The fourteen-year-old son of director Robert Altman, Mike Altman, wrote the lyrics to the theme song "Suicide is Painless." Because of its inclusion in the subsequent television series, he continued to get residuals throughout its run and syndication. His father was paid $75,000 for directing, but his son eventually made about $2 million in song royalties, with payments continuing, from first syndication through the present day, as M

A

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H (1972) continues in syndication around the world.

Tom Skerritt recalled that the dialogue was about 80% improvised. In order to create a different kind of atmosphere, Robert Altman cast some of the parts from improvisational clubs who had no previous movie or TV experience.

According to Johnny Mandel and Robert Altman, the film's famous theme song was intended to be the "stupidest song ever written." After attempting to write the lyrics himself, Altman said he found it too difficult to write "dumb enough," and instead gave to the task to his fourteen-year-old son. Mike Altman allegedly wrote the lyrics in five minutes, not even expecting to be paid, since he was the director's son. He ended up making millions in royalties off the song.

The first take of the shot where Hot Lips is revealed in the shower didn't work because Sally Kellerman anticipated the reveal, and was already lying on the floor when the tent flap went up. To distract her, Robert Altman and Gary Burghoff entered the shower tent and dropped their trousers while the shot was rolling outside. While Kellerman was staring at them, the tent flap was raised, resulting in her genuine surprise and shock when she realized what had happened. In the Special Edition double disc DVD, they say that Radar (portrayed by Gary Burghoff) had been standing naked beside the camera, and that's the reason why Sally Kellerman looks so surprised when the flap was raised.

The operating scenes were almost cut out due to their graphic nature. However, two women who were visiting the set told the producers that the operating scenes were what made the movie, and should be kept in.

Continuity

At the 14 minute mark you can see Trapper in the operating theater, but he hasn't yet arrived to the 4077th.

In the mess tent scene after Hot Lips' and Frank Burns' tryst, Hawkeye's coat sleeve has a small wet stain BEFORE Hot Lips sloshes hot cereal on it. After Hot Lips spills the cereal on Hawkeye's coat no cereal appears on his sleeve. The camera cuts away and back to Hawkeye, revealing a large glop of the cereal. The camera again cuts away and back, showing the same smaller wet spot but no cereal.

The dirt/stubble of Radar's face is inconsistent during the football game, as when he says, "Their ringer spotted our ringer."

When the chopper comes in while Hawkeye and Trapper are playing golf there's a good aerial view of the camp and helipad. The nurses who are sunbathing at the bottom of the helipad when the pilot runs down the hill are not in that spot (or anywhere else) during the helicopters arrival. Also, the dirt hillside of the landing pad where Hawkeye and the pilot scuffle is already messed up from previous takes. The freshly turned over dirt is much darker there than elsewhere on the hillside.

When Hot Lips confronts Lt. Col. Blake after she was exposed in the shower, she stands framed in the doorway of Lt. Col. Blake's tent. To her left, there is a mirror hanging on the tent wall that appears/disappears between shots.



Factual errors

Margaret's surname is scripted as "Houlihan". The 'O' was added due to a slip of the tongue by G. Wood and Roger Bowen, the only two people who refer to her as "O'Houlihan" in the whole movie.

Hawkeye gives amphetamines to Ho John so that he will fail his draft board physical. However, Ho John displays the characteristics of depressant abuse; he basically just stands there in a listless stupor. Amphetamine abuse should do the opposite; he should be nervous, excitable, and talkative. Correction: While most people on amphetamines react differently, those who have ADD or ADHD do have the appearance of being on depressants because of the chemical reaction in their bodies which is why children unfortunately are given amphetamines as a treatment for such a diagnosis. It has even been known to cause them to fall asleep and make them feel as if they are in a fog.

Trapper John and Hawkeye are both qualified medical doctors. They would be perfectly aware that it is perfectly possible for a natural blonde to have brown or even black pubic hair. Exposing Houlihan to see if she has blonde pubic hair is pointless; if she didn't, it means nothing, and if she did, she could have bleached that, too.

