Since IMDb.com doesn't list the episodes separately, I'll only make some remarks on the ninth in the series, "Patton." First of all, this is quite different from the usual military documentaries dealing with World War II. The ordinary format is to trace the individual from childhood, through his adult career, and his final demise. This episode DOES do that, but the narration makes value judgments all the way through that can only be called editorial.
The general we learn about here is not George C. Scott winning an Academy Award for his impersonation in the feature film "Patton." We're now at a sufficient remove from events that we can afford exposure to a close up of the man, warts and all, rather than a hagiography.
Patton is idolized by many Americans and for good reason. He was an extraordinarily brave soldier in World War I, where he was badly wounded. And before that, he was outstanding in pursuit of Pancho Villa after the Mexican bandit's raid on Columbus, New Mexico. It was on the Southwest frontier that he picked up the habit of carrying an old Colt revolver in his holster. He was not only personally courageous but a skilled and aggressive tactician. When he was chosen to command the demoralized American forces in North Africa, he sternly whipped them into shape. It's not noted that Montgomery faced precisely the same problem with the recently defeated British Eighth Army but with much less gasconade.
Every virtue implies its opposite flaw. Patton's aggressiveness, which earns him so much praise today, was at times thoughtless, whimsical, and imprudent, not just in the cost to his men but to his own career. It was also tainted in a sense by ambition.
In the early years of World War II he led American tanks against French tanks in North Africa at Casablanca. (I had no idea the fighting was so intense.) Patton then led his army across Sicily and beat the British to the last German-held outpost of Messina. But Patton was relieved of his command after a highly publicized "slapping incident" involving two men in a hospital.
At this point, the narration skips to Patton's sweep across France, already in Lorraine, as if a reel were missing. Hitler was preparing a last-ditch attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Patton's troops were far to the south but he was alone in believing that the Germans would move through the Ardennes forest and he prepared his army for a difficult pivot to the north if it became necessary. It did, and Patton was instrumental in relieving the surrounded troops at Bastogne.
Patton was killed in an auto accident shortly after the war and the program ends with an assessment of his character and undeniable achievements by various friend and writers.
The general we learn about here is not George C. Scott winning an Academy Award for his impersonation in the feature film "Patton." We're now at a sufficient remove from events that we can afford exposure to a close up of the man, warts and all, rather than a hagiography.
Patton is idolized by many Americans and for good reason. He was an extraordinarily brave soldier in World War I, where he was badly wounded. And before that, he was outstanding in pursuit of Pancho Villa after the Mexican bandit's raid on Columbus, New Mexico. It was on the Southwest frontier that he picked up the habit of carrying an old Colt revolver in his holster. He was not only personally courageous but a skilled and aggressive tactician. When he was chosen to command the demoralized American forces in North Africa, he sternly whipped them into shape. It's not noted that Montgomery faced precisely the same problem with the recently defeated British Eighth Army but with much less gasconade.
Every virtue implies its opposite flaw. Patton's aggressiveness, which earns him so much praise today, was at times thoughtless, whimsical, and imprudent, not just in the cost to his men but to his own career. It was also tainted in a sense by ambition.
In the early years of World War II he led American tanks against French tanks in North Africa at Casablanca. (I had no idea the fighting was so intense.) Patton then led his army across Sicily and beat the British to the last German-held outpost of Messina. But Patton was relieved of his command after a highly publicized "slapping incident" involving two men in a hospital.
At this point, the narration skips to Patton's sweep across France, already in Lorraine, as if a reel were missing. Hitler was preparing a last-ditch attack that became known as the Battle of the Bulge. Patton's troops were far to the south but he was alone in believing that the Germans would move through the Ardennes forest and he prepared his army for a difficult pivot to the north if it became necessary. It did, and Patton was instrumental in relieving the surrounded troops at Bastogne.
Patton was killed in an auto accident shortly after the war and the program ends with an assessment of his character and undeniable achievements by various friend and writers.
