CONSENSUS #21. MASH (1970)

 

SYNOPSIS: "M*A*S*H" is set in an Army surgical hospital in the Korean War. Hawkeye (Donald Sutherland), Trapper John (Elliot Gould), and Duke (Tom Skerritt) are three doctors who buck the system and deal with the stress through a cynical, prankster mentality. The movie is an anti-war satire.

BACK-STORY: “M*A*S*H” is a Robert Altman film released in 1970. It is loosely based on the novel by Richard Hooker. The screenplay was by ex-blacklistee Ring Lardner, Jr. He was upset with the liberties (ex. improvisations) Altman took with the script, but still accepted the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay. Lardner was not the only one upset with Altman. Donald Sutherland and Elliot Gould tried to get him fired because they did not like his gonzo directing style. Altman also had trouble with the suits. They wanted him to take out the graphic operation visuals, but backed down partly because they were distracted by their two big projects – “Patton” and “Tora! Tora! Tora!”. The studio did succeed in insisting on references to the Korean War be inserted into the film so noone would mistake it for Vietnam. Mission not accomplished. 14 of the top 30 actors were making their movie debuts. The film was a smash hit as it tapped into the iconoclastic mood of the early 70s. It was nominated for five Academy Awards (Picture, Director, Screenplay, Editing, and Supporting Actress – Sally Kellerman). It won the Golden Globe for Best Comedy or Musical. It won the Palme D’Or at Cannes. It is #54 on the AFI list of all movies and #7on the Comedy list.

TRIVIA:  Wikipedia, imdb, TCM

 

1.  It is based on Richard Hooker’s novel MASH:  A Novel About Three Army Doctors.  However, director Robert Altman found the novel terrible and racist and used little from it.  The screenplay was written by Ring Lardner, Jr. but it served as basically an outline because Altman encouraged improvisation and little of the dialogue ended up in the film.  Lardner was upset about this, but he did win the Best Adapted Screenplay.  He probably did not deserve it.

2.  Altman got the job after the first fourteen directors (including Stanley Kubrick and Mike Nichols) turned it down. 

3.  It was nominated for Best Picture (losing to “Patton”),  Director (losing to “Patton”), Sally Kellerman for Supporting Actress (losing to Helen Hayes for “Airport”), and Editing.  It won what later was called the Palme d’Or at Cannes.  It won the Golden Globe for Musical of Comedy.

4.  The studio was going to insist on substantial rewriting until a test audience loved it.  It did insist on a caption specifying that it was set in the Korean War, although the loudspeaker announcements made this clear.

5.  Altman wanted a song called “Suicide Is Painless” and he wanted it to be stupid.  When adults could not make it stupid enough, he turned to his fourteen-year old son Mike.  Because the song was used in the TV show, Mike made over $2 million in royalties.  His father made only $75,000 for the movie. 

6.  The table scene before Painless commits suicide was set up like Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” with Painless as Jesus.

7.  It was #56 on AFIs 100 Greatest Films.  It moved up to #54 in the 10^th Anniversary list.  It is #7 on the Laughs list.  The song is #66.

8.  In the famous shower scene, Sally Kellerman was always already on the floor when the side came down.  Altman and Gary Burghoff came in the tent and dropped their pants to distract her for the take that made the film (and won her an Oscar nomination).  That scene and Hot Lips subsequent meltdown in Henry’s office caused Altman to insert Kellerman into additional scenes, like as a cheerleader.

9.  Elliott Gould and Donald Sutherland did not like Altman’s directing style, especially the overlapping dialogue.  They also chafed over too much attention going to secondary characters.  They went to studio executives to get him fired, unsuccessfully.  Gould later apologized and worked with Altman again.  Sutherland didn’t and didn’t.

10.  A lot of the announcements were added after editing began (they had to do some additional shooting of the loudspeaker) to give the movie more structure.

11.  14 of the top 28 billed actors were making their film debuts, including Burghoff and John Shuck.

12.  The earlier “Battle Circus” starring Humphrey Bogart as a doctor was to be called “MASH”, but the studio thought people would think it was about potatoes.

13.  The only shot that is heard in this war movie is the pistol that ends the football game.

 

Belle and Blade  =   4.0

Brassey’s              =  4.0

Video Hound       =  5.0

War Movies         =  5.0

Military History  =  #33

Channel 4             =  #22

Film Site                =  yes

101 War Movies  =  yes

Rotten Tomatoes  =  #68 

ACCURACY: The movie does not purport to be a true story, but the novel is semi –autobiographical so we can assume the operating room scenes are authentic. The episodes (ex. the football game, the trip to Japan) seem made up. The movie conforms to the book for the most part. All of the major episodes are in the book, but improved upon in my opinion. For instance, Painless Pole is suffering from a periodic bout of depression and does not have sex with a nurse to cure it. The movie also leaves out some of the weaker parts of the book so it is superior to its source. In the book, the trio are meaner drunks than in the movie.

OPINION: MASH is a movie that defies conventions. It mixes realism with dark humor. Much of the dialogue was improvised which you would not realize by watching the movie. Altman likes to overlap the dialogue, especially in the operating scenes. This makes the movie seem more intelligent than it is. The cinematography is also noteworthy. Altman uses a lot of fly on the wall shots. Some of these shots are long range and static. This is seen best in the “Last Supper” scene. We are put in the middle of the action in the operating room scenes. Action and dialogue swirl around the viewer.

The movie made a big splash with the Vietnam anti-war movement, but there is little in the dialogue that criticizes war. The movie is definitely anti-war in the operating room simply because the audience gets to see the results of combat. The insanity of war does come through. For the most part it is more of an anti-military film. All the negative characters are loyal to the Army and want to follow its rules. A corollary to that is the anti-authority theme. Most of the authority figures are incompetent and deserve to be taken down. Perhaps not surprisingly, Altman does not give the trio a competent foil. Contrast this with Col. Potter in the TV series. On the other hand, Hawkeye, Trapper John, and Duke are anti-heroes typical of 70s counterculture flicks. As a teacher (and not an incompetent one), I have had students like them and they are much more fun on a movie screen than in a classroom.

The movie is episodic in structure. Altman arrived at the loudspeaker announcements as bridges to the new episode. This device works, but the announcements are overrated as humor. Speaking of humor, the movie does have some great one-liners. However, much of the humor is crass and mean. Some it would be considered politically incorrect today. You have characters named “Spearchucker” and “Dago Red” and a scenario where a dentist would rather be dead than gay. The movie is also anti-religion, but Father Mulcahy (Rene Auberjonois) comes off well. Many war movies would be better if remade because of the lowered constraints on language and violence. This movie is not one of them.

In conclusion, M*A*S*H is a unique movie. MASH is one of the great war comedies and an important one. It may be second only to “Dr. Strangelove”. It certainly was unlike any other war comedy made before it. There are few war movies that concentrate on military medicine, much less of the dark humor variety.