As the Vietnam War raged on, Robert Altman looked at another recent undeclared war, the Korean War. His 1970 film MASH is part of the CALS Ron Robinson Historic Cinema series.
This irreverent black comedy follows the exploits of a host of offbeat characters at a medical unit during the Korean War, including surgeons Hawkeye Pierce and Trapper John McIntyre who create havoc with their martini parties and practical jokes while the war rages around them. The film won an Oscar for best screenplay (for Ring Lardner, Jr.) and spawned the successful television series M*A*S*H, which ran for 11 seasons.
The movie stars Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Tom Skerritt, Rene Auberjonois, Roger Bowen, Fred Williamson, and Michael Murphy (an Altman fixture). Gary Burghoff would be the only person to play the same role in the film and in the TV series.
Celebrate Memorial Day with Historic Cinema: MASH! Military members, veterans, and their families receive FREE admission. Cost for others is $5. The screening starts at 7pm.
Arkansan Charles Portis’ novel True Grit was made into a movie starring John Wayne and Arkansan Glen Campbell. Kim Darby, Robert Duvall, Dennis Hopper, Jeff Corey and Strother Martin are also in the cast.
Fifty years ago, former Arkansas Gazette reporter Charles Portis wrote a novel entitled True Grit. It is more than a work of literature, it is a work of art. In April 2018, the Oxford American will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of the publication of the novel with a series of events.
