M*A*S*H

M*A*S*H (1970) is Robert Altman's savage war comedy, and you can watch it online on iFILM. Set at a mobile surgical hospital a few miles from the Korean front, it follows the doctors who patch up the wounded and keep their sanity with relentless gallows humor.

Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould and Tom Skerritt play Hawkeye, Trapper John and Duke — surgeons who are brilliant in the operating tent and utterly allergic to military discipline. Off the clock they distill their own gin, torment a sanctimonious major, needle head nurse "Hot Lips" Houlihan (Sally Kellerman), rig a football game and generally drive the brass insane. Altman cuts straight from a blood-soaked table to a punchline, and the two never feel far apart.

The overlapping dialogue and loose, documentary feel were radical in 1970 and reshaped American comedy. Ring Lardner Jr.'s screenplay took the Oscar, the film won the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and it spawned one of TV's most beloved series. Robert Duvall and Gary Burghoff fill out the company. Sharp, cynical and quietly humane, it rewards anyone who likes satire with teeth. Stream M*A*S*H (1970) online on iFILM.