Adapted from the novel MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker
This is the story of the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, particularly focused on the hijinks of Captains Duke Forrest, Hawkeye Pierce, and "Trapper" John McIntyre, known as the "Swampmen." These three are rather brilliant military surgeons who cope with their physically and emotionally draining job by pulling off elaborate pranks, much to the chagrin of their commander, Colonel Henry Blake.
Rather than focusing on one continuous story, this book is really more a series of anecdotes, held together by the compelling characters and setting. It's therefore not in the least surprising that the story was eventually adapted to a TV series, since the book and even the movie are already fairly episodic, and the possibility for additional episodes is almost limitless. The main thing I noticed in comparing the book to the film is most of the gist of the episodes was the same, but the details were significantly different. Perhaps the best example is the Captain Waldowski incident. Waldowski, known as the "Painless Pole," is a dentist who is frequently described in both the novel and the film as very "well-equipped." In both versions, he intends to commit suicide, and the Swampmen come up with an elaborate plot to make him think he's killing himself with a pill that just temporarily knocks him unconscious, then do something to make him feel better about himself. In the novel, the Painless Pole is prone to worsening fits of depression, and they cure him by pushing him out of a helicopter to make him think he's come back to life. In the movie, he's depressed because he thinks he might be gay, and they cure him by helping him hook up with an attractive nurse.
In addition to illustrating the way the film changed the details from the book, the above example also demonstrates the other main thing I noticed: I'm pretty sure this was the first time the Best Adapted Screenplay winner had more sex in the movie than in the source material. The nurses definitely feature more prominently in the movie than in the novel, which I would ordinarily be in favor of, except they mostly serve as objects of desire for the men. I enjoyed the addition of Major "Hot Lips" Houlihan's cheerleading during the football game, since that added to the already considerable comedic value of that scene, but otherwise most of the nursing additions were completely unnecessary. This isn't to say that there was a lack of sexual content in the book, but there was unquestionably more in the movie, which is fairly indicative of the shift in what Hollywood considered allowable film content that occurred around the late 1960s/early 1970s. So from a historical perspective, I found this change fascinating; from a feminist perspective, not so much.
After watching this movie, I watched one of the special features, and learned that apparently, the screenplay was all but ignored when filming. The actors were encouraged to improvise, and the director made a lot of decisions himself without consulting the script. Ring Lardner Jr. was apparently furious, but still received sole writing credit, and thus received the film's only Oscar. I love this story both because it helps explain why the details in the film are so different from the book, and because it demonstrates how meaningless the Oscars can be. Says the person who spends a significant amount of her life focused on Oscar-winning films.
Coming up next: Best Picture Winner The French Connection, based on the non-fiction book by Robin Moore
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