NONFICTION

Making Patton: A Classic War Film's Epic Journey to the Silver Screen

by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes
Univ. of Kansas. Sept. 2012. c.280p. photogs. bibliog. index. ISBN 9780700618620. $34.95. FILM
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Sarantakes (strategy, U.S. Naval War Coll.; Dropping the Torch: Jimmy Carter, the Olympic Boycott, and the Cold War) has written a detailed account of the nearly 20-year road to making Patton. Highly controversial during the last few years of his life, Gen. George S. Patton experienced epic triumphs and setbacks during World War II and his seemed a natural story for the screen. Studios vied for the rights to a best-selling biography and leading men such as John Wayne and Burt Lancaster were considered for the part. Directors including William Wyler and John Huston were also up for the movie before relative newcomer Franklin Schaffner was selected. After almost two decades of preparation, the much-lauded Patton came to the screen in 1970 with a script by Francis Ford Coppola and the perfectly cast but volatile George C. Scott in the title role.
VERDICT This book provides a relatively unusual look at the long gestation of a major motion picture. Because of the copious minutiae and sometimes repetitious detail, this is probably best suited for dedicated film buffs, film students, and especially motivated general readers.
Reviewed by Roy Liebman, Los Angeles P.L. , Aug 01, 2012
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