..that's supposed to be him being loaded (dead) on to the truck outside during the poker game. Anybody else work that out? I sure didn't because i don't think you could but that's who it's meant to be according to the script.
If it doesn't *say* it's him in the film, why is this scene left in?
Any guesses?
Much was re-arranged between the time of the shooting script, the actual shoot, and the editing in post-production. The POW we see being treated before Ho-Jon was drafted was actually the actor who played Ho-Jon. A line was dubbed-in about the patient being a POW, but it is clearly him. In the script, this soldier is supposed to be Ho-Jon, but the continuity was changed by Altman for who knows what reason. (The wounded Ho-Jon subplot was also a major plot point in the novel--although he does not die in the book.)
The scene at the end loses some of its punch because the body that is being loaded is now anonymous. It is still a powerful indictment of the de-humanizing effects of war that the principal characters can go about their poker game while barely noticing the dead soldier being carried away.
If anyone knows if Altman addressed this change before he died, please respond.
"And me? I go on to become a big star in Italian Westerns."
"If anyone knows if Altman addressed this change before he died, please respond."
It was address right from the beginning: Altman never even glanced at Ring Lardner's screenplay. He threw it away and let his actors ad-lib... unfortunately most of them sucked at it.
In the behind the scenes stuff on the DVD there are a few snippets of the screenplay here and there. I don't think any of it matches the dialogue in the movie word for word, but a lot of it seemed pretty close. It was clear that they deviated heavily from the script, but your hyperbole is not well taken. Maybe Altman never looked at the script, but apparently the actors did.
shareI'm been aware of it for years because of the book Film Flubs (I think that's the title) that talks about the out of place scene of Ho John being treated for wounds before Hawkeye tries to get him out of Military service. They then point out the scene where the boys gives parting glances to Ho Jon's body (which is completely wrapped and nobody refers to as Ho Jon) on the jeep
Polls... One of the Main Stream Media's Jedi Mind Tricks.