Catch-22 (film)

Catch-22
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Mike Nichols
Produced by	John Calley Martin Ransohoff
Screenplay by	Buck Henry
Based on	Novel: Joseph Heller
Starring	Alan Arkin
Music by	Richard Strauss (non-original)
Cinematography	David Watkin
Editing by	Sam O'Steen
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	June 21, 1970 (1970-06-21)
Running time	122 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$18,000,000
Box office	$24,911,670

Catch-22 is a 1970 satirical war film adapted from the book of the same name by Joseph Heller. Considered a black comedy revolving around the "lunatic characters" of Heller's satirical anti-war novel, it was the work of a talented production team which included director Mike Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry (who also acted in the film). They worked on the film for two years, and accomplished the tasks of recreating a World War II bomber base and converting Heller's complex novel to the more streamlined medium of a feature film.

Along with Henry, the cast included Alan Arkin, Bob Balaban, Martin Balsam, Richard Benjamin, Italian actress Olimpia Carlisi, French comedian Marcel Dalio, Art Garfunkel, Jack Gilford, Bob Newhart, Anthony Perkins, Paula Prentiss, Martin Sheen, Jon Voight and Orson Welles. Balaban and Garfunkel made acting debuts.

Plot

Captain Yossarian (Alan Arkin), a U.S. Army Air Forces B-25 bombardier is stationed on the Mediterranean island of Pianosa during World War II. Along with other members of his squadron, Yossarian is committed to flying dangerous missions, and after watching his friends die, he seeks a means of escape. Futilely appealing to his commanding officer, Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam), who keeps increasing the number of missions required to be sent home before anyone can reach it, Yossarian finds that even a mental breakdown is no release when Doctor Daneeka (Jack Gilford) invokes the "Catch-22" that the US Army employs. As explained, an airman "would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he was sane he'd have to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't, he was sane and had to."

Trapped by the convoluted logic of the Catch-22, Yossarian watches as individuals in the squadron resort to other means to cope; Lt. Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight) concocts elaborate black market schemes while crazed Captain "Aarfy Aardvark" (Charles Grodin) even commits murder. Nately (Art Garfunkel) falls for a prostitute, Major Danby (Richard Benjamin) delivers goofy pep talks before each bomb run and Nurse Duckett (Paula Prentiss) resorts to belting Yossaarian once in a while. Following an attempt on his life, Yossarian flees the hospital and sets out in a raft, paddling to Sweden, a refuge for one of his other squadron mates who successfully escaped the madness.

Cast

Further information: list of Catch-22 characters

As appearing in screen credits (main roles identified):

Actor	Role
Alan Arkin	Captain John Yossarian, (Bombardier)
Martin Balsam	Colonel Cathcart (Group Commander, 256th Squadron)
Richard Benjamin	Major Danby (Flight Operations Officer)
Art Garfunkel (as Arthur Garfunkel)	Captain Nately (Bombardier)
Jack Gilford	Dr. "Doc" Daneeka (Squadron Physician)
Buck Henry	Lt. Colonel Korn (XO / Roman policeman)
Bob Newhart	Captain/Major Major (Laundry Officer, later Squadron Commander)
Anthony Perkins	Capt. Fr. A.T. Tappman (Chaplain)
Paula Prentiss	Nurse Duckett (WAC Medical Corps Nurse)
Martin Sheen	1st Lt. Dobbs (Bombardier)
Jon Voight	1st Lt. Milo Minderbinder (Mess Officer)
Orson Welles	Brigadier General Dreedle (Commander, U.S. Army Air Corps, Pianosa)
Bob Balaban	Captain Orr (Bomber Pilot)
Susanne Benton	Dreedle's WAC
Norman Fell	First Sgt. Towser (Major Major's Desk Clerk, later Acting Squadron Commander)
Charles Grodin	Captain "Aarfy Aardvark" (Navigator)

Production

Adaptation

The adaptation to film substantially changed the book's plot. Several story arcs are left out, and many characters in the movie speak the dialogue and experience the events of other characters in the book. Despite the changes in the screenplay, Heller approved of the film, according to a commentary by Nichols and Steven Soderbergh included on a DVD release. According to Nichols, Heller was particularly impressed with a few scenes and bits of dialogue Henry created for the film, and said he wished he could have included them in the novel.