An announcement is made that Yom Kippur cannot be held on Friday due to extenuating circumstances, but those who wish to observe may do so on Sunday. Yom Kippur never falls on either a Friday or a Sunday; an "alternate" day for the holiday that could actually occur would be Saturday.

When stealing the jeep in the opening scene, Hawkeye and Duke, freshly arrived in Korea, would have no idea how to get to the 4077th, yet the overhead shots imply that they know just which direction and roads to take.



Incorrectly regarded as goofs

At the football game, Henry salutes the general when they meet at halftime. They were not in uniform and so the salute would seemingly be pointless. However, whether in uniform or not, if a soldier sees and recognizes a senior officer by regulation a salute must be rendered. Salutes are also given as a sign of respect and courtesy.



Revealing mistakes

Cars on a freeway in the background of the football game.

During the football game, when the men in the wheelchairs get tackled there are high tension power lines in the background.

The scenery in the film, especially the outdoor scenes, are clearly those of a semi-arid landscape. South Korea was/is a mountainous and heavily forested nation that has no semi-arid nor desert locations within the country. Additionally, many of the trees and plants seen in the film are either native to the film's North American filming location or are transplants from other areas of the world. None of them, however, are native to South Korea, the setting of the film.

When Hawkeye and Trapper John are in Japan, a "Japanese" nurse speaks in heavily American accented, awkward, and mispronounced "Japanese".

At the beginning of the movie, Hawkeye steals a jeep and drives away. The sergeant in charge sends MPs after him in another jeep, but the MP jeep is immediately stopped by a tire blowout. But when the jeep is parked, all four tires are fully inflated.



Miscellaneous

In the written cast credits, David Arkin's character is listed as Sgt Major Vollmer, however in the closing (spoken) credits he's referred to as Staff Sergeant Vollmer. Both of these, however, are wrong. The rank insignia Vollmer wears is a Korean War-era Sergeant First Class, which has three stripes and two rockers and no device between them. This can clearly be seen while Vollmer speaks with Radar around eleven minutes into the film.



Anachronisms

Throughout the film the characters are drinking the present 1970's style cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon and Budweiser. In fact during the Korean Conflict, Pabst was not available overseas.

The football helmets worn in the game are of late 1960s vintage, with the familiar "modern" round shape and face masks. A football game during the Korean War would have likely featured early-model plastic helmets shaped like the older leather-style helmets with no face masks.

One of the Japanese language versions of U.S. songs played on Armed Forces Radio is "Hi-Lili, Hi-Lo," which wasn't written until 1952 and released in English that August, a year after the setting of the film.

Ho-Jon is wearing a t-shirt with a Native American chief on it. That shirt was proper for 1970 but not for 1951 in Korea.

Elliott Gould's hairstyle and handlebar mustache was suitable for 1970 but for the early 1950's.



Crew or equipment visible

During the talk in the office about having a football game, a light, presumably from one of the cameras, can be seen reflected in one of the men's sunglasses.



Plot holes

While Col. Blake, Father Mulcahy, and others are waiting for the helicopter carrying Major O'Houlihan to arrive, Lt. Dish can be seen sitting in the jeep in dress uniform displaying the glassy-eyed stare she employs much later in the film when she ships out after administering "therapy" to Painless Waldowski. Obviously this uncut scene was shot with a different plot sequence in mind.



Character error

Trapper tells a joke about the racehorse Man o' War, saying that the horse died at age 36. Man O' War only lived to be 30 in reality.

Trapper John (Elliott Gould ) was not only not dressed or groomed within the regulations of the US Army of the 1950's, it wasn't acceptable during the 1970s filming of movie. There's no way that a military officer (doctor or not) would be allowed to report to a military unit looking as he did.

Hawkeye is supposedly from the East Coast of the United States. However, Canadian vowel sounds are prominent in his accent throughout the film.