MASH (1970)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Richard Hooker (novel)
Ring Lardner Jr. (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 April 1970 (Brazil)

Genre:

Comedy | War | Drama

Tagline:

M*A*S*H Hysteria

Plot:

The staff of a Korean War field hospital use humor and hijinks to keep their sanity in the face of the horror of war.

Plot Keywords:

Surgeon | Mobile Army Surgical Hospital | Korean War | Golf | Nurse

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 14 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Capt. Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce
Elliott Gould	...	Capt. John Francis Xavier 'Trapper' McIntyre
Tom Skerritt	...	Capt. Augustus 'Duke' Forrest
Sally Kellerman	...	Maj. Margaret 'Hot Lips' O'Houlihan
Robert Duvall	...	Maj. Frank Marion 'Ferret Face' Burns
Roger Bowen	...	Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake
Rene Auberjonois	...	Lt. Father Francis John Patrick Mulcahy
David Arkin	...	SSgt. Wade Douglas Vollmer
Jo Ann Pflug	...	Lt. Maria 'Dish' Schneider
Gary Burghoff	...	Corporal Walter Eugene O'Reilly
Fred Williamson	...	Capt. Oliver Harmon 'Spearchucker' Jones
Michael Murphy	...	Capt. Ezekiel 'Me Lai' Marston IV
Indus Arthur	...	Lt. Leslie
Ken Prymus	...	Pvt. Seidman
Bobby Troup	...	SSgt. Gorman

Also Known As:

M*A*S*H (USA) (alternative spelling)

MPAA:

Rated R for sexual content. (edited version)

Runtime:

116 min | USA:112 min (PG version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Japanese | Korean

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Certification:

Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (cut US version) | Iceland:L | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Canada:14A (video rating) | Portugal:M/12 | Italy:VM14 | Sweden:15 | Argentina:18 | Australia:M | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | Canada:PA (Manitoba) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Chile:18 | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 | Peru:18 | Singapore:PG | UK:15 (video rating) (1987) | UK:X (original rating) (cut) | USA:PG (cut) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Aspen Productions (I)

Trivia:

The loudspeaker shots and announcements were added after the editing process had begun and the filmmakers realized that they needed more transitions. Some of the loudspeaker shots have the Moon visible and were shot while the Apollo 11 astronauts were on the Moon.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the shower, the dog joins the group and sits down between Trapper John and Hawkeye just before Trapper cues the drum roll. In the group shots after Hot Lips is down on the shower floor, the dog is gone.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake: Radar.
Cpl. Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly: Yes, sir. I'll get ahold of Major Burns...
Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake: I want you to get a hold of Major Burns...
Cpl. Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly: ...Tell him to hold a couple day surgeons over into the night shift.
Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake: Tell him we're going to have hold a couple of surgeons over from the day shift out of the night shift.
Cpl. Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly: I'll put in a call to General Hammond in Seoul...
Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake: Get General Hammond down there in Seoul, tell him to send us those new surgeons right away.
Cpl. Walter 'Radar' O'Reilly: ...I hope he sends us those two new surgeons. We're sure gonna need'em.
[Leaves]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Featured in "The Century" (1999)

Soundtrack:

Suicide Is Painless

A revolutionary film!

Robert Altman's M*A*S*H started many trends in film. The over-lapping sound, the spontenaity, the camera work, all was fresh in 1970 and still looks good today. It is a film one could see over and over again, and pick up new things, new jokes, new lines with each viewing. It started the careers of many fine actors and remains to me a great American movie.