“M★A★S★H Mash” Wars and armies are worthless! Unraveling the masterpieces of anti-war films created by master filmmakers

That unspoken word appears for the first time in a major Hollywood production!

Altman's direction was unconventional in Hollywood at the time. In particular, his emphasis on ad-lib is noteworthy. Tom Skerritt, who played Duke, recalled that 80% of the lines spoken by the actors were ad-libbed. He didn't mind if the actors' lines overlapped. Because that's what happens in real life sometimes. Creating a realistic film was one of the horizons that Altman aimed for.

However, some people were not comfortable with this approach. The two leading actors, Donald Sutherland as Hawkeye and Elliot Gouldeau as Trapper, were initially very hesitant and even consulted their agents about switching directors. Sutherland, who had built his career in the strict world of theater and treasured every word of the lines written by the screenwriter, thought Altman was crazy. Meanwhile, screenwriter Lardner was angry that Altman had torn apart the lines he had written. Ad-libbing and script changes are commonplace now, but Hollywood was extremely conservative at the time.

"M*A*S*H" (c)Photofest / Getty Images

On the other hand, those who are not tainted by Hollywood easily accept Altman's method. When watching the opening credits, one notices that there are many actors listed as "Introducing" (= newcomers). In a normal film, one or two actors are credited as newcomers, but in this film, 13 actors are credited. Many of them are people whom Altman scouted from an improvisational theater company in San Francisco. As they acted with them, Sutherland and Gould also began to enjoy this free-spirited method. "At a certain point, I could see a bond between them like real comrades in arms," ​​Altman said.

This film is also known as the first major Hollywood production to use the word "fuck." It can be heard in the climax of the film, during the American football game scene. Of course, this was also ad-libbed by the actors.

More radical, more black: Altman changed filmmaking