The pacing of the novel Catch-22 is frenetic, its tenor intellectual, and its tone largely absurdist, interspersed with brief moments of gritty, almost horrific, realism. The novel did not follow a normal chronological progression; rather, it was told as a series of different and often (seemingly, until later) unrelated events, most from the point of view of the central character Yossarian. The film simplified the plot to largely follow events in chronological order, with only one event being shown in Yossarian's flashbacks.

In a long, continuous shot, during the scene where Major accepts his rank as Major, the portrait in his office inexplicably changes from President Roosevelt, to Prime Minister Churchill, and again to Premier Stalin.

Aircraft

Main article: B-25 Mitchell aircraft in Catch-22 (film)

Paramount assigned a $17 million budget to the production and planned to film the key flying scenes for six weeks, but the aerial sequences required six months to shoot resulting in the bombers flying a total of about 1,500 hours. They appear on screen for approximately 10 minutes.

Catch-22 has become renowned for its role in saving the B-25 Mitchell aircraft type from a possible extinction. The film's budget could only accommodate 17 flyable B-25 Mitchells, and an additional non-flyable hulk was acquired in Mexico, made barely ferry-able and flown with landing gear down to the Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico filming location. The aircraft was burned and destroyed as part of the landing crash scene. The wreck was then buried in the ground next to the runway, where it remains to this day.

For the film, mock upper turrets were installed, and to represent different models, several aircraft had the turrets installed behind the wings representing early (B-25C/D type) aircraft. Initially, the camera ships also had the mock turrets installed, but problems with buffeting necessitated their removal.

Many of the "Tallman Air Force" went on to have a career in films and television, before being sold off as surplus. Fifteen of the 18 bombers used in the film still remain intact, including one on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

Death on the set

When Second Unit Director John Jordan refused to wear a harness during a bomber scene, he fell out of the open tail turret 4,000 ft. to his death.

Reception

It was not regarded as a great success with either the contemporary public or critics, earning less money and acclaim than MASH, another war-themed black comedy from the same year. In addition, the film appeared as Americans were becoming resentful of the bitter and ugly experience of the Vietnam war, leading more moviegoers to quit on war movies of all kinds, except for the movie hits MASH and Patton. Critic Lucia Bozzola wrote "Paramount spent a great deal of money on Catch-22, but it wound up getting trumped by another 1970 antiwar farce: Robert Altman's MASH." Film historians and reviewers Jack Harwick and Ed Schnepf characterized it as deeply flawed, noting that Henry's screenplay was disjointed and that the only redeeming features were the limited aerial sequences. Despite the film's commercial and critical failures, it was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography and retained a cult following. A modern reassessment has made the film a "cult" favourite; it presently holds a 88% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Adaptations in other media

Catch-22 was reprised as a CBS made-for-television movie in 1973, with Richard Dreyfus in the Captain Yossarian starring role. Other films (Catch-22 [2007], Catch 22: The New Contract [2009], Catch22 [2010]) have used the same catch phrase but are unrelated to the original book or film adaptation.

In popular culture

The song “Survivor Guilt” by punk rock band Rise Against (many of whose lyrics are anti-war like Catch-22) features samples of dialog from the movie at the beginning and in the mid-section; specifically, the discussion between Nately and the old man about the fall of great countries and potential fall of the USA, and their argument about the phrase “It’s better to live on your feet than die on your knees.”

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Harwick, Jack and Ed Schnepf. "A Viewer's Guide to Aviation Movies". The Making of the Great Aviation Films, General Aviation Series, Volume 2, 1989.
• Nichols, Mike and Steven Soderbergh. "Commentary." Catch-22 DVD (Special Features). Los Angeles: Paramount Pictures Home Entertainment, 2001.
• Orriss, Bruce. When Hollywood Ruled the Skies: The Aviation Film Classics of World War II. Hawthorne, California: Aero Associates Inc., 1984. ISBN 0-9613088-0-X.
• Tallman, Frank. "The Making of Catch-22." Warbirds International, Vol. 27, no. 4, May/June 2008.
• Thompson, Scott A. "Hollywood Mitchells." Air Classics, Vol. 16, No. 9, September 1980.

External links

• Catch-22 at the Internet Movie Database
• Catch-22 (film) at the TCM Movie Database
• Catch-22 Camera Aircraft history