Whenever you see great helicopter performances in 1970s and 1980s tv series and movies they were probably flown by veteran chopper pilots who learned their trade in Vietnam.
If you are going to quote Henry Blake here is what he said "there are certain rules about war and rule one is young men die and rule two doctors can't change rule number one."
@@kimiisungstartedthekoreanw2771 Is that a Bad Thing. I think the Movie and to a lesser Extent- Although ostensibly about the Korean War, the Movie and TV Series were really about Vietnam. Only the Most Right Wing Person think that the Vietnam War was Right. Every Veteran I talk to about Vietnam thought it was Bad. Since there are a lot of Reboots now of older TV Series- They could do a Reboot of MASH, but it would be set either in Vietnam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. I think they will probably never make it, because the Ruling Elite wouldn't like that.
@@kimiisungstartedthekoreanw2771 The book ( the actual source material ) was actually written by a Republican though. And in a later sequel Hawkeye mentions "beating up liberals". Just a little fun fact.
Director: I need a stupid song , I know I'll get my Stupid son to write a dumb song Son: writes a beautiful masterpiece of a song and makes more money than the director
@@2760ade Because this song was written in 1969, back when people had REAL problems. See, this kid actually grew up WITHOUT internet, texting, and streaming. He had to actually pay attention to all the shit that was happening around him. The only screen he had was a television screen, showing actual footage from the Vietnam War.
When you use the word today, please state the date in parentheses (which in this case is June 29, 2020) so that people will know which day that you are referring to.
Anyone ever read the Book MASH, yes there was a book written by Dr. Richard Hooker who was a surgeon for the 8055th MASH in Korea (the 4077 is based on the 8055th)
I never read the Book, Have you? I read an Interview with Dr. Hooker and he seemed like he was a pretty Conservative, Hawkish Guy. One Book I did read that was made into a Famous and its Sequel was The Grauduate and its Sequel by the author of the Book was called- HomeSchool.
@@PeeboTyson_ I never read the Book altough I did learn a few years ago The MOvie was based upon the Book. Did you enjoy the book PeeboTyson. The Movie was written by Ring Lardner Jr who I think had been blacklisted in the 1950s. I haven't seen the MOvie in a few years, but I thought the Movie and maye even more the TV Series had a very Left-Wing, anti-War bent. It also was more speaking about Vietnam than about Korea.
@@HoldenNY22 Yes, I read the book. I enjoyed it very much. I never got to read any of the sequels though I want to. The last few were written by other authors but i understand the "beating up liberals" one was from one Hooker wrote himself, so Hawkeye's hatred ( or at least annoyance ) of liberals is "canon".
What an emotional 180. From one of the most grim images of modern war to be imagined: dying soldiers harnessed to the skids of medical evac choppers along with a song glorifying the freeing nature of suicide right into a snappy dialogue skit that's not only funny but has the best punchline in the movie. "I gave everything to Radar!" No first three minutes of a film is like it. Though Lord of War comes close.
I would agree. The full experience would be having both the movie and the series in ur collection. I have found u couldn't appreciate the series without appreciating the movie first. U couldn't appreciate the instrumental version of the theme with first the vocal version
@@kma5699 Exactly. He wouldn't. The father made up that story about his son making "a million dollars" in royalties, and other people embellished on top of his embellishments.
I tried watching the tv show for a couple of episodes and gave up. It was boring with no real opposition as in the film. The jokes were usually pretty predictable.
This is one of those songs that really can get to you. Especially the way Altman did it in the movie. I recall in the mid 1980’s, going to rent this movie (on VHS) just to record this song on cassette so I would have a copy. I listened to it over and over until the tape broke.
"The sword of time will pierce our skin, it doesn't hurt when it begins, but as it works its' way on in, the pain grows stronger, watch it grin." "The game of life is hard to play, I'm gonna lose it any way, The losing card I'll someday lay, so this is all I have to say" This is really Shakespeare qualify writing, and done by a 14 year old. When I was 14 I couldn't even write a grocery list !
Shakespeare doesn’t do this type of writing he’s mainly a playwright and the few sonnets that he did write were more in the descriptive nature. Also the rhymes were a bit forced in this song but it’s pretty good for a 14 year old.
I happened to be in Sweden in 1976 and the TV series was airing on one of the channels. It was a treat for the Americans at our school to get 22 minutes of American English! The Swedish students always asked why the music was so sad. Since this was, for us, a rerun season, the one ending in Col. Blake's death, all we could say was, "Just keep watching."
