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M*A*S*H (1970) ft. Adam Vanderwerff

Writer's picture: Thomas DuncanThomas Duncan


Guest:


Cast:

  • Robert Altman, Director

  • Ring Lardner, Jr, Writer

  • Johnny Mandel, Music

  • Donald Sutherland as Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce Jr.

  • Elliott Gould as Capt. John Francis "Trapper John" McIntyre

  • Tom Skerritt as Capt. Augustus "Duke" Forrest

  • Sally Kellerman as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" O'Houlihan

  • Robert Duvall as Major Frank Burns

  • Roger Bowen as Lt. Col. Henry Braymore Blake


*Recognition:

  • M*A*S*H was released on January 25, 1970.

  • On a budget of $3 million, the film would gross roughly $81.6 million, and finish 3rd at the domestic box office for 1970.

  • Many of the premiere critics of the time were effusive in their praise for the film.

  • It won the Grand Prix du Festival International du Film, later named the Palme d'Or, at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival, and received five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, Director (Altman), Supporting Actress (Sally Kellerman), Film Editing, and won for Best Adapted Screenplay (Lardner, Jr).

  • The film is number 17 on Bravo's "100 Funniest Movies".

  • It has been recognized by the AFI on the following lists:

    • 1998: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies#56

    • 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs#7

    • 2004: AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs:

      • "Suicide Is Painless" – #66

    • 2007: AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition)#54

  • In 1996, M*A*S*H was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry. The Academy Film Archive also preserved M*A*S*H in 2000.

  • M*A*S*H currently holds an 86% among critics on RT, an 80 score on Metacritic, and a 3.5/5 on Letterboxd.


Plot Summary: M*A*S*H is a sharp, irreverent satire that reimagines the war film as a chaotic and darkly comedic theater of absurdity. Set in a mobile army surgical hospital during the Korean War, the film follows the misadventures of surgeons Hawkeye Pierce (Donald Sutherland) and Trapper John McIntyre (Elliott Gould), whose antics clash with the rigid military hierarchy.


The film's freewheeling ensemble style captures the camaraderie and anarchy of a unit forced to find humor amidst the horrors of war. With its anti-authoritarian ethos and whip-smart dialogue, the film critiques the machinery of war and conformity without sermonizing. The overlapping conversations, naturalistic performances, and subversive tone make M*A*S*H both a product of its era and a timeless commentary on the absurdities of human conflict.


Did You Know:

  • The fourteen-year-old son of director Robert Altman, Mike Altman, wrote the lyrics to the theme song "Suicide is Painless." According to Johnny Mandel and Robert Altman, the film's famous theme song was intended to be the "stupidest song ever written." After attempting to write the lyrics himself, Altman said he found it too difficult to write "dumb enough," and instead gave the task to his fourteen-year-old son. Mike Altman allegedly wrote the lyrics in five minutes, not even expecting to be paid, since he was the director's son. Because of its inclusion in the subsequent television series, he continued to get residuals throughout its run and syndication. His father was paid $75,000 for directing, but his son eventually made about $2 million in song royalties, with payments continuing, from first syndication through the present day, as M*A*S*H (1972) continues in syndication around the world.

  • Tom Skerritt recalled that the dialogue was about 80% improvised. In order to create a different kind of atmosphere, Robert Altman cast some of the parts from improvisational clubs who had no previous movie or TV experience.

  • The first take of the shot where Hot Lips is revealed in the shower didn't work because Sally Kellerman anticipated the reveal, and was already lying on the floor when the tent flap went up. To distract her, Robert Altman and Gary Burghoff entered the shower tent and dropped their trousers while the shot was rolling outside. While Kellerman was staring at them, the tent flap was raised, resulting in her genuine surprise and shock when she realized what had happened. In the Special Edition double disc DVD, they say that Radar (portrayed by Gary Burghoff) had been standing naked beside the camera, and that's the reason why Sally Kellerman looks so surprised when the flap was raised.

