Memorable Frank Burns

This movie is noteworthy and thought-provoking in a lot of ways, but the one character that really lingers with me after the movie ends is that of Frank Burns. Frank Burns in this movie is obviously nothing like Burns in the TV show. this guy is a thoroughly despicable person who tries to disguise himself by wrapping himself in a cloak of religiosity. In that respect he is emblematic of a lot of the right-wing ultraconservatives that we see in politics today, people who give me the dry heaves. It has been suggested by another messenger that Burns may have raped the young Korean boy. That had not occurred to me before but now that it has I wouldn't discount it. But all that aside one has to appreciate Duvall's performance, which is great. It's not so much in what he says but in the looks he gives, the way he keeps darting his eyes around. He looks at the Catholic chaplain, Father Mulcahy, who is portrayed as a good-natured but rather addle-headed buffoon, with complete disgust.