Such is the case in 1970 with Fox Studios, which paid far more attention their two BIG war movies--Tora, Tora, Tora and Patton—than to a smaller budgeted "minor" project about the forgotten Korean War, being filmed in the Santa Monica Mountains with a first time producer, an obscure director, and an ensemble cast of relative unknowns. Without the neglect, M*A*S*H would have been squelched in the can, and Fox Studios would have inadvertently stomped on a cash cow.

Contrary to political perceptions, studios are conservative corporate entities far more concerned with the bottom line than with making artistic or political statements. Rare is it that a major studio really risks putting itself in overtly controversial positions, so it's surprising that MASH got through the cracks. Studio executive Richard Zanuck approved producer Ingo Preminger's idea of transforming hack writer Richard Hooper's MASH into a film after becoming intrigued with the wacky characters in a Mobil Army Surgical Hospital. Former Hollywood Ten member, Ring Lardner, Jr. was hired to transform the novel into a screenplay and a director search was made.

After at least thirteen other directors rejected the quirky project, Robert Altman agreed to take on the project. Fox just didn't realize what a subversive mother he was!

Released in the midst of the Vietnam War, viewers often assumed that the film was about Vietnam. After all, if you missed some opening credits (only inserted due to the studio’s demand), the war is never identified, and one scene in a town even shows Asians wearing Vietnam styled hats. It's only the subsequent TV series that clearly identifies the setting (a series that continues to hackle Altman—he never watches it). Altman does this deliberately—he wants the audience to see the absurdity of war and wanted them to associate it with Vietnam.

One person Altman angered was his screenwriter. Lardner was incensed upon first viewing MASH, livid because hardly any of his script remained. Altman had incorporated elements of his "Chicken and the Hawk" project, the dialogue had all been improvised, and much of the soundtrack was muffled due to Altman's now legendary overlapping dialogue and free flowing ensemble work. Only the basic structure and ideas about inserting bloody surgical scenes to go along with the dark humor are the only items that remained from Lardner's script. Ironically, the only Oscar the film received went to Lardner for his screenplay.

Altman's unorthodox style greatly disturbed the two stars of the film--Elliot Gould (Trapper John) and Donald Sutherland (Hawkeye). They thought Altman was crazy and didn’t know what the hell he was doing, and both approached Fox, attempting to get the director fired. Altman knew nothing of this at the time, only noticing how the two lead actors isolated themselves from the rest of the ensemble cast. According to Altman, the rest of the cast got along great.

And why not? Altman is an actor’s actor, a director who allows actors the freedom to develop their characters and improvise more than any other major director. A few of the actors, like Sally Kellerman (Major Margaret “Hot Lips” Houlihan) and Robert Duvall (Major Frank Burns) had worked in feature films before, but many were recruited from a San Francisco improvisational acting troupe. Check out the opening credits to see a great number of actors appearing in their first film: Gary Burghoff (Radar) and Bud Cort (Private Boone) among the more notable ones.

(Announcement) There will be no stinking plot in MASH. Absurdist, irreverent, insolent dark humor. Those words come to mind when watching Altman's film. More like a series of sketches that persistently show the absurdity of war through very unique characters, the wacky events and bawdy humor remain realistic enough that even veterans of the "goddamn Army" relate to them. Because of the need, medical students found themselves performing service overseas, routinely serving 12-hour shifts that often expanded into extreme overtime. So, when Hot Lips wonders how such a degenerated person like Hawkeye could ever reach a position of authority in the Army Medical Corps, Father Mulcahy’s deadpanned response provokes laughter: "He was drafted."

Although Robert Altman is the supreme conductor of the absurdist acting troupe, a major reason the ensemble film works so well is due to the incredible casting. These are true actors, and not prima donnas looking for Oscar glory by upstaging each other. Together, they create classic comic moments even if the film has no real plot. Among the more memorable scenes:

Sexual broadcast by Major Burns and Hot Lips

Hot Lips' shower exposure

The Last Supper spoof

Football game, with the first uttered "Fuck" in a Hollywood film and needle injection to the opposition running back

Loudspeakers with trivial announcements (edited in during post-production to aid transitions)

A number of movies dealing with sixties issues—Easy Rider, Alice's Restaurant, The Strawberry Statement, or the laughable The Green Berets, for example--now appear very dated, like cinematic time capsules of the period. By choosing more universal themes, M*A*S*H continues to work over thirty years after its release and should continue for future generations.

War is Hell. War is by its very nature chaotic. War is absurd. Before engaging in the next war, both sides need to hire Altman as the director. He knows the territory, works with ensemble casts better than anyone, and provides plenty of laughs.

Note: The special edition DVD contains good Altman commentary and excellent featurettes--the only drawback being that much of the information becomes repetitive, as the same Altman quotes are heard in at least three places. Especially good are the insights behind the making of the film, plus some nice little known trivia. Two moon shots take place EXACTLY when there ARE men on the moon, so you could say that Neil Armstrong appears "on" camera.

Remember the shower scene? Guess what Sally Kellerman saw when the tent flaps are dropped?

By the way, Altman HATES the television series that evolved from his film. He wants no one to associate him with it!