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Part I begins with Patton standing on a stage with a huge American flag
in the background. He gives a speech to the troops that includes his explanation of why
America will never lose a war ("..America does not tolerate a loser.."). After
this, we see Kasserine, the site of an American loss to the Germans in North Africa. It is
1943, and the location is Tunisia. In the next scene, Patton is receiving a decoration
from the Moroccan Minister after the victorious landing against the Vichy French. A parade
is taking place.  At Kasserine , Bradley and his staff officers are trying to
figure out why the Americans had done so poorly, and one of them recommends Patton to take
over and get the boys to shape up. Patton drives up to the Headquarters of II Corps with
the siren of his halftrack screaming the entire time, and begins to make some changes. He
instills discipline through little things, like making sure uniforms are clean, helmets
on, etc. Omar Bradley is named his No. 2 man. Meanwhile, back in Berlin, Rommel has
decided to attack Patton before Patton can do the same to him.
Patton had the defense well-planned, and knew of the coming attack
because of radio reports. The tanks are camouflaged as well as the guns, leading to a
perfect ambush of the Afrika Korps. Patton is ecstatic after the battle until he learns
that Rommel was in Berlin with an ear ache while the battle was going on.
 After the battle, Patton gives a dinner for some officers to
suggest his plan for taking Sicily. He plans to land at Palermo while Montgomery lands at
Syracuse. However, his plans are rejected after Montgomery submits his own plan, which
calls for him to land at Syracuse and Patton to land to the west and protect his flank.
During the invasion, we see how good a general Patton is, but how big an ego he has as
well. He goes out of his way to take Palermo, which Bradley does not like because it
forces him to take a well-defended mountain road through the middle of the island. Patton
still beats Montgomery to Messina. As the British Eighth Army marches through Messina
feeling they had taken it, Montgomery is shocked to see a group of American troops and
Patton in the city’s center, waiting to rub it in that they had gotten there first
 During the battles, Patton is in trouble for chewing out a coward, and this later
leads to his losing the overall American Command for the invasion of France (to Bradley).
In Part I, we see a lot of Patton’s characteristics. Although he is very religious,
he swears constantly. He has a deep interest in history, particularly Greek and Roman. For
example, in Tunisia, he goes to visit the ruins of a Carthaginian city and, as he looks
around the site, he reminisces about the fight. He was there, he says, when the Romans
beat the Carthaginians.
Intermission
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