MASH (1970)

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

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

Richard Hooker (from the novel by), Ring Lardner Jr. (screenplay)

Stars:

Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Tom Skerritt

Won 1 Oscar. Another 13 wins & 23 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Sutherland	...	Hawkeye Pierce
Elliott Gould	...	Trapper John McIntyre
Tom Skerritt	...	Duke Forrest
Sally Kellerman	...	Maj. Margaret 'Hot Lips' O'Houlihan
Robert Duvall	...	Maj. Frank Burns
Roger Bowen	...	Lt. Col. Henry Blake
Rene Auberjonois	...	Father John Mulcahy
David Arkin	...	Sgt. Major Vollmer
Jo Ann Pflug	...	Lt. 'Dish'
Gary Burghoff	...	Cpl. 'Radar' O'Reilly
Fred Williamson	...	Dr. Oliver 'Spearchucker' Jones
Michael Murphy	...	'Me Lai' Marston
Indus Arthur	...	Lt. Leslie
Ken Prymus	...	PFC. Seidman
Bobby Troup	...	Sgt. Gorman

Storyline

The personnel at the 4077 MASH unit deal with the horrors of the Korean War and the stresses faced in surgery by whatever means. The tone at the MASH is established by recent arrivals, surgeons Captains 'Hawkeye' Pierce, 'Duke' Forrest, and 'Trapper' John McIntyre - the latter who Hawkeye knows he's met somewhere, but Trapper who won't divulge where - whose antics can be best described as non-regulation, and in the negative words of one of their fellow MASH-ers: unmilitary. The unit's commanding officer, Colonel Henry Blake, doesn't care about this behavior as long as it doesn't affect him, and as long as they do their job and do it well, which they do. Their behavior does extremely bother fellow surgeon, Major Frank Burns, and recently arrived head nurse, Major Margaret Houlihan, who obtains the nickname 'Hot Lips' based on information they glean about her through underhanded means. Beyond their battles with Frank and Hot Lips, Hawkeye, Duke and/or Trapper help unit dentist Painless ...

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Plot Keywords:

surgeon | mobile army surgical hospital | korean war | nurse | military | 

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Taglines:

M*A*S*H Gives A D*A*M*N.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | War

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for sexual content

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Japanese Korean

Release Date:

March 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

M*A*S*H

Filming Locations:

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

Box Office

Budget:

$3,500,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$81,600,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Aspen Productions (I),Ingo Preminger Productions,Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

116 min 112 min (PG)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Westrex Recording System)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The operating scenes were almost cut out due to their graphic nature. However, two women who were visiting the set told the producers that the operating scenes were what made the movie, and should be kept in.

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Goofs

Hawkeye gives amphetamines to Ho John so that he will fail his draft board physical. However, Ho John displays the characteristics of depressant abuse; he basically just stands there in a listless stupor. Amphetamine abuse should do the opposite; he should be nervous, excitable, and talkative. Correction: While most people on amphetamines react differently, those who have ADD or ADHD do have the appearance of being on depressants because of the chemical reaction in their bodies which is why children unfortunately are given amphetamines as a treatment for such a diagnosis. It has even been know to cause them to fall asleep and make them feel as if they are in a fog.

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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]
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Robert Altman cast so many unknowns in the movie that after one or two known actors, the cast credits all say "Introducing"

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Alternate Versions

Re-released on DVD and VHS unedited and with an MPAA rating of "R" in January 2002.

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Connections

Spoofed in M*A*S*H'd (1976)

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Soundtracks

Hail to the Chief
(1810) (uncredited)
Written by James Sanderson
Sung with revised lyrics by various characters

User Reviews

Hardly "clever" - Hardly Dr Strangelove!

I can't believe people here are comparing M*A*S*H with Dr Strangelove. Brilliant satire? Hardly! Apart from the fact that some of its "darkest humour" is patently offensive today - "Hot Lips"' complete humiliation as she's taking a shower, the dentist who thinks he's gay and so has to kill himself (and his decision not to kill himself is only because he finds out he's not gay), etc - the rest of it is really rather obvious and, well, stupid. Ha ha ha, Trapper John has a go at the head nurse in Japan and uses the word "tits!" How terribly risque. (yawn).

And of course, as even those who like the movie have pointed out, it doesn't have a plot. It's a series of rather tedious little vignettes that don't amount to very much before it just suddenly ends. The football game has nothing to do with anything. And what the hell is with Hot Lips' sudden huge character change? She's humiliated by the whole camp when they pull her shower down, obviously distraught she breaks down in front of the CO, who then proceeds to agree with the General to just ignore her complaint - and then suddenly she's a brainless bimbo cheerleader supporting the boys and thinking that the referee's gun has just shot someone. Hello? What the hell?

If you want a brilliant movie that satirises the futility and stupidity of war and the military establishment, watch Dr Strangelove. Kubrick knew what he was doing. "Gentlemen! You can't fight in here, this is the war room!" Now that's irony.