Patton

Sir, the interrogation reports on the American prisoners captured in our victory at Kasserine.

They're not very good soldiers, these Americans.

I'm not so sure...

...after only one battle.

Their tanks were no match for our guns.

And neither was their leadership, sir.

At Kasserine they were not under American command.

They were under the British General Anderson.

British commanders and American troops. The worst of everything!

I remind you that Montgomery is a British commander.

And has driven us halfway across Africa.

Anyway, we've met the Americans for the first time and defeated them.

I'm optimistic.

You can afford to be an optimist, I can't.

Captain Steiger reporting, General.

Come with me, Steiger.

Field Marshal Rommel. I hope you're feeling better.

Captain Steiger has been assigned to research General Patton.

Very well. What do you have for me?

General Patton comes from a military family.

His grandfather was a hero of the American Civil War.

He was educated at the Virginia Military Institute and West Point.

You're not telling me anything about the man.

He writes poetry and believes in reincarnation.

He's one of the richest officers in the American Army.

He prays on his knees, but curses like a stable boy.

He has one standing order. "Always take the offensive, never dig in."

In 15 minutes we meet with the Führer.

He'll want to know how you plan to deal with Patton's forces.

I will attack and annihilate him!

Before he does the same to me.

It's obvious that North Africa will soon be lost.

We must now anticipate the enemy's next move.

I shall expect a staff report within 24 hours. That will be all.

Steiger, you have said nothing.

I wasn't asked anything.

I'm asking you now. You think Patton will attack Sardinia?

No, I don't think so.

And why not?

Patton, sir...

...is a military historian.

He knows that Sicily, not Sardinia, has always been the key to Italy.

If Patton has his way he will attack Sicily at Syracuse, as the Athenians did.

Steiger, this is the twentieth century!

But you must understand, sir, Patton is a sixteenth-century man.

May I read an example?

"On a dark street in New York 1922, wearing white tie and tails..."

"...Patton saw three men pushing a young girl into the back of a truck."

"He leaped out of his car, produced a revolver and forced the men at gunpoint to release the girl".

It turned out that the girl was the fiancée of one of the men.

They were merely helping her into the truck.

What could be more revealing?

I don't know what you're talking about!

Don Quixote encounters six merchants of Toledo and saves Dulcinea's virtue!

Who the devil is Dulcinea?