rewatched that one last weekend. It’s still great.
I can easily see how Patton won, it's right in the wheelhouse of the Academy of the time and a decent film but of the five available I also would go with M*A*S*H trailed by Five Easy Pieces.
I didn't enjoy Pieces finding it hard to penetrate but it was very definite in its point of view and compellingly produced and acted.
I'm a huge fan of Airport but I see it for what it is, a BIG crowd pleasing entertainment and miles from the Best Picture of the year.
Love Story is just badly acted slop.
It is a thin lineup. If I were to chose and be able to include foreign film which the Academy of the time rarely if ever did my list would run this way and in this order
Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion-winner
The Confession
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
Little Big Man
M*A*S*H
If I had to rely entirely on English language films though I'm sorry to say I'd be hard pressed to come up with five. Apparently that's what happened to the Academy and how we ended up with what was nominated.
Five Easy Pieces = one of the greatest films ever made.
What a bizarro lineup. Patton is a respectable winner, but MASH is the actual best film of the five. Five Easy Pieces is great but doesn’t cohere in the way a Best Picture should. Airport is great mainstream soap opera, not a true disaster movie. Love Story is charming and not as bad as everyone says.
I feel lukewarm about all these 5.
I think 1970 might have been a great year for American comedy. There are lots I haven’t seen and would like to.
I like: Catch-22 (Nichols, Arkin); On A Clear Day You Can See Forever (V. Minnelli, Streisand); Start The Revolution Without Me (Sutherland, Wilder); The Ballad of Cable Hogue (Robards, Stevens).
My favourite movie of 1970 is The Conformist, with Jean-Louis Trintignant. What a great movie.
1970 is also a fabulous year for international film.
The ones I’ve seen and liked:
Act of the Heart (Bujold, Sutherland); Bed and Board (Truffaut); Claire’s Knee (Rohmer); Dodes’ka-den (Kurosawa); El Topo; Goin’ Down the Road; Peau d’Ane (Deneuve); One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich (Courtney); The Railway Children; Sunflower (Loren, Mastroianni); Tristana (Buñuel); The Wild Child (Truffaut); Women in Love (Glenda Jackson, Ken Russell).
Five Easy Pieces, but frankly I remember that Oscar night with pleasure just for Glenda Jackson’s victory
While my favorite film of that year is The Wild Child, I would vote for M.A.S.H. though I love Patton. Love Story.... FUCK THAT PIECE OF SHIT! Love means never having to say you're sorry.... WHAT A LOAD OF BULLSHIT!!!!!
Despite Jackson's Best Actress win and nominations for Director and Screenplay, I don't think Women in Love was sixth on the Best Picture roster. I would suggest that the Oscar winning cinematography and Oscar winning performance of John Mills indicates that Ryan's Daughter was the runner up for a nomination.
After all, David Lean's previous three films The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia, and Doctor Zhivago were all nominated for Best Picture as well as his next film after Ryan's Daughter, A Passage to India. A story of forbidden love filmed with glorious images was much more in keeping with the preferences of AMPAS voters than Ken Russell's DH Lawrence adaptation.
OMG, I LOVE Ryan's Daughter. My best picture of the year, no doubt.
James -- you're probably right.
I think I'd vote Five Easy Pieces. I really like aspects of all of these films, but Five Easy Pieces is the only one I'd say that I love through & through. Even as a huge Altman fan, I was stunned by the weak last 1/3 of MASH when they have the football game that never ends.
I haven't seen Patton in probably ~15 years, so I wonder how I would like it now. I just can't stand war films, let alone 3 hour ones.
At the time it was MASH without a doubt. It was the first R-rated film I ever saw. My cousin and I talked our grandfather into taking us - our parents did not approve when they found out! Luckily they found out there "wasn't a lot of sex in it" so they eventually calmed down. My grandfather only complained there was a lot of cussing in it. Anyway, a re-viewing was very disappointing. So mean-spirited and smug, especially its misogynistic treatment of Hot Lips. Altman's direction is very creative, but what a script.
Now it's Five Easy Pieces easily, fantastic script and acting. A recent re-watch of Patton was, well, not a pleasant surprise, exactly, but it is Hollywood competence at its best - great cinematography and music especially. And George C. Scott's performance is one of the most deserving Best Actor wins of all time.
It is ludicrous to even speak of Love Story and Airport in the same sentence with "Best Picture Nominees".
My favorite films of the year are The Passion of Anna, Performance, The Confession, Ryan's Daughter, The Honeymoon Killers - and a real obscurity - The Hawaiians - an actual Nominee - for Best Costumes!
what a strange set of nominees. in my understanding, back in 1970 the studios really pulled the strings about what was nominated and who they supported. Airport - so forgettable. MASH was really too dark for me. Love Story - that tag line of "love means never having to say you're sorry" never made any sense to me, even though i loved Ali McGraw at the time. So I say Five Easy Pieces. I'm a big Jack Nicholson fan, he has had so many good performances over the years. Even if he does insist on wearing sunglasses in the Oscar audience.
