MASH (1970)

Director:

Robert Altman

Writers:

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

Release Date:

March 1970 (USA)

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 | Dentist

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 14 wins & 19 nominations

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Hawkeye Pierce
Elliott Gould	...	Trapper John McIntyre
Tom Skerritt	...	Duke Forrest
Sally Kellerman	...	'Hot Lips' O'Houlihan
Robert Duvall	...	Maj. Frank Burns
Roger Bowen	...	Col. Henry Blake
Rene Auberjonois	...	Father John Mulcahy
David Arkin	...	Sgt. Major Vollmer
Jo Ann Pflug	...	Lt. 'Dish'
Gary Burghoff	...	Corporal '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
Kim Atwood	...	Ho-Jon
Timothy Brown	...	Cpl. Judson (as Tim Brown)
John Schuck	...	Capt. 'Painless' Waldowski
Dawne Damon	...	Capt. Storch
Carl Gottlieb	...	'Ugly John'
Tamara Wilcox-Smith	...	Capt. 'Knocko' (as Tamara Horrocks)
G. Wood	...	Gen. Hammond
Bud Cort	...	Pvt. Boone
Danny Goldman	...	Capt. Murrhardt
Corey Fischer	...	Capt. Bandini
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stephen Altman	...	Duke's 5-Year-Old Son (uncredited)
Joe Amsler	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Steven Bewley	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Stanford Blum	...	Football Player (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)
Jim Connors	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Michael Consoldane	...	Football Player - 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Cathleen Cordell	...	Capt. Peterson - Nurse Corps (uncredited)
Robert V. Cox	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Ronn Cragg	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ben Davidson	...	Football Player #88 - 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Ray Didsbury	...	Ad Lib Doctor (uncredited)
James B. Douglas	...	Col. Wallace C. Merril (uncredited)
Tom Falk	...	Corporal (uncredited)
John Fujioka	...	Japanese Golf Pro (uncredited)
Lynn Grate	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Sumi Haru	...	Japanese Nurse (uncredited)
Buck Holland	...	Helicopter Pilot (uncredited)
Susan Ikeda	...	Japanese Caddie (uncredited)
Dale Ishimoto	...	Korean Doctor (uncredited)
Alfred Jones	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Jerry Jones	...	Motor Pool Sergeant (uncredited)
Mark Jones	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Joe Kapp	...	Football Player - 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Mike Kemp	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Ted Knight	...	Offstage Dialog (voice) (uncredited)
Douglas Laurence	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Harvey Levine	...	2nd Lieutenant (uncredited)
Weaver Levy	...	Korean Doctor (uncredited)
John Linton	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
John Mamo	...	Japanese Golf Pro (uncredited)
Robert Manser	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Sam A. Mides	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Marvin Miller	...	Offstage Dialog (voice) (uncredited)
John Myers	...	Football Player - 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Rick Neilan	...	Hammond's Aide (uncredited)
Lloyd Nelson	...	Offstage Voice (voice) (uncredited)
Gerry Okuneff	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Monica Peterson	...	Pretty W.A.C. Receptionist (uncredited)
Roy Pettie	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ron Quay	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
David Sachs	...	Surgeon #1 (uncredited)
Masami Saito	...	Japanese Caddie (uncredited)
Tony Santoro	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Howard Schnellenberger	...	Football Referee (uncredited)
Bonnie Sue Schwartz	...	Cheerleader (uncredited)
Samantha Scott	...	Nurse / Pin-up Model (uncredited)
Noland Smith	...	Football Player - 325th Evac. 'Superbug' (uncredited)
Owen Song	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ron Stein	...	Football Player (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)
Greg Walker	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Hiroko Watanabe	...	Japanese Prostitute (uncredited)
Don Watters	...	Football Player (uncredited)
Ron Way	...	Football Player (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	....	produced by

Original Music by
Johnny Mandel		(music by)

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 styling by
Daniel C. Striepeke	....	makeup supervision (as Dan Striepeke)
Gerry Leetch	....	hairstylist (uncredited)

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

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

Art Department
Sidney H. Greenwood	....	prop master (uncredited)
Robert Lombardi	....	greensman (uncredited)

Sound Department
Bernard Freericks	....	sound
John D. Stack	....	sound (as John Stack)
Arthur Cornell	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Don Hall	....	supervising sound effects editor (uncredited)
John Jolliffe	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
Billie Owens	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)
David Sachs	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

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)
John Ashby	....	stunts (uncredited)
John Forsyth	....	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
Robert W. Full	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Harry R. Jones	....	first company grip (uncredited)
Paul Koons	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Ross A. Maehl	....	gaffer (uncredited)
G. Austin Saunders	....	second assistant camera (uncredited)
Louis Schwartz	....	camera operator (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Robert Fuca	....	assistant set costumer (uncredited)
John Intlekofer	....	costumer (uncredited)
Mary Tate	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Wesley Trist	....	wardrobe (uncredited)
Diana Wilson	....	costumes (uncredited)

Music Department
Herbert W. Spencer	....	orchestration (as Herbert Spencer)
Mayuto Correa	....	musician (uncredited)
Leonard A. Engel	....	supervising music editor (uncredited)
Sam E. Levin	....	music film editor (uncredited)

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

Other crew
Ross Levy	....	assistant to the producer (as Y. Ross Levy)
David Sachs	....	medical advisor (as Dr. David Sachs)
Lester Hoyle	....	script supervisor (uncredited)
James Margellos	....	assistant to director (uncredited)
Marion Peterson	....	first aid (uncredited)
Andy Sidaris	....	football choreographer (uncredited)
Linn Unkefer	....	unit publicist (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 by

Also Known As:

M*A*S*H (USA) (alternative spelling)
M.A.S.H. (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Cephede eglence (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
M*A*S*H (Greece) [el]
M.A.S.H (Brazil) [pt]
M.A.S.H. (Denmark) [da]
M.A.S.H. (Spain) [es]
M.A.S.H. - Armeijan liikkuva kenttäsairaala (Finland) [fi]
M.A.S.H. - arméns rörliga fältsjukhus (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
MASH (Argentina) [es]

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 (PCA #22275) | West Germany:16 | Canada:R (Nova Scotia)

Filming Locations:

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

Company:

Aspen Productions (I)

Trivia:

Robert Altman was originally promised five "points" (a percentage) of the film's profits. After a disagreement between Altman and one of the Fox executives, the offer of points was taken back before production began. When the film became a big hit, Altman's agent asked for the points back; the studio was considering it when Altman was quoted in the press saying how much he hated working for Fox. He was never given the points back.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The football helmets worn in the game are of late 1960s, early 1970s vintage, with a plastic "shell" design and face masks. A football game during the Korean War would likely have featured leather-style helmets, and no face masks.

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:

Referenced in "The Wire: Game Day (#1.9)" (2002)

Soundtrack:

Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo

A Great War Comedy

This is truly the best military comedy ever made. It is funny, yet it realistically depicts the savagery of war and the non-chalance it gradually inspires in its victims. For example, some of the funniest, yet also most disturbing, moments in the film come when the doctors are operating on wounded soldiers, complete with gruesome sound effects, yet are discussing extremely trivial matters.

The film also benefits from some great performances. Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould were excellent as Hawkeye and Trapper John. They both had a streak of good movies during the 70s. Robert Duvall is amusing as a pious major whose fanaticism drives our heroes to extreme measures. Sally Kellerman and Tom Skerrit also put in good performances in their roles; it is a pity that these two actors are not better utilized nowadays.