"M*A*S*H" Follies of the Living - Concerns of the Dead (1982)

User Rating:

8.1/10   

Director:

Alan Alda

TV Series:

"M*A*S*H" (1972)

Original Air Date:

4 January 1982 (Season 10, Episode 10)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | War

Plot:

While Klinger is sick, he communicates with the ghost of a dead soldier. |

Plot Keywords:

Able To See The Dead | Human Soul | Directed By Star | Dramedy | Asterix In Title

Cast

Alan Alda	...	Capt. Benjamin Franklin "Hawkeye" Pierce
Loretta Swit	...	Maj. Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan
Mike Farrell	...	Capt. B.J. Hunnicut
Harry Morgan	...	Col. Sherman T. Potter
Jamie Farr	...	Cpl. / Sgt. Maxwell "Max" Q. Klinger
David Ogden Stiers	...	Maj. Charles Emerson Winchester III
William Christopher	...	Lt. / Capt. Father Francis J. Mulcahy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Perren Page	...	Driver
Randal Patrick	...	Hicks
Kario Salem	...	Private Weston
Jeff Tyler	...	Soldier

Directed by
Alan Alda

Camera and Electrical Department
Gerald B. Wolfe	....	still photographer

Transportation Department
Chris Haynes	....	driver (uncredited)

Writing credits
Ring Lardner Jr.		(1970 screenplay) uncredited
Linda Bloodworth-Thomason		writer (5 episodes 1973-1976) (as Linda Bloodworth)
Elias Davis		writer (17 episodes 1981-1982)
Sid Dorfman		writer (5 episodes 1973-1977)
Jay Folb		writer (5 episodes 1975-1977)
James Fritzell		writer (24 episodes 1974-1978) (as Jim Fritzell)
Larry Gelbart		writer (40 episodes 1972-1976)
Ronny Graham		writer (7 episodes 1978-1979)
Everett Greenbaum		writer (24 episodes 1974-1978)
Karen Hall		writer (6 episodes 1980-1983) (as Karen L. Hall)
David Isaacs		writer (17 episodes 1976-1979)
Robert Klane		writer (5 episodes 1972-1975)
Dennis Koenig		writer (15 episodes 1979-1983)
Ken Levine		writer (17 episodes 1976-1979)
Laurence Marks		writer (28 episodes 1972-1978)
Thad Mumford		writer (15 episodes 1979-1983)
Simon Muntner		writer (6 episodes 1975-1976)
David Pollock		writer (18 episodes 1980-1982)
Burt Prelutsky		writer (8 episodes 1975-1977)
Gene Reynolds		writer (12 episodes 1974-1980)

Produced by
Dennis Koenig	....	producer
Thad Mumford	....	producer
Dan Wilcox	....	producer

Cinematography by
Andrew Jackson
Sherman Kunkel
Vilis Lapenieks

Art Direction by
John Leimanis

Set Decoration by
Don Webb

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Barbara Gelman	....	second assistant director
Russell Llewellyn	....	assistant director (as J. Russell Llewellyn)

Art Department
Michael Casey	....	assistant property master
Kurt V. Hulett	....	property man (season 8)

Sound Department
William Hartman	....	sound editor
David M. Ice	....	sound editor (as David Ice)
Don Isaacs	....	sound editor (as Don V. Isaacs)
Godfrey Marks	....	sound editor
Ed Rossi	....	supervising sound editor
Richard Sperber	....	sound editor
Will Yarbrough	....	production sound mixer (9 seasons)

Stunts
Jean Coulter	....	stunts
Tom Elliott	....	stunts
Chuck Hicks	....	stunts
Leslie Hoffman	....	stunt: nurse M*A*S*H olympics
Pat Romano	....	stunts
Rick Sawaya	....	stunt performer
Jesse Wayne	....	stunt double: Harry Morgan and Gary Burghoff (1975-1983)

Camera and Electrical Department
Curtis Foster	....	rigging gaffer (1979-1980)
Dave Friedman	....	still photographer
Michael Hofstein	....	additional camera operator
Michael Hofstein	....	aerial director of photography
Al LaVerde	....	key grip (1978-1982)
Jim Sellars	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Rita Bennett	....	costumer: women
Albert H. Frankel	....	costumer: men

Music Department
Leonard A. Engel	....	music editor (as Len Engel)
Joseph Silver	....	supervising music editor
Kenneth Wannberg	....	music editor

Other crew
Elias Davis	....	executive story consultant (1981-1983)
Rita Hudis	....	technical advisor: medical
David Pollock	....	executive story consultant (1981-1983)
Lee Sollenberger	....	animal handler

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Through a dead man's eyes

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Although the plot seems a bit superficial, and "out there" to many, the moral of the story remains. Through the dead man's eyes we see and hear the doctors and nurses argue and waste time over trivial things while surrounded by death. In the final scene as he walks through camp, you hear a nurse complain about a broken nail, illustrating that what appears to be a crisis to one, is trivial when faced with death on such a scale as war. The vehicle might be a bit hokey, but the message stays the same. The World Wars, Vietnam, Korea, Iraq I and II, in each situation, people have been plunged into chaos and death without a personal stake. Farmers, soldiers, families have died for someone else's ideas, while someone else worries about a hangnail or who is on duty during the next shift.

Thornton Wilder spoke of it in Our Town, the play. "Mother 'n daughter....husband 'n wife....enemy 'n enemy.... money 'n miser....all those terribly important things kind of grow pale around here. And what's left when memory's gone, and your identity, Mrs. Smith?"