"M*A*S*H" Dear Comrade (1978)

Director:

Charles S. Dubin

Writer:

Tom Reeder (writer)

TV Series:

"M*A*S*H" (1972)

Original Air Date:

27 November 1978 (Season 7, Episode 11)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Plot:

A North Korean Spy infiltrates the 4077 and poses as Charles' Houseboy, in order to observe and report on 4077th's efficiency and success to his superiors. |

Plot Keywords:

Letter | Nurse | Colonel | Doctor | Korean War

Cast

Alan Alda	...	Captain Benjamin Franklin Pierce
Mike Farrell	...	Captain B.J. Hunnicut
Harry Morgan	...	Colonel Sherman T. Potter
Loretta Swit	...	Major Margaret Houlihan
David Ogden Stiers	...	Major Charles Winchester
Gary Burghoff	...	Corporal Walter Eugene O'Reilly
Jamie Farr	...	Corporal Maxwell Q. Klinger
William Christopher	...	Father Francis Mulcahy
Sab Shimono	...	Kwang
Larry Block	...	Cimoli
Robert Clotworthy	...	Private Welch
David Dozer	...	Groves
James Saito	...	Korean Soldier
Todd Davis	...	Latimer
Laurie Bates	...	Surgical Nurse

Runtime:

30 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone Sound Recording)

Company:

20th Century Fox Television

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: Hawkeye tries to get a jeep delivered and accidentally gets an M8 pack howitzer instead. The soldier who drops it off easily lifts it. However, moments later Alan Alda and Mike Farrell are obviously pretending to be unable to move it. In reality, the weapon was balanced on its wheels so that a single crewman can lift it by its rear trail to shift its position.

Quotes:

B.J.: [All five men are drunk] Hey, wait a minute, wait a minute! Kwang, am I crazy, or-or is your English improving?
Hawkeye: Yeah.
Charles: Yeah.
Col. Sherman T. Potter: Yeah, youz-you talkin' real good right now.
Kwang: Ah, yeah. W- Aaah, it must be the whiskey.
Col. Sherman T. Potter: Ah.
Kwang: Fill me up, Charlie.
Charles: How dare, do you realize who you're tal- a day ago, I employ- oh, what the hell.
[pours Kwang some whiskey]

Unique Of Its Time!!

Major Charles Emerson Winchester, III enjoyed his daily dosage of classical music in "The Swamp" at the show's opening. Little did he know that Captains Pierce and Hunnicutt returned to the 4077th to find out a surprise ailment was inflicting on the soldiers' well-being and recuperation. Kwang (played by Sab Shimoto) did his best to survive the Major Winchester's non-stop barrage of work. Colonel Potter does everything possible to find an answer to a mysterious rash problem afflicting the patients in the post-operation ward (all to no avail over the telephone). Even the surgeons and doctors had no clue of finding the malady from a pool of 10,500 plants in all of Korea. Kwang then found the cure: Korean boiled bark -- consisting of rank blue liquid to cure their rashes in a large bowl. Everybody from the 4077th (including Major Winchester with reluctance) praised Kwang for his hard work during the malady: a diploma. The Korean boiled bark had more stench than all of the Gold Dial soap in the show.