I once met a guy who said he was drafted into the Army in 1969, but for whatever reason was sent to Washington D.C., not Vietnam. While there he was assigned to appear outside the theater where Patton made it's D.C. premiere in 1970. Omar Bradley was among those who saw the movie that night, and the press asked him what he though of George C. Scott's portrayal of Patton. Bradley was not impressed. He said Scott was far too understated.
That’s interesting. The only thing I’ve ever read that touches on that subject had to do with “The Speech.” The speech that George C. Scott delivers at the beginning of the film is much shorter — and much, much “tamer” — than the version(s) that Patton delivered to the troops. The real life versions are all a bit different because Patton gave The Speech numerous times to different units and spoke extemporaneously, but the gist was far more vulgar than what the filmmakers were willing to risk in 1970. Hollywood deliberately cleaned it up for the sake of ratings and so as not to offend audiences. How much of this may be been done consciously on other aspects of Patton’s behavior, I don’t know.