Directed by: Franklin J. Schaffner
Starring: George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Michael Strong, Stephen Young
Other mistake: During the early part of the movie, when Patton is in Morocco, you can see two kids visibly mugging for the camera as they do cutaways on two distinct occasions.
Other mistake: In the scene showing Patton's arrival in London, stepping out of a Packard limousine in the night, the car shown is a postwar model year, e.g. 1948. Patton did favor Packard cars, but this one could not have existed at the time.
Factual error: When Patton orders his driver to drive to the Carthaginian battlefield he addresses him as "sergeant". He is, however, wearing corporal's chevrons. A famous stickler for discipline and ceremonial, Patton is not likely to have made a mistake like this.
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.
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.
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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.