Father Mulcahy
Encyclopedia : F : FA : FAT : Father Mulcahy
| M*A*S*H character | |
-->Father Francis Mulcahy | |
| Father Francis Mulcahy | |
|---|---|
| Rank | Lieutenant, Captain |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Red |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Home city | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA |
| MASH (film)>Film portrayer | Rene Auberjonois |
| M*A*S*H (TV series)>Television portrayer | William Christopher (George Morgan for the pilot) |
| First appearance | M*A*S*H: A Novel About Three Army Doctors |
Father John Patrick Francis Mulcahy is a principal character from the film, M*A*S*H played by Rene Auberjonois and the television series version played by William Christopher. He was played by George Morgan in the pilot episode of the television series, but the producers decided that a quirkier individual was needed for the role, and Christopher was cast in his place.
Characterization in the film
The character, named Father John Patrick 'Dago Red' Mulcahy, in the film is a US army chaplain assigned to the 4077th Mobile Army Surgical Hospital during the Korean War. Despite his position of respect, few of the worldly staff members take him seriously and regard him as a professor of empty religious rhetoric and meaningless morality. He does get one of the film's good lines. When "Hot Lips" is wondering, in a very loud voice, how someone of such presumed low character as Hawkeye ever got into such an important position in the Army, Mulcahy looks up from his devotions with a wounded soldier and remarks, "He was drafted." The term "Dago Red" refers to a presumably cheap or home-made imitation of Italian red wine.Characterization in the television series
In the television series, the character began in the same style, but the character began to evolve. For instance, Father Mulcahy initially had a difficult time helping in the operating room without being physically revolted at the blood and gore, but eventually proved an able assistant beyond his spiritual duties.Character evolution
Outside the surgery, the priest gradually gained the respect of the staff with his emerging courage and wisdom in the most difficult circumstances. This included when he had to perform an emergency tracheotomy (using a pocket knife and an eyedropper) while under fire and many times he provided critical advice for various staff members.His wisdom was evident when the unit found an abandoned Amerasian infant and Father Mulcahy, fully aware of how such children are mistreated in Korea, recommended she be surrendered to a reclusive monastic order which could work to eventually transfer her to North America. The others initially rejected that option because of the monks' requirements of anonymity and no further contact with the child, but eventually ceded it was the only way when their repeated attempts to solicit assistance from other bodies were bluntly rebuffed.
A boxing priest
In addition, he eventually revealed numerous practical skills like being a champion amateur boxer as well as numerous connections he's needed for helping others, including black market contacts. By the later part of the series, Mulcahy came to be held in high esteem in the camp as evidenced on one Christmas Eve occasion where Hawkeye Pierce and the rest of the camp pay tribute to the chaplain with a Latin devotional hymn in his honor (Dona nobis pacem, "give us peace"). However, this respect did not extend beyond the camp considering Mulcahy's long and frustrating struggle to get promoted which finally took a personal appeal by the Company Commander Colonel Sherman T. Potter to the responsible officer at The Pentagon to achieve (after which, he says, "The meek may inherit the Earth, but it's the grumpy that get promoted.").Ministering to persons of all faiths
While the character was a devout Catholic, Father Mulcahy would cheerfully minister to the needs of people of all faiths, though in one episode he said that he was intimidated by the Southern Baptist service. On one occasion in the series, he performed a bris in the absence of a Rabbi. In keeping with that characterization, the television series did not present Mulcahy as a theological legalist; he did not criticize campmates about their personal moral habits (provided there was no harm to others). Instead, Mulcahy was portrayed as enjoying playing the piano (usually ragtime), drinking at the officers' club, participating in camp raffles and betting pools, and playing the occasional game of poker (although he donated his winnings to the local orphanage).In the series finale, Goodbye, Farewell and Amen, Father Mulcahy was wounded and deafened during a mortar attack and he begged B.J. Hunnicutt to keep it a secret. He elected to stay in Korea after the cease fire to care for other deaf people.
Mulcahy reappears in a second series
In the short lived spin-off series, After M*A*S*H, the priest decided to return to America, but suffered from depression and was drinking heavily. However, after his hearing is surgically corrected, he stops drinking and joins Potter and Maxwell Q. Klinger at a veteran's hospital as the chaplain.Trivia
- In the episode "Dear Sis", he expresses concern while writing a letter over his sister's (a Catholic nun) transfer to a church named after Saint Cecilia. There is, in fact, a real Saint Cecilia church in Fox Chase, PA, only a few blocks away from the Philadelphia city limits, where Father Mulcahy is from.
- In the episode "Crisis" Mulcahy is seen wearing a "Loyola" hoodie to sleep in.
- Father Mulcahy is, as many Catholic priests are, a huge fan of the Notre Dame football team.
External links
- [Finest-Kind.net] - M*A*S*H website with character profile
- [Best Care Anywhere] - M*A*S*H website with character profile
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