I haven't seen Love Story, but of the others, Five Easy Pieces would be my pick. But I agree it's a weak year. I do like Airport quite a bit, though. A big splashy all-star soap opera - Hollywood pizaazz! I can see the fuss. Patton is very well made, and Scott is spectacular (perhaps a bit too spectacular), but I've never worked out what the film is about. Does it support Patton or demonise him? M*A*S*H has a glorious cast but, yes, it's quite a mean-spirited film.
My pick for Best Directing that year would be Fellini for Fellini-Satyricon - one of the most hypnotic films I've ever seen. How wonderful that the Academy nominated him. As I understand it, United Artists did quite the press tour with Fellini himself. It worked!
The Conformist and L'Enfant sauvage (sorry - I always use the French titles for Truffaut films, as I came to them first during my French class at school) were also great that year, as was Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, but although it won Best Foreign Language Film that year, it was eligible for the other categories the following year (when it got an Original Screenplay nomination).
Fun post!
I'm inclined to go with MASH here, though FIVE EASY PIECES is fabulous too and I also admire a lot about the other three. Thank heaven they didn't fall for RYAN'S DAUGHTER.
Five Easy Pieces. Should have also netted Nicholson his first Oscar and Black a much deserved one as well
"Airport" gets my vote: great cast, music, fun, compelling, and harrowing.
Ryan's Daughter is an alright film but so far, it's the worst film by David Lean that I've seen so far... I hated Christopher Jones' performance in that film as he was just so bland while I was really annoyed by that role that John Mills played as I think he went full-retard.
Five Easy Pieces, no question - it's a wonderful example of the New Cinema of the late-60s into the mid-70s.. Love Story and Airport are fun but in their way, but hardly BP-worthy - even their nominations were highly questionable, even at the time.
I’ve always considered 1970 a pretty weak year for film. It’s the ONLY year of the ‘70s that’s less than stellar, though, so maybe it only seems weak in comparison to the rest of the decade that followed.
Of the nominees, my vote would’ve been Five Easy Pieces. But as much as I like it, it doesn’t feel like a Best Picture winner to me.
My Night at Maud’s was eligible that year and would easily have been my pick if nominated for Best Picture (it did get an Original Screenplay nomination).
But looking back, Joe was by far the most prescient film of 1970. Seriously, watch it today and you won’t be able to disassociate it from what’s going on in America right now 50 years later.
Patton IS George C. Scott, so the Best Actor is the rightful prize there.
I would go with MASH, followed by Airport. Both are fun, but MASH has some things to say about the War between the Sexes and the War between Humans.
But that Helen Hayes win? Ugh!
@Edward L, turn off your brain, have some Kleenex, and sob through Boston in Autumn in Love Story.
@forever1267: Thanks! I certainly haven't been resisting Love Story or got anything against watching it - I just haven't got round to it. Looking forward to it, hopefully soon!
Rough Oscar year. I'm a MASH voter, but the best movie was The Boys in the Band - far from perfect but better than anything near the race. Women in Love is certainly different, but I can't say I really enjoyed it.
Five Easy Pieces, though MASH an appealing option. Did My Night at Maud's have a Best Picture prayer?
Don't forget PATTON would have rolled out in theatres around the country over months, rather than all at once.
Back then, major films sometimes didn't even release in New York and LA the same day but weeks apart. It was a very different world!
I’m about equally split between Five Easy Pieces and MASH and both would’ve made very good Best Picture Winners. Not wild about Patton on the whole but it has some strong moments and George C. Scott is GREAT in it. I think the other two are pretty lousy and they might very well be the two worst films nominated for Best Picture that decade. Jackson, Nicholson, Black and Hackman would’ve got my vote in the acting categories.
HAYES4EVA
Diana Sands in The Landlord. Diana Sands in The Landlord. Diana Sands in The Landlord...
It's all about process of elimination. "Airport" and "Love Story" are dim, drab affairs. "MASH" is proficiently made (until its disjointed final third act, anyway), but so repulsively misogynistic that it takes itself out of the running. "Patton" has some formidable wide-screen imagery, but I found it boring, and the never-ending olive-gray palette wore me down.
What's left is, of course, "Five Easy Pieces": melancholy, funny, ambitious. Complex and widely varied characters. Witty and incisive about failing to connect, commit, and comprehend one another. It's worthy of a win.
My other favorites from 1970: "The Owl and the Pussycat," "The Landlord," and "Women in Love." "The Conformist" is my #1, but if we're talking Best Picture nominations, that gets pushed to '71, because those goofy Oscar rules.
Because OF those goofy Oscar rules.
[At the time, films from other countries were eligible to be nominated for Best Picture the year they were released in the U.S., not necessarily their initial year of release.]