There were several attempts to make the movie, starting in 1953. The Patton family was approached by the producers for help in making the film. They wanted access to Patton's diaries and input from the family members. By coincidence, the day they asked the family was the day after the funeral of Beatrice Ayer Patton, George Patton's widow. After that, the family was dead-set against the movie and refused to give any help to the filmmakers.
Due to lack of help from the family, Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H. North wrote the film from two biographies: Patton: Ordeal and Triumph by Ladislas Farago and A Soldier's Story by Omar Bradley. It was directed by Franklin J. Schaffner.
It won Academy Awards for Best Actor in a Leading Role (George C. Scott), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Director, Best Film Editing, Best Picture, Best Sound and Best Writing, Story and Screenplay Based on Factual Material or Material Not Previously Published or Produced. It was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Effects, Special Visual Effects and Best Music, Original Score.
George C. Scott is famous for having refused to accept the Academy Award for Best Actor, claiming that the Oscars are "a meat parade".
In 2003 the United States Library of Congress deemed the film "culturally significant" and selected it for preservation in the National Film Registry.
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