Catch-22 (1970)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Mike Nichols

Writers:

Joseph Heller (novel)
Buck Henry (screenplay)

Release Date:

24 June 1970 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | War

Plot:

A man is trying desperately to be certified insane during World War II, so he can stop flying missions.

Plot Keywords:

Bombadier | Army Pilot | Colonel | Patient | Satire

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Alan Arkin	...	Capt. John Yossarian
Martin Balsam	...	Col. Cathcart
Richard Benjamin	...	Maj. Danby
Art Garfunkel	...	Capt. Nately (as Arthur Garfunkel)
Jack Gilford	...	Dr. 'Doc' Daneeka
Buck Henry	...	Lt. Col. Korn
Bob Newhart	...	Maj. Major Major Major
Anthony Perkins	...	Chaplain Capt. A.T. Tappman
Paula Prentiss	...	Nurse Duckett
Martin Sheen	...	1st Lt. Dobbs
Jon Voight	...	1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder
Orson Welles	...	Brig. Gen. Dreedle
Seth Allen	...	Hungry Joe
Bob Balaban	...	Capt. Orr
Susanne Benton	...	Dreedle's WAC
Norman Fell	...	First Sgt. Towser
Charles Grodin	...	Capt. Aarfy Aardvark
Austin Pendleton	...	Lt. Col. Moodus
Peter Bonerz	...	Capt. J.S. McWatt
Jon Korkes	...	Snowden
John Brent	...	Cathcart's receptionist
Collin Wilcox Paxton	...	Nurse Cramer (as Collin Wilcox-Horne)
Philip Roth	...	Doctor (as Phil Roth)
Bruce Kirby	...	Doctor
Jack Riley	...	Doctor
Felice Orlandi	...	Man in black
Marcel Dalio	...	Old man in whorehouse
Evi Maltagliati	...	Old woman in whorehouse (as Evy Maltagliati)
Elizabeth Wilson	...	Mother
Richard Libertini	...	Brother John
Liam Dunn	...	Father
Olimpia Carlisi	...	Luciana
Wendy D'Olive	...	Aarfy's girl
Gina Rovere	...	Nately's whore
Fernanda Vitobello	...	Nately's whore's kid sister

Directed by
Mike Nichols

Writing credits
Joseph Heller		(novel)
Buck Henry		(screenplay)

Produced by
John Calley	....	producer
Martin Ransohoff	....	producer
Clive Reed	....	associate producer

Non-Original Music by
Richard Strauss		(from "Also sprach Zarathustra")

Cinematography by
David Watkin

Film Editing by
Sam O'Steen

Casting by
Alan Shayne

Production Design by
Richard Sylbert

Art Direction by
Harold Michelson

Set Decoration by
Ray Moyer

Costume Design by
Ernest Adler		(uncredited)

Makeup Department
Ernest Adler	....	hair styles supervisor
Del Armstrong	....	makeup supervisor
Giancarlo De Leonardis	....	hair department head (uncredited)

Production Management
Jack Corrick	....	production manager
Joe L. Cramer	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Martin Cohan	....	second assistant director
Ronald R. Grow	....	second assistant director (as Ron Grow)
John Jordan	....	second unit director
Andrew Marton	....	second unit director
Alan McCabe	....	second unit director
Edward Teets	....	assistant director (as Edward A. Teets)

Art Department
Robert Schultz	....	property master
Harold Michelson	....	storyboard artist (uncredited)

Sound Department
Howard Beals	....	supervising sound editor
Larry Jost	....	sound recordist (as Lawrence O. Jost)
Elden Ruberg	....	sound recordist
Greg Dillon	....	sound editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Lee Vasque	....	special effects
Albert Whitlock	....	special photographic effects

Visual Effects by
Robin Browne	....	optical effects cameraman (uncredited)

Stunts
Phil Adams	....	stunts (uncredited)
Paul Baxley	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ron Burke	....	stunts (uncredited)
Richard E. Butler	....	stunt coordinator (uncredited)
Alex Sharp	....	stunts (uncredited)
Frank Tallman	....	stunt pilot (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Peter Ewens	....	first assistant camera
Bud Gaunt	....	key grip
Earl Gilbert	....	gaffer
Alan McCabe	....	camera operator
Nelson Tyler	....	helicopter photographer
Harold E. Wellman	....	photographer: second unit (as Harold Wellman)
Ronald B. MacKenzie	....	electrician (uncredited)
Robert Willoughby	....	special still photographer (uncredited)

Casting Department
Jose Villaverde	....	local casting (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Ernest Adler	....	costume supervisor
Lambert Marks	....	wardrobe: men

Editorial Department
Stu Linder	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Fritz Reiner	....	conductor
June Edgerton	....	music editor (uncredited)
John C. Hammell	....	supervising music editor (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Salvador Gutiérrez	....	transportation captain (uncredited)

