Catch-22 (1970)

A flawed but nonetheless fascinating adaptation of Joseph Heller's caustic novel Catch 22, this big-budget, all-star effort was a notorious flop in its day, but has held up rather well over the years and deserves some serious reassessment. Set on a small island just off Italy, circa 1944, the film follows Captain Yossarian (Alan Arkin), an American bombardier who attempts to have himself grounded by claiming he's insane. Unfortunately, as Doc Daneeka (Jack Gilford) informs him, the paradoxical rule of "catch-22" prevents this, since anyone who voluntarily flies on air raids must be crazy, so asking to be grounded indicates that one is sane. As Yossarian becomes increasingly desperate, the inherent madness of the war intensifies.

The ambitious Colonel Cathcart (Martin Balsam) orders an absurd number of bombing missions in the hopes that he will be featured in The Saturday Evening Post; the perpetually puzzled laundry officer Major Major (Bob Newhart) is inexplicably promoted to Captain Major and made squadron leader; General Dreedle (Orson Welles) visits the base to hand out medals to men who dropped their bombs into the sea and then shouts, "Take him out and shoot him!" of anyone who annoys him; and Milo Minderbinder (Jon Voight) uses the war to create a major black-market corporation that deals in everything from morphine to prostitution and eventually cuts a deal with Cathcart to bomb their own base and sell surplus supplies to the Germans.

Bleak, nihilistic, and darkly hilarious throughout, Catch-22 can be frustrating for those unprepared for Mike Nichols' episodic, detached, and sometimes surreal treatment of the novel. Like a nightmare, the film shifts from one bizarre episode to another, with Alan Arkin's dazed Yossarian reacting to the madness that surrounds him. Although Nichols and screenwriter Buck Henry occasionally falter, Catch-22 remains one of the most effective and scathing condemnations of war ever filmed.

PERFORMER, CHARACTER

Alan Arkin, Capt. Yossarian

Martin Balsam, Col. Cathcart

Richard Benjamin, Maj. Danby

Art Garfunkel, Capt. Nately

Jack Gilford, Doc Daneeka

Bob Newhart, Maj. Major

Anthony Perkins, Chaplain Tappman

Paula Prentiss, Nurse Duckett

Martin Sheen, Lt. Dobbs

Jon Voight, Milo Minderbinder

Orson Welles, Gen. Dreedle

Seth Allen, Hungry Joe

Bob Balaban, Capt. Orr

Susanne Benton, Gen. Dreedle's WAC

Peter Bonerz, Capt. McWatt

Norman Fell, Sgt. Towser

Charles Grodin, Aardvark

Buck Henry, Lt. Col. Korn

Austin Pendleton, Col. Moodus

Gina Rovere, Nately's Whore

Olimpia Carlisi, Luciana

Marcel Dalio, Old Man

Evi Maltagliati, Old Woman

Elizabeth Wilson, Mother

Liam Dunn, Father

Richard Libertini, Brother

Jon Korkes, Snowden

Production Credits

Producers, Martin Ransohoff and John Calley

Director, Mike Nichols

Screenwriter, Buck Henry based on the novel by Joseph Heller

Editor, Sam O'Steen

Cinematographe,r David Watkin

Music Director, Fritz Reiner

Special effects, Lee Vasque