Trivia: Strangely, when "Patton" was first released, the most controversial scene in this film was that in which General Patton shoots a pair of mules that are blocking a bridge and dumps their carcasses over the side. While the true fate of the two animals is still unknown (were they actually shot, were they anesthetized, were they poisoned, were those real carcasses thrown from the bridge?), the fact is that no actual animal cruelty appears onscreen. Rather, in distinct cuts, Patton draws his revolver, gunshots are heard, two dead mules are seen in the roadway, followed by a wide, distant shot of the carcasses as they are tossed from the bridge. Any actual shooting or cruelty was, therefore, only inferred by the audience. The Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals protested the scene loudly in the press, but they did so with absolutely no evidence of animal cruelty in this scene.
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