Other crew
Baccio Bandini	....	production coordinator: Rome
Wayne Fitzgerald	....	title designer
Major Alexander Gerry	....	technical advisor
Geoffrey Horne	....	dialogue coach
Meta Rebner	....	script supervisor
Frank Tallman	....	flying supervisor (as Frank G. Tallman)
James S. Appleby	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
John Bagley	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Wayne Berg	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Jack Biven	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Frank Blaha	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
'Junior' Burchinal	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Ray Burkhead	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Louis Odell Burton	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Wayne Burtt	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Richard Fisher	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Bill Fritz	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Hal Gray	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Barney Green	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Don Hackett	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Les Hall	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Dan Hill	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Marvin Jackson	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Danny Johnson	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Jenner Knight	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Steward Kunkee	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Paolo Lucidi	....	production assistant (uncredited)
'Skip' Marsh	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Mike McDonald	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Edward Mitrani	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Thomas H. Mooney	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Don Ornbaum	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Frank L. Pine	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Charles Rector	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Wendell 'Bill' Reid	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Terry Rossi	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Jim Speers	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Len 'Stoney' Stonich	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Frank Tallman	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
David Viviano	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
David Voltz	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Forrest Watson	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)
Rick Wilson	....	pilot: B-25 (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Filmways Productions
• Paramount Pictures

Distributors

• Paramount Pictures (1970) (USA) (theatrical)
• Svenska Filminstitutet (SFI) (1970) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Cinéma International Corporation (CIC) (1970) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1976) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• CIC Vídeo (Brazil) (VHS)
• CIC-Taft Home Video
• Paramount Filmes do Brasil (Brazil) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)

Special Effects

• Film Effects of Hollywood

Other Companies

• Tallmantz Aviation  flying sequences

Runtime:

122 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

West Germany:16 | Singapore:NC-16 | Hungary:14 | Sweden:15 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (1971) | Portugal:(Banned) (1970-1974) | UK:15 (video rating) | USA:R | Iceland:12

Filming Locations:

Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico

Company:

Filmways Productions

Trivia:

While on a tirade in his office, Major Major walks past a framed photo of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. In a continuous shot, he paces around his office, and when he passes the picture again, it is of Winston Churchill, as he makes one more round of his office and grabs the fake mustache out of his filing cabinet, the photo has changed to that of Joseph Stalin.

Goofs:

Factual errors: During the mission to Ferrera, when Yossarian toggles his bombs early and causes the entire group to bomb the ocean, the top gun turret of Yossarian's B-25 is missing when the plane is seen in head-on process shots against a rear-screen projection of other planes in flight.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lt. Col. Korn, XO: [speaking to Yossarian] All you have to do is be our pal.
Colonel Cathcart: Say nice things about us.
Lt. Col. Korn, XO: Tell the folks at home what a good job we're doing. Take our offer Yossarian.
Colonel Cathcart: Either that or a court-martial for desertion.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in A Decade Under the Influence (2003)

Soundtrack:

Also sprach Zarathustra

One of the best movies ever made!

I, for one, had NOT read the novel before viewing Catch-22, and I absolutely LOVED it! I believe it ranks as one of the best films ever made! It certainly ranks with Carnal Knowledge and the Graduate as the best pieces of work Mike Nichols ever made. Alan Arkin gives by far the best performance of his entire career. The rest of the cast is nearly perfect. It is a long movie, and moves at a very quick clip. Like 2001: A Space Odyssey, it begs to be viewed again and again. I love the close-up photography, which adds to the sense of claustrophobia & combustibility of the "insane war" situation of the characters. There are no panoramic vistas of Italy here. In fact, Italy has probably never looked so ugly in a movie. I love the way the action moves from scene to scene based on the thoughts of the characters, rather then strictly chronologically -- a technique Quentin Tarantino has utilized throughout his more recent career. Unlike most of the rest of you, I love the pacing. I love the hilarious, fast-paced first hour of the film, and then I love the slower, somber, horrific second hour. Later, I read the novel, and while it's certainly true that everything in the novel could not possibly have been used in the movie, I prefer to judge the movie strictly on its own merits. It seems as though most of you prefer to compare the two. I always like to see the movie first. Case in point: I believe I liked the World According To Garp so much because I had never read the novel before -- I had no preconceived notions of what the characters looked like, or how they should behave. Then, when I read the novel, I realized that all the action of the book could not possibly have been used in the film, but the film gave me a good, solid basis from which to begin reading the book. Was the movie is "good as the book?" Of course not. Is it ever? Was To Kill A Mockingbird as good as the book. Again, of course not. But didn't you love the movie anyway. Same with Catch-22. NOT comparing it to the book, but comparing it strictly to every other movie I've ever seen, it ranks as my favorite war movie of all time, my favorite comedy of all time, my favorite film of 1970 (a year full of good movies), and one of my favorites, period. It is a classic. Rent it. Watch it over and over again. It's well worth it!