I've been a fan of M*A*S*H for a long time. I enjoy the gallows humor and the jabs at the hypocrisy of war and the government(s) that cause them. I think the TV show was much better than the movie.
Like any fan of the TV program, I can not stand Major Frank Burns. During the course of one of my jobs, I had the chance to meet Larry Linville, who played Burns, when he was in town to speak at a college event. This was after he had left the show and his career consisted of bit parts on The Love Boat and similar shows, where he played Frank Burns-type characters.
I really didn't think I'd like Linville, since I disliked his character so much, but I couldn't help it. Polite, funny and great at ad libbing. Watching him do the media interviews was very entertaining. I wish I could remember more details.
I was very surprised by how much I hated his character yet enjoyed the actor. This, I thought, was a sign of good acting and good character development/writing.
When he died in 2000 (on fellow M*A*S*H actor Harry Morgan's birthday, coincidentally), I called in to a local radio show to talk about meeting Linville. I wanted people to know what the man who played ol' Ferret Face was really like.
I thought I'd also share with you a photo of the M*A*S*H site (Malibu Creek State Park, CA), which I visited 25 years after the show went off the air. The trail in the foreground was the main road leading into the 4077th. The OR and Blake/Potter's offices would be on the right.
To the left of the picnic table (and burned out Jeep) is the little hill used as the chopper landing pad. You may be able to see a faint trail leading up to the landing pad. This is the location of the wooden stairs, featured in the open credits with the close up of boots running up to greet the "incoming".
The land that is now Malibu Creek State Park was once owned by 20th Century Fox and used for filming. Its credits also include Tarzan, Planet of the Apes, Pleasantville and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
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