Battle Circus

A young Army nurse, Lieutenant Ruth McCara (June Allyson), is newly assigned to the 8666th MASH, a mobile field hospital constantly on the move during the Korean War. Ruth's personal mission is to serve suffering humanity. She initially experiences an uncomfortable welcoming by the unit's hard-drinking, no-nonsense chief surgeon, Major Jed Webbe (Humphrey Bogart). Jed engages in a helicopter rescue of Army casualties while under fire. He is a surgeon fatigued by the continual movement of the outfit due to the changing battle lines. Responsible for the dismantling and re-pitching of the tent hospital is Sergeant Orvil Statt (Keenan Wynn), a former circus roustabout. At first, Ruth is a bumbling addition to the nurse corps, but she attracts the attention of Jed immediately because of the needless risks she takes. Against her resilience, he pursues her with sequential passes. She tells him she is not looking for love, just to win the war. After seeing that he is beloved by the unit, she softens and relents to his advances. He later cautions her that he wants a "no-strings" relationship. Ruth is warned by the other nurses of his womanizing ways, and that he is likely married. When she asks him if he has someone else back home, he refuses to answer, and they separate. When a young Korean child needs special care, Ruth entreats Jed to perform an open-heart operation, despite the reservations of the unit commander, Lieutenant Colonel Hilary Whalters (Robert Keith). Jed ends up saving the life of the child. Jed is a relentless taskmaster, demanding Captain John Rustford (William Campbell) fly desperately needed blood supplies at night, even in the teeth of a fierce storm. But he works relentlessly, helping guide the helicopter pilot during the stormy conditions. After the helicopter lands safely, Jed gets drunk, forcing Whalters to tell his chief surgeon either stop drinking or ship out. When a now more assured Ruth treats some North Korean prisoners of war, a frightened prisoner with a concealed grenade is slowly disarmed by Ruth's soothing words and manner. He eventually tells her he was previously married but, while deployed, his wife left him for someone else. She tells him when she falls for someone she would want marriage, but he tells her they can't plan a future. They begin an affair, and she tells him she loves him. After a North Korean advance forces the MASH unit to escape through enemy lines, the lovers are temporarily separated. When the unit's commander is wounded in an attack, Jed has to take command to lead the unit out of danger. They travel in two truck convoys and one convoy carrying the injured by rail. Traveling cross-country on his convoy, Col. Webbe sets out on a perilous journey, attempting to meet up with the nurses who have gone on ahead to a preset rendezvous. Eventually, the two caravans safely negotiate the battlefield, and Jed and Ruth are joyfully reunited.