By Stephen Schochet
The
TV show MASH ran for 11 years taking nearly every opportunity
to bash the US involvement with the Korean War, which was actually
an allegory for Vietnam. Many episodes showed a moral relativism
between the US side and the communists, the doctors (with the
exception of Frank Burns) made no distinction between the wounded
and often talked about declaring the war a tie so they could
go home.
The
MASH set sometimes was a tense place to work, especially in
the early years. One episode featured a sniper who was eventually
shot by an army helicopter. Alan Alda (Hawkeye) objected to the use of
gunfire to settle the issue, some on the writing staff pointed
out that he had recently played an armed sheriff who had drawn
his gun in a TV movie which angered the star who retreated to
his dressing room.
Some
who worked on the show speculated that the pro-feminist Alan Alda
had problems reconciling playing the skirt chasing Hawkeye.
Although he was always professional he stayed aloof in the
early years of the show, going to his dressing room whenever
there was a conflict on the set. Part of the job of being the star
is setting standards of behavior for the cast, but Alda just
wanted to deliver his lines, contribute his creative ideas,
and fly home to New Jersey on Friday. One time he was asked
to record a video greeting to Navy stations, he refused claiming
it would encourage the troops to prolong the Vietnam war. Even
at Christmas he remained withdrawn refusing to buy any presents
for the cast and crew, going against traditional television
star rituals.
With
Alda being aloof, some of the rest of the cast became difficult.
McLean Stevenson began to demand he only do one take. Why? Because
Sinatra only did one take. He wanted to sit down in his scenes?
Because Sinatra always sat down. Gary Burghoff, who future co-star
Mike Farrell would later call the greatest actor on the show,
drove directors crazy by causing delays, asking what Radar's
motivation was for every scene. Loretta Swit became argumentative
and difficult. Only Wayne Rogers and Larry Linville caused no
problems. Yet the ratings continued to rise.
The
ultimate irony came from the source material. MASH continued
to blast the army, often making Generals look like buffoons,
and making several communist characters noble. Alda seemed to
lighten up as the show got new cast members and became even
more successful. But one person who found it difficult to watch
was the man who wrote the book from which both the movie and
television show were inspired by, Dr. Richard Hornberger. He
was especially bothered by Alda's portrayal of Hawkeye, the
character he patterned after himself, because Hornberger was
a Conservative, flag waving, pro-military hawk.
Stephen Schochet tells Hollywood Stories on radio, audiobooks, tours and speaking engagements. To hear more tales go to http://www.hollywoodstories.com.