MASH (1970)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

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	...	Cpl. Walter Eugene 'Radar' 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, 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)

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)
Chris Haynes	....	production 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)
• 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)
• Fox Films (1970) (Finland) (theatrical)
• 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)
M.A.S.H. (Austria) (West Germany) [de]
Cephede eglence (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
M*A*S*H (Greece) [el]
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 | 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:

This film was among the first to be released on home video. In 1977 20th Century Fox licensed 50 of its titles to a fledgling video duplication company called Magnetic Video Corp. Fox purchased the company in 1978, laying the groundwork for its current successful video operation.

Goofs:

Continuity: Cars on a freeway in the background of the football game.

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 "Gilmore Girls: We've Got Magic to Do (#6.5)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo

Pure Comedy Genius

As comedies go, it doesn't get much better than M*A*S*H! Script, direction, casting, music and acting are all at their very best in this satirical take on the Korean War - ironically, there is no army action played out during the movie, just the escapades of Elliot Gould, Donald Sutherland, et al where they are stationed to take in casualties of war.

From the opening shots we feel the slow mood of the film, yet if we look a little closer, we see comedy and havoc all around. This is in my opinion, Altman's finest piece - the film is superbly shot, showing fantastic long shots, typical of the era. Elliot Gould has never been so cool, and Donald Sutherland's dryness is sublime. The cast as a whole are the driving force behind this movie - the actor's clearly have taken time to learn their character's, and it really shows, right down to Radar's communication with the field Marshall (or whatever he is). It is very much a character driven movie.

The football game just shows what these people are really like - fun, scheming, lovable cheats - but it pays off because the opposition is so loathsome.

Beautifully written, shot, acted and the rest. Without a shadow of a doubt this is a 10 out of 10 and one of the best comedies around.