Patton

Continuity mistake: In the scene before Patton hears the news of getting relieved of command, he is walking with his NCO aide George, who is wearing E6 rank on his shirt. In the following scene while getting ready for bed, the same sergeant is now wearing E5 rank.

Continuity mistake: When the three small boys run up and salute Patton, the middle boy stops with the other two slightly behind him to each side, and is the first to salute. When the camera angle changes to view them from in front, the middle boy is instantly behind the other two, and is the last to salute. (00:26:00)

johnrosa

Continuity mistake: When the two Jeeps arrive at the Kasserine Pass to survey the results of the battle, the second Jeep comes to stop just short of running over a dead soldier. At the end of the scene, the same Jeep drives away, going forward as if to run over that body, but the body has vanished. (00:10:05 - 00:11:40)

johnrosa

Continuity mistake: When the Germans attack during the discussion about air support, Patton's office gets shot up. In one shot we see bullets strafe a wall with a vase in front of it - the vase wobbles but remains intact. Then we see another shot of the same wall/vase combo being strafed - you can see marks on the wall where the bullet impacts are about to be, and this time the vase shatters too. (00:34:05)

Jon Sandys

Revealing mistake: Several maps of Europe shown in the film have Germany divided into East and West, and show national borders from 1945 onwards.

David Mercier

More mistakes in Patton

General Omar N. Bradley: There's one big difference between you and me, George. I do this job because I've been trained to do it. You do it because you love it.

More quotes from Patton

Trivia: In real life, the infamous soldier slapping scene actually had a somewhat happier outcome. Patton berated the shell shocked trooper largely out of a combination of sleep deprivation (he'd been going for nearly 48 hours without rest) and the emotional turmoil of having so many troops wind up in the hospital due to his commanding decisions. Afterwards he went to a tent, slept for several hours, came back and apologized to the solider.

More trivia for Patton

Question: During the slapping, what did George mean when he said send him up to the front?

Answer: "The front" means the front line, i.e., where the enemy is being engaged. He's saying that since the soldier isn't physically injured, he should be fighting, not (as Patton sees it) being a coward and shirking his duty.

Answer: He meant that he intended to send the soldier back to his unit where the main fighting with the enemy is taking place. This is referred to as "the front."

raywest

More questions & answers from Patton

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