Yes she was!! She was the original Hot Lips Houlihan!! Two years before Loretta Swit inherited the role in the long running TV show!!! R.I.P. Sally Kellerman the best respected actress in the world you are now in movie and TV heaven 👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌹🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈🌈💐💐💐💐💐💐👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼👼🏼
@@harrisoncaine6711 I contend this is bullshit, Altman just didn't want to take responsibility for a song that can be viewed as encouraging suicide. No one can blame a 14 year old for malicious intent !
What an incredible opening scene, an inbound evac, a procession of Bell 47's in tandem, sedated bodies, blood dripping off of a dangling arm, touchdown to the manhandling of the litters, to triage... followed by an urgent dust off back to the FOB, and do it all over again... just like the way it really was, gave me goose bumps.
Riding in choppers out in the bush is exciting. Noise and lots of wind. It's like being in your own movie as that is what i felt flying over I Corps in 1969. What a rush to be a Marine in country then...
Film dates 14 April - 11 June 1969, released in 1970 during the height of the Vietnam war. Robert Altman's 14 year old son wrote the lyrics. While Altman got $75,000 for directing his son made millions in royalties. 😎
While I was a kid in the late 90s my dad would watch the t.v. series. As an adult I started watching it again on ME t.v. about 6 years ago. When I finally rented the movie, I recognized those first few guitar chords. Then I heard lyrics...
They did? Before the pilot or later during the season or when? (Sorry, I'm too young to be familiar with the series, also raised in a post-Communist country where it wouldn't even be allowed to be on screen back when it was released in the States.)
When I took aircraft mechanics through a 2 year high-school, trade and tech program, the first helicopter we worked on is the ones in the MASH opening.. I don't remember the model number but I believe it was one of the "Bell" company ones. Thanks for posting.
The director’s son wrote the lyrics in about 15 minutes and still gets paid to this day because MASH tv show uses the theme even without the lyrics he still gets paid! Not bad for 15 minutes work!
I honestly think that Harry Morgan and his character, Col. Sherman Potter, should have been part of the series from the beginning. Sherman was a career Army officer, whereas his predecessor, Henry Blake, was more like a civilian in uniform.
What I always loved about the novel, the movie and the series is that they goofed off, made pranks and drank hard, but when those wounded men came in they got down to business, and they didn’t mess around.
I saw this movie when it came out - it's the most damning condemnation of war I've ever seen - the introduction brought tears to my eyes. It seems most of the critics never got the point of the film - they condemned it for laughing at war! They were so thick they never realised that when situations are so intolerable you have to laugh to keep sane!
So was I. I remember first seeing this movie on FX about 15 years ago, and when I first heard the opening guitar notes, I thought, "oh, FX is airing M*A*S*H?" expecting the TV show. I was curious as to why the theme song was about suicide.
G. Wood would reappear as Gen. Hammond in about two or three of the early episodes of MASH, including the pilot episode. The character did not last long in the series and other book/movie characters like Ho-Jon, Spearchucker and Ugly John would be gradually phased out as the first season progressed. Duke Forrest only got referred to in passing in one episode by Trapper as "the brain surgeon who fell down a lot". Neither the Painless Pole or Vollmer was ever seen or referred to in the series. There were several book characters who didn't even make it into the movie.
So dramatic to see the helicopters flying in. The portrayal of the doctors and nurses and orderlies skill and compassion as they take the patients to the OR is masterfully done.
The TV show Trapper John MD was said to be a spin-off of this movie. The actor who played the title character, Pernell Roberts, looked more like an older version of Elliott Gould, who played the character in the movie, than Wayne Rogers, who played the character in the MASH TV show.
Gene Reynolds, co-creator of M*A*S*H* and Lou Grant, passes away at the age of 96 Reynolds passed at the age of 96 on Monday at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank He co-created M*A*S*H* with Larry Gelbart, and he also created other socially-conscious shows such as Lou Grant and Room 222, but he was best known as a director Reynolds was born April 4, 1923 in Cleveland, and raised in Detroit until his family relocated to Los Angeles in 1934, where he started his career as a child actor He made his acting debut in the 1934 Laurel & Hardy film March of the Wooden Soldiers and he was contracted to MGM from 1937 to 1940 He served in the Army during World War II, and when he returned home, he continued acting, in shows like Green Acres and Dragnet and various movies, but he also started writing
40 years ago here in early 2023, the final ever TV show of MASH arrived on CBS aired. At that the time the most watched TV show in American history of just over 100 Million.
and the next scene was-Col. Blake:"RADAR?" Radar: "YES SIR!" Blake: (with Radar talking at the same time) "BLEH-BLEH-BLEH-BLEH! MOVE 2 SURGEONS FROM THE NIGHT SHIFT TO THE DAY SHIFT, CALL GEN. HAMMOND IN SEOUL AND ASK HIM WHERE THOSE 2 NEW SURGEONS ARE-WE'RE SURE GONNA NEED THEM!" Radar"...SURE GONNA NEED THEM! " (turns and runs off. Sgt. Volmer runs up: "YES SIR?" Blake: "I GAVE EVERYTHING TO RADAR!" Volmmer"Oh..." (turns around)
Oh man, I was a teenager in the 80s before I even knew that there was a movie and a BOOK??????????? I remember renting the movie in the 80s and just being blown away. Awesome book, I've read it maybe 5 times.
