CATCH A CLASSIC
Starring George C. Scott
TCM, beginning at 5 p.m.
Legendary actor George C. Scott’s talent can be seen in four films tonight on Turner Classic Movies, beginning with two of his most well-known movies, followed by a couple that may not be as frequently seen. First up is Patton (pictured) (1970), the classic biographical drama about Gen. George S. Patton (Scott) during World War II. The acclaimed film won seven of the 10 Oscars for which it was nominated, including Best Picture and Best Actor for Scott, although he famously became the first person to refuse the award, citing his disdain for acting competitions. Scott was also nominated as Best Actor the following year in The Hospital (1971), writer Paddy Chayefsky’s (who won an Oscar for his screenplay) satiric film in which Scott plays a harried hospital administrator dealing with rising costs, a seductive young woman and a serial killer. Scott directed and stars in tonight’s next film, Rage (1972), where he plays a sheep rancher who is fatally exposed to a military lab’s poison gas. Finally, in the action film The Last Run (1971), Scott portrays an aging former driver for organized crime rings who is living in self-imposed exile in Portugal before receiving his first job in years — to transport an escaped killer and his girlfriend into France. The woman is played by Trish
Van Devere; she and Scott married the following year and appeared in a number of subsequent films together.