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:

Immaturity | Entire Title Is Capitalized Acronym | Amputation | Alcoholic | Acronym In Title

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 14 wins & 19 nominations

US TV Schedule:

Mon. July 14	3:30 AM	AMC
Tue. July 15	8:00 PM	AMC
Wed. July 16	1:30 AM	AMC

Cast

Donald Sutherland	...	Capt. Benjamin Franklin 'Hawkeye' Pierce
Elliott Gould	...	Capt. 'Trapper John' McIntyre
Tom Skerritt	...	Capt. Augustus 'Duke' Forrest
Sally Kellerman	...	Maj. Margaret 'Hot Lips' O'Houlihan
Robert Duvall	...	Maj. 'Frank' Burns
Roger Bowen	...	Lt. Col. Henry Blake
Rene Auberjonois	...	Father Mulcahy
David Arkin	...	SSgt. Wade Douglas Vollmer
Jo Ann Pflug	...	Lt. Maria 'Dish' Schneider
Gary Burghoff	...	Cpl. Walter '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:
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)
Samantha Scott	...	Nurse / Pin-up Model (uncredited)
Noland Smith	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. 'Superbug' (uncredited)
Fran Tarkenton	...	Football Player, 325th Evac. (uncredited)
Rick Teal	...	Hammond's Aide (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 Television (1974) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• CBS/Fox (1985) (video)
• 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:14A (video rating) | Canada:A (Nova Scotia) (cut US version) | West Germany:18 (original rating) | Iceland:L | 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:

G. Wood (General Hammond) played the same character in the movie and first three episodes of the TV series ("M*A*S*H" (1972).)

Goofs:

Anachronisms: During the football game, when the men in the wheelchairs get tackled there are high tension power lines in the background.

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 Homestarrunner.com: Everything Else, Volume 3 (2007) (V)

Soundtrack:

Tokyo Shoeshine Boy

Raunchy then, politically incorrect now...

...M*A*S*H, the movie, was Robert Altman's precise and masterful adaptation of a book by H. Richard Hornberger, who wrote under the pseudonym Richard Hooker. Hornberger earned a medical degree from Cornell University's Graduate School of Medical Sciences, specialized in surgery, and served as a doctor with the 8055th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean conflict. After the war, he worked briefly in a veterans' hospital before opening a surgical practice in Waterville, Maine, which he maintained until his retirement in 1988. His war experiences were the basis for his novel, M*A*S*H.

The movie should not be compared to the television series. It was faithful to the book which came first. The television series came about only as a result of the success of the movie, but by necessity became a completely different entity.