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
Kim Atwood	...	Ho-Jon
Timothy Brown	...	Cpl. Judson (as Tim Brown)
John Schuck	...	Capt. Walter 'Painless' Waldowski
Dawne Damon	...	Lt. Storch
Carl Gottlieb	...	Capt. 'Ugly John' Black
Tamara Wilcox-Smith	...	Capt. Bridget 'Knocko' McCarthy (as Tamara Horrocks)
G. Wood	...	Brig. Gen. Charlie Hammond
Bud Cort	...	Pvt. Lorenzo Boone
Danny Goldman	...	Capt. Murrhardt
Corey Fischer	...	Capt. Dennis Patrick Bandini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Rick Neilan	...	Hammond's Aide
Stephen Altman	...	Duke's 5-Year-Old Son (uncredited)
Tommy Brown	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Buck Buchanan	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Craig Chudy	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Jack Concannon	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Michael Consoldane	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Cathleen Cordell	...	Capt. Peterson, Nurse Corps (uncredited)
Ben Davidson	...	Football Player (#88) 325th Evac. (uncredited)
James B. Douglas	...	Col. Wallace C. Merril (uncredited)
Tom Falk	...	Corporal (uncredited)
John Fujioka	...	Japanese Golf Pro (uncredited)
Sumi Haru	...	Japanese Nurse (uncredited)
Buck Holland	...	Helicopter pilot (uncredited)
Susan Ikeda	...	Japanese Caddie (uncredited)
Dale Ishimoto	...	Korean Doctor (uncredited)
Jerry Jones	...	Motor Pool Sergeant (uncredited)
Joe Kapp	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Ted Knight	...	Offstage Dialog (voice) (uncredited)
Harvey Levine	...	2nd Lieutenant (uncredited)
Weaver Levy	...	Korean Doctor (uncredited)
Marvin Miller	...	Offstage Dialog (voice) (uncredited)
John Myers	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Lloyd Nelson	...	Offstage Voice (uncredited)
Monica Peterson	...	Pretty W.A.C. Receptionist (uncredited)
Masami Saito	...	Japanese Caddie (uncredited)
Howard Schnellenberger	...	Referee at football game (uncredited)
Samantha Scott	...	Nurse / Pin-up Model (uncredited)
Noland Smith	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. 'Superbug' (uncredited)
Fran Tarkenton	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Dianne Turley Travis	...	Correspondent (uncredited)
Johnny Unitas	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Sal Viscuso	...	P.A. Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Hiroko Watanabe	...	Japanese Prostitute (uncredited)
Howard Williams	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Tom Woodeschick	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Yoko Young	...	Japanese Servant (uncredited)

Directed by
Robert Altman

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

Produced by
Leon Ericksen	....	associate producer
Ingo Preminger	....	producer

Original Music by
Johnny Mandel

Cinematography by
Harold E. Stine		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Danford B. Greene

Art Direction by
Arthur Lonergan
Jack Martin Smith
Michael Friedman		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
Stuart A. Reiss
Walter M. Scott

Makeup Department
Les Berns	....	makeup artist (as Lester Berns)
Edith Lindon	....	hair stylist
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervisor (as Dan Striepeke)

Production Management
Norman A. Cook	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Taylor Jr.	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
John D. Stack	....	sound (as John Stack)

Special Effects by
L.B. Abbott	....	special photographic effects
Art Cruickshank	....	special photographic effects
Greg C. Jensen	....	special effects (uncredited)

Stunts
Joe Amsler	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Hice	....	stunts (uncredited)
Jimmy Nickerson	....	stunts (uncredited)
Eddie Smith	....	stunts (uncredited)
Ron Stein	....	stunts (uncredited)
Greg Walker	....	stunts (uncredited)
Rock A. Walker	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Ross A. Maehl	....	gaffer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert Fuca	....	assistant set costumer (uncredited)
John Intlekofer	....	costumer (uncredited)
Diana Wilson	....	costumes (uncredited)

Music Department
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestrator (as Herbert Spencer)
Mayuto Correa	....	musician (uncredited)

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)
Jim Martell	....	transportation coordinator (uncredited)

Other crew
Ross Levy	....	assistant to producer (as Y. Ross Levy)
David Sachs	....	medical advisor (as Dr. David Sachs)
James Margellos	....	assistant to director (uncredited)
Andy Sidaris	....	football choreographer (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Aspen Productions (I)
• Ingo Preminger Productions
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Distributors

• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1970) (worldwide) (VHS)
• Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (1973) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Fox Films (1970) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment (1998) (video)
• 20th Century Fox Italia
• 20th Century Fox Video (1982) (video)
• CBS/Fox (1985) (video)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Magnetic Video (1977) (video)
• Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment (2001) (USA) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Pacific Title  titles

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:

In the opening titles, when a soldier carrying a wounded soldier on a stretcher and when when the soldier trips and falls down, it wasn't scripted. It was actually an accident by the actor who tripped over something. Robert Altman decided that instead of editing it out, to use it to foreshadow the dark humor theme as the movie's first small, but real, laugh.

Goofs:

Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Margaret's surname is scripted as "Houlihan". The 'O' was added due to a slip of the tongue by G. Wood and Roger Bowen, the only two people who refer to her as "O'Houlihan" in the whole movie.

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 AFI's 100 Years... 100 Movies (1998) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Onward, Christian Soldiers

Outrageous, in-your-face black humor

M*A*S*H is a groundbreaking film. Along with Catch 22, M*A*S*H had the audacity to ridicule two of the pillars of American society: war and religion. Whether you find this appalling, subversive, treasonous, outrageous or funny depends on your political and religious orientation. Surely the religious right will find the film blasphemous and the political right will find it treasonous. No matter what your point of view, M*A*S*H is certainly an in-your-face film.

The irony of the film is that for the time it was considered gruesomely bloody. Yet there are no battlefield scenes; all the blood is in the surgical unit. The CSI TV series shows more carnage than M*A*S*H, but M*A*S*H was filmed over 30 years ago.

M*A*S*H is loaded with bizarro characters. Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Robert Duvall, Tom Skerrit, Loretta Swit, Radar are all insane in their own way. In "M*A*S*H," everyone is cruel, playing mean practical jokes and the anti-heroes Donald Sutherland and Elliott Gould are just plain heartless. They absolutely torment Major "Hot Lips" Hoolihan and Robert Duvall. None of the characters in the film tries to be funny. There are no jokes. The humor just grows from the situation which is the grim reality of a mobile surgical unit whose doctors and nurses try their best to repair the horribly mutilated bodies from an insane war. Having worked in a hospital setting, outrageous and black humor is commonplace, especially in the ER, but in M*A*S*H it's taken to a new level.