George C. Scott swore he was done with the helmet. After winning an Oscar he famously refused for the 1970 masterpiece Patton, the actor seemed content to leave "Old Blood and Guts" in the rearview mirror. But history, and a 1986 TV script, had other plans.
The result was The Last Days of Patton movie, a somber, strange, and deeply polarizing sequel that most people have completely forgotten. Honestly, it’s a bit of a shocker that it even exists. While the original film was a sweeping epic of desert warfare and ivory-handled revolvers, this made-for-TV follow-up is basically a hospital room drama. It focuses on the awkward, messy, and tragic end of a man who was built for war but broke in peace.
What actually happens in The Last Days of Patton?
The movie kicks off exactly where the glory ends. Germany has surrendered, the ticker tape has settled, and George S. Patton is essentially a man without a country—or at least, a man without a purpose. He's stuck in post-war Bavaria, and he's miserable. He’s making everyone’s life a living hell by being politically incorrect before that was even a term, specifically by defending his use of former Nazis to rebuild infrastructure.
General Dwight D. Eisenhower, played here by Richard Dysart, eventually has enough. He yanks Patton from his command and sticks him in charge of a "paper army" to write history books. It’s a gut punch. Then, on December 9, 1945—literally a day before he was supposed to fly home to the States—the unthinkable happens. A Cadillac. A truck. A low-speed collision that shouldn't have been fatal, but it snapped his neck.
The rest of the film is a claustrophobic look at his final 12 days. You've got Eva Marie Saint playing his wife, Beatrice, who rushes to his side. It’s a lot of flashbacks. We see a young Patton, his father, and his obsession with his grandfather’s Civil War legacy. It’s trying to explain why he was the way he was, while he’s literally pinned to a bed in a plaster cast.
The weird truth about the car accident
Most people think Patton died in a massive, fiery wreck. He didn't. That’s one thing the The Last Days of Patton movie actually gets right, though it feels almost too quiet for a movie.
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The accident happened at a railroad crossing in Mannheim. Patton was in the backseat of his 1938 Cadillac. A 2.5-ton GMC truck made a sudden left turn in front of them. The impact wasn't even that fast—maybe 20 miles per hour. But Patton was thrown forward, hit his head on the clock behind the driver’s seat, and that was it. Paralysis from the neck down.
In the film, you see the medical team trying everything. They even show the "Crutchfield tongs"—those brutal metal spikes screwed into the skull to provide traction. It’s grim.
Why this sequel feels so different
If you're expecting Patton 2: The Return of the Tanks, you're going to be disappointed. This isn't an action movie. It’s a character study of a titan crumbling.
- The Pace: It’s slow. Like, really slow.
- The Scope: Most of it takes place in a dimly lit hospital in Heidelberg.
- The Tone: It’s deeply cynical. It shows a man who survived the biggest wars in history only to be taken out by a fender bender.
Some critics at the time thought it was a "cash grab," but Scott’s performance tells a different story. He didn't need the money. He seemed to have a genuine obsession with Patton. He played him on stage and in these two films, almost as if he was trying to exorcise the General’s ghost.
The controversy: Jean Gordon and the "Niece" problem
There’s a character in the movie named Jean Gordon, played by Kathryn Leigh Scott. In the film, she’s portrayed as Patton’s niece by marriage who serves with the Red Cross. But if you talk to historians, the "Last Days of Patton" story gets a lot more complicated here.
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There have been rumors for decades that Patton and Jean Gordon were having an affair. The movie hints at a deep, perhaps inappropriate, bond, but it stays relatively "TV-safe" for 1986. The real-life tragedy? Jean Gordon committed suicide just weeks after Patton died. The movie touches on the emotional weight of his death on those around him, but it skips the darker, more scandalous theories that some history buffs obsess over.
Was it actually any good?
Honestly? It depends on what you want.
If you love George C. Scott, it’s a masterclass. He’s older here, obviously. He was about 58 when they filmed this, which is almost exactly how old Patton was when he died. His voice is a bit raspier, his movements more deliberate. He brings a vulnerability to the role that was missing in the 1970 film.
But for casual viewers, it can feel like a bit of a downer. You're watching a hero die for two hours. There are no soaring scores or speeches in front of giant flags. It’s just a man in a bed, arguing with doctors and hallucinating about his past.
The Emmy win you didn't know about
Despite being largely forgotten, the film actually won a Primetime Emmy. Not for Scott, though. It won for Outstanding Achievement in Makeup.
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When you see the scenes of Patton after the accident, you’ll understand why. They did a terrifyingly good job of making Scott look like a man whose body was failing him. The sweat, the pallor, the way the plaster cast looks like a tomb—it’s all very visceral.
Separating fact from Hollywood
Hollywood loves to juice things up. But this movie sticks surprisingly close to the timeline of the Army Medical Corps' reports.
- The Embolism: In the movie, Patton seems to be recovering before he suddenly dies. This is historically accurate. He was actually doing well enough that doctors were considering moving him back to the U.S. Then, a pulmonary edema and heart failure took him out on December 21.
- The "Secret Assassination" Theory: You won't find any of that "the Russians/OSS killed him" stuff here. While books like Target: Patton by Robert Wilcox suggest he was murdered to keep him quiet about Soviet aggression, the movie ignores the conspiracy theories in favor of the medical reality.
- The Horse Accident: The film uses flashbacks to show Patton's history of head injuries, specifically from polo and horse riding. This is a crucial detail. Many historians believe Patton’s erratic behavior in 1945 wasn't just "Patton being Patton," but the result of repeated TBIs (Traumatic Brain Injuries) throughout his life.
How to watch it today
Tracking down The Last Days of Patton movie isn't as easy as hitting "play" on Netflix. It pops up on YouTube from time to time via "free movie" channels, and you can occasionally find old DVDs on Amazon or eBay. It’s a bit of a relic of the era when "made-for-TV" meant something specific—high acting caliber but lower production budgets than the silver screen.
If you’re a World War II buff or a fan of the 1970 original, it’s worth the hunt. It provides a "closing of the book" that the first movie intentionally left open. The first movie ended with him walking into the sunset of the German countryside; this one shows you what happened when the sun actually went down.
Next Steps for History Buffs:
If you've watched the movie and want to get the full story, your best bet is to read "The Last Days of Patton" by Ladislas Farago. That’s the book the movie was based on. It goes into much more detail about the political infighting between Patton and Bedell Smith, and it paints a much clearer picture of the chaotic state of occupied Germany. You might also want to look into the Patton Museum at Fort Knox, which houses the actual Cadillac involved in the crash—it’s a sobering reminder that the "legend" was a real man who met a very human end.