Patton

Released while US forces were still deeply embroiled in Vietnam, this splendid biopic can be viewed as both a tribute to the indomitability of the fighting man (Patton was a much-decorated general in the US Army during the Second World War) and a satire on the myth of the American hero. The screenplay, by Francis Ford Coppola and Edmund H North, received one of the picture's seven Oscars, while director Franklin J Schaffner took another, thanks to the horrific majesty of his battle sequences. But the bedrock of this mammoth drama is the performance in the title role of George C Scott, who became the first actor in Oscar history to refuse his award. Combining blimpish bluster with moments of monstrous ego and unexpected humanity, Scott makes this magnificent film unforgettable.