MovieChat Forums > Patton (1970) Discussion > Karl Malden's Performance Outstanding

Karl Malden's Performance Outstanding

posted 9 years ago by pkryder-1
4 replies | jump to latest

I thought that Karl Malden's performance as General Omar Bradley was very strong in this film.

The more cerebral, thoughtful Bradley, as played by Malden, was often an effective foil to the hotheaded Patton, played by George C. Scott. I do not know if this is the way it actually was in real life, but it made for an interesting dynamic in this movie.

Bradley lived a long life and I believe he become a General Of The Army (5-star general) before he retired, although I could be wrong on that.

[–] mario-alvisi 9 years ago

Karl maiden is good in this movie as always.
I think Karl was an underestimate great actor

[–] wlp325 9 years ago

Bradley lived a long life and I believe he become a General Of The Army (5-star general) before he retired, although I could be wrong on that.

You are not wrong. From Wikipedia:

"In 1949, Bradley was appointed the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and the following year oversaw the policy-making for the Korean War, before retiring from active service in 1953.

Bradley was the last of only nine people to hold a five-star rank in the United States Armed Forces."

Rest in peace, Roger Ebert. You were the best.

[–] s-sloan50 8 years ago

hard to believe that Karl Malden was not even nominated for an Oscar as Best Supporting Actor for Patton. clearly his performance was one of the best supporting performances of the year and obviously deserving of an Oscar nomination at the very least. John Mills ended up winning the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year for Ryan's Daughter playing a deaf mute character. If you watch both movies today Mills performance looks silly and doesn't hold up well all these years later. Malden's performance, by contrast, does hold up really well. About 2 years after Patton came out Malden started his TV series The Streets of San Francisco and two of the guest stars in season one episodes were 2 actors from Patton - Lawrence Dobkin and Michael Strong.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Yeah, Malden was a fine actor, but his character is subdued and almost weak in the Patton screenplay. Not Malden's fault, but the thing was structured so that the Patton character function almost like an energy-draining vampire to all other characters.

On another subject, it's always puzzled me that besides Malden, most of the rest of the cast were mostly known, if at all, as TV actors - such as Edward Binns, Tim Considine, and John Ducette - and I don't really understand why that was. Seems the budget was large enough to hire some "large" acting "names"...