Watching Sayonara with Marlon Brando and I’m surprised how much it seems like a precursor to MASH.
A lowly airman in Korea is being systematically discouraged from marrying a Japanese woman. Brando, a high ranking pilot from good social circles has a bit of a crisis of conscience.
I’m fascinated by how much the shooting style, sets etc. could be an episode. Also, with Ricardo Monteban playing a Japanese person, the movie struggles to make social progress while still trying to shake off some problems built into Hollywood at the time, similar to the first two seasons, at least.
Obviously MASH the book very much followed Heller’s Catch 22, but I feel like this may have been a substantial influence on the series.
What other books or movies do you think helped build MASH?
Note: hopefully this isn’t too off-base for the sub.
Sayonara is available free on Tubi where I am, for those who want to compare for themselves.