The film won Grand Prix du Festival International du Film , later named Palme d'Or , at 1970 Cannes Film Festival . The film went on to receive five Academy Award nominations , including Best Picture , and won for Best Adapted Screenplay . '' MASH '' was deemed " culturally significant " by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry . The Academy Film Archive preserved '' MASH '' in 2000 . The film inspired the television series '' M In 1951 , the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital in South Korea is assigned two new surgeons , List of M The main characters in the camp divide into two factions . Irritated by Burns ' religious fervor , Hawkeye and Duke get Blake to move him to another tent so newly arrived chest surgeon Trapper John McIntyre can move in . The three doctors ( the " Swampmen , " after the nickname for their tent ) have little respect for military protocol , having been drafted into the Army , and are prone to pranks , womanizing , and heavy drinking . Burns is a straitlaced military officer who wants everything done efficiently and by the book , as is Margaret Houlihan , who has been assigned to the 4077th as head nurse . The two bond over their respect for regulations and start a secret romance . With help from Radar , the Swampmen sneak a microphone into a tent where the couple are making love and broadcast their passion over the camp 's PA system , embarrassing them badly . The next morning , Hawkeye goads Burns into assaulting him , resulting in Burns ' removal from the camp for psychiatric evaluation . Later , the Swampmen humiliate Houlihan again by pulling up the walls of the shower tent while she is inside , exposing her naked body for all to see
1970 Cannes Film Festival
1970 Cannes Film Festival
MASH (film)