  • The story goes that when Robert Altman was editing the movie with editor Danford B. Greene, they had nude pinups on the walls of the editing room. The head of post-production came by and tried to stop Robert Altman from using the editing machine, as he wasn't a designated editor, and Altman threw him out of the editing room. The next day, a memo came down from the 20th Century Fox front office stating a new policy that there were to be no pinups on the walls of editing rooms. Altman took the memo to the sound recording studio and added it as one of the loudspeaker announcements during the film.

  • Speaking about the troubles he had with the studio, Robert Altman was quoted as saying, "This film wasn't released, it escaped."


Best Performance: Donald Sutherland (Hawkeye)/Robert Altman (Director)/Elliott Gould (Trapper)

Best Secondary Performance: Donald Sutherland (Hawkeye)/Ring Lardner Jr. (Writer)/Jo Ann Pflug (Lt. Dish)

Most Charismatic Award: Suicide is Painless (Song)/Sally Kellerman (Houlihan)/Donald Sutherland (Hawkeye)

Best Scene:

  • Stealing a Jeep

  • Trapper John

  • Hot Lips and Frank

  • Suicide is Painless

  • Surgery in Tokyo

  • Football Game

Favorite Scene: Surgery in Tokyo/Hot Lips and Frank

Most Indelible Moment: Hot Lips and Frank/Stealing the Jeep/Football Game


In Memorium:

  • Tony Slattery, 65, British actor (The Crying Game, Peter’s Friends), comedian and television personality (Whose Line Is It Anyway?)

  • Leslie Charleson, 79, American actress (General Hospital, Love Is a Many Splendored Thing, The Day of the Dolphin)

  • Claude Jarman Jr., 90, American actor (The Yearling, Rio Grande)

  • Robert Machray, 79, American actor (Cheers, Thanks, Rapsittie Street Kids: Believe in Santa)

  • Bill Byrge, 92, American actor and comedian (Ernest Saves Christmas, Ernest Goes to Jail, Ernest Scared Stupid)

  • Roger Pratt, 77, American cinematographer (Batman (89), Brazil, The Fisher King)

  • Sam Moore, 89, American singer (band, Sam & Dave, songs: “You Don’t Know Like I Know,” “Hold On, I’m Coming,” “You Got Me Hummin’,” “Soul Man” and “I Thank You.”); 1992 Rock and Roll HOF inductee.


Best Lines/Funniest Lines:

Painless: [lining up during football game] All right, Bub, your fuckin' head is coming right off. [**the first use of the word "fuck" in a major motion picture**]


Duke Forrest: [as Frank Burns is being taken away in a straight jacket by the MPs] Now, fair's fair Henry. If I nail Hotlips and hit Hawkeye can I go home too?


Hotlips O'Houlihan: I wonder how a degenerated person like that could have reached a position of responsibility in the Army Medical Corps!

Father Mulcahy: He was drafted.


Col. Wallace C. Merril: All right! I demand an explanation.

Hawkeye Pierce: Someone get that dirty old man out of this operating theater.

Col. Wallace C. Merril: [taken aback] Dirty old man? I'm Colonel Merrill.

Hawkeye Pierce: I don't care if you're Jack Armstrong, the All-American Boy. If this kid's chest gets infected, I will tell the congressman who did it.


Trapper John: Yeah, but how often do you get to bring your golf clubs to Tokyo?


Gen. Hammond: Henry, I have a report here from your Major O'Houlihan. Now she makes some accusations here that I frankly find hard to believe.

Colonel Blake: Well, don't believe them then, General. Good-bye.


Painless: That's it; I must be a fairy!


Capt. 'Ugly John' Black: Anybody know if this is an officer or an enlisted man?

Hawkeye Pierce: He's an enlisted man.

Capt. 'Ugly John' Black: Make the stitches bigger.


Hotlips O'Houlihan: Oh, Frank, my lips are hot! Kiss my hot lips!


The Stanley Rubric:

Legacy: 7.5

Impact/Significance: 10

Novelty: 8

Classic-ness: 2

Rewatchability: 4.83

Audience Score: 7.75 (73% Google, 82% RT)

Total: 40.08


Remaining Questions:

  • What happens to Frank?

  • Where do you think the idea to convert this to TV came from?

  • What was the resolution with O'Houlihan?

  • Do you think there was medical care for the locals in real life?

  • Are you surprised that Hawkeye was only there for 6 months?

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