No he's right, the movie became much more famous despite the nominations the movie received. But Spencer is also right, the movie is superior to the show.
Robert Altman's son Mike wrote the lyrics to the song. The elder Altman later quipped that his son earned far more in royalties from the song than he did for actually directing the movie. The truly ironic thing about this is the royalties were, of course, generated from the song's use as the theme for the TV series, even though an instrumental version was used. (A TV theme song that repeatedly mentioned suicide wouldn't have gone over well in 1971.)
I never, ever believed that Robert Altman's 14 year old son wrote these lyrics. A 14 year old boy, wrote THESE lyrics, and "in five minutes" - ?! Bull. Do these lyrics REMOTELY sound like they would come from a 14 year old? If my 14 year old son was writing lyrics about suicide being painless, his ass would go straight into therapy. Plus, what's he written since this? These were ghost written. This was all about keeping the song copyright in the family. "My son made more money than I made directing the movie." 14 year old kids are NOT handed a million dollars - their parents are handed the money.
Interesting (to me) observation: this version of the song is slightly different than the version of the recording on the soundtrack album - additional strings. The version on the album only features 2 string instruments (I'm not sure if it's violin & viola, violin & cello, or viola and cello. I'm too long out of music school to discern that)... anyway, there's a few points where the version used in the film here adds a small orchestral string section. It's the same exact recording otherwise, not a different take. The extra strings are an overdub. A subtle difference (unless you've been listening to the track obsessively, as I have lately), but not a bad choice for the opening of a film. I'm curious why the album version was pared down, but both work just fine.
my God this song's lyrics and beautiful music are so touching! my younger brother "OD'd back in 2000, just one year after our dear Mother passed...some harsh times
who would have thought this would work so well.. if they made this now it would just be a hendrix song and probably be sung by a 20 year old, and it's not just the lyrics that are great but the images on the screen/cinematography, the harmony, the guitar really nails it, and when the intro starts you see a chopper but then your eyes are drawn to the body strapped to it.. it's really something, people trying to stay alive as long as possible while a song about how cutting your life short ain't all bad..haha I mean if I'm suicidal then this is gonna make me think about those who WISH they had another chance to live, it's going to make me appreciate the heartbeat and legs and arms I still have, well let's hope it did that for a lot of people
Per: www.legacy.com Johnny Mandel, an Oscar and Grammy winning songwriter, passed away at the age of 94 on June 29th, 2020... Mandel won an Academy Award for 'Best Original Song' in 1965 for “The Shadow of Your Smile,” the theme song to “The Sandpiper"... He also won a Grammy Award for 'Song of the Year' for his composition. In 1970, he composed the theme song to the movie “M*A*S*H,” which was again used as an instrumental version in the TV series inspired by the movie... Mandel wrote the scores to films including “The Americanization of Emily,” “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming,” and “Caddyshack.” Also an arranger, he won Grammy Awards for his arrangements of Quincy Jones’ song “Velas” and for Natalie Cole’s (1950 - 2015) 1991 duet with her late father, Nat King Cole (1919 - 1965), “Unforgettable"... May he R.I.P.
Was crushed to learn he passed. Still, 94 is a good run, and he certainly had a magnificent career to look back on at the end. If he wasn't completely satisfied with his legacy, he was nuts. RIP.
Hear a good question a 14 year old boy wrote this witch is so true think about what a great song he done it’s 2023 do you think that people today could write something like this now and this has stand the best of all time think about it
Gary Burghoff reprised the role of Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H for 7 of the show's 11 seasons and left by the 5th episode of the 8th season. G. Wood, who appeared in this movie, appeared in the pilot episode of M*A*S*H.
If you are going to quote Henry Blake here is what he said "Look all I know is what they taught me in command school, there are certain rule about war and rule one is young men die and rule two doctors can't chage rule one."
Loved this TV series and the hautingly beautiful music, though didnt always understand the humour. At tje time however didnt realise it was about the Vietnamese War. 😢
I remember last summer as my mother was entering her final weeks and days prior to her passing last 25 August I had the opportunity to watch a “MASH” marathon on Sundance Channel as well as see the “MASH” movie which I’d seen MANY times but considering what I was going through with my mother’s passing watching “MASH” brought me a LOT of comfort.
Would have loved if they had used this for the TV show... But, you don't get to play that on broadcast television, too powerful and with so much heart and meaning.
The real Hawkeye Pierce H. Richard Hornberger, 73, Surgeon Behind 'M*A*S*H' By LAWRIE MIFFLINNOV. 7, 1997 H. Richard Hornberger, a surgeon who wrote the novel ''M*A*S*H,'' the inspiration for the film and long-running television series of the same name, died on Tuesday at a hospital in Portland, Me. He was 73. The cause was leukemia, said his son William. Dr. Hornberger spent most of his life as a thoracic surgeon in small towns on the Maine coast, but his experiences as a captain in the Army Medical Corps during the Korean War led him to write three novels after returning from combat. He worked for 12 years on the first, ''M*A*S*H,'' which was rejected by many publishers, his son said, before William Morrow issued the book in 1968. Rejection stopped there. The 1970 movie, directed by Robert Altman from a screenplay by Ring Lardner Jr., was the third-highest grossing film that year and spawned the CBS series, which ran from 1972 until 1983 and was one of the most popular shows in television history. Dr. Hornberger modeled the character of Capt. Benjamin Franklin (Hawkeye) Pierce after himself, his son said. Partly for that reason, he disliked the television series and almost never watched it. ''He liked the movie because he thought it followed his original intent very closely,'' William Hornberger said. ''But my father was a political conservative, and he did not like the liberal tendencies that Alan Alda portrayed Hawkeye Pierce as having.''
Was it a good Book. I saw some interview a few years ago that the Author of the Book was a Conservaitve. I was surprised by this. I don't remember the Movie that Well. I think it was a little Meaner than the TV Series. I know the TV Series has a very Left-Wing Anti-War Bias which I think is a good thing. I think although the Movie and TV SEries are both Set in Korea, they are really about Vietnam.
When I was a kid, I saw a high school put on the MASH play; it shockingly to me, as a child,not a comedy I realized that, when the opening song (obviously with lyrics) was sung
The song is legendary, the Altman classic is damn good, but the series is a award winning epic! #Hawkeye btw Idk Hammer's first movie was this, i'm referring to Fred Williamson.
this song makes me think of my comrades at police academy . soldiering of any kind builds a bond that lasts a life time. and now when I train karate I feel the same . life is tough and changes but we have a choice . and thats the greatest gift not only mash gave people but we have . choice is everything to live how we please!
My dad, had a very hard life, he had a father that would beat him so hard he would pass out or stop breathing, he lived in a household where his sisters get sexually abused by his own father. He had to drop out of school at an early age and worked all hours of the day to support his family when times where rough. And when it got even worse, without any other choice, he joined the army (National Guard) at 18, 26 years later in 2004 he was stationed in Iraq for 13 months, in a place where the air was so bad, on multiple occasions he saw birds drop dead instantaneously out of the air, a place where the recommended maximum you should stay is 2 months, he developed, Sleep Apnea, RADS, COPD, PTSD, and even more, the doctor said he had the lungs of an 80 year old man when he was 50. He had to retire at 57 (28 years of service) the last 15 or so years he was an instructor for the military, due to his physicality, and for a time the VA denied his request to receive compensation, eventually he was deemed 100% totally and physically disabled, now he lives in a residence with my mom where he can’t move because of their credit which had been great until his step children had decided to taken advantage of my mothers grace, they never payed back on anything, including the 7 YEARS WORTH of bills for the house they "rented" which was free of charge. And they STILL deny him his Social Security. (Thank you for reading, it’s been really hard not to cry thoughout all of this.)
Thanks to your father for his service, and damn the US military for fighting to deny him the care and support he deserves. We throw young men and women into the meat grinder largely for the benefit of our largest, most profitable corporations, then cast them aside when we're done with them. M*A*S*H doesn't deal with that aftermath, but it shines a light on the horrors we subject our most courageous citizens (and those unwillingly consripted) to. For a film that was as often low-brow as it was high-minded, it doesn't flinch at depicting the excruciating realities war. I'll never forget the first time I saw the film (age 9, way too young) and an early scene had a doctor amputating a wounded soldier's leg -- the brief sound of power-saw against bone before the cutaway hit me in my gut. Again, profuse thanks to your dad for his service. Given the time frame, he never served in a conflict that we had any business taking part in - unless you count the Oil Business. But his sacrifice is no less profound. I don't do the prayer thing, but my thoughts are with him and the countless thousands of his comrades who will never recover from the physical and psychic wounds they sustained in the name of our country.
They’re the same set at Malibu Creek State Park. I visited it in late 2014 and some of the old ambulances and jeeps are still there, and so is the helipad and the direction arrows sign. I recently heard that the latest forest fires damaged the site, but it’s a great destination to check out as a hiker.
