Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writers:

Charles Chilton (play)
Len Deighton (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 October 1969 (USA)

Genre:

Musical | War

Tagline:

The ever popular war game with songs battles & a few jokes

Plot:

A movie about the First World War based on a stage musical of the same name, portraying the "Game of...

Plot Keywords:

Song | WWI | General | Punctuation In Title | Satire

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 7 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Wendy Allnutt	...	Flo Smith
Colin Farrell	...	Harry Smith
Malcolm McFee	...	Freddie Smith
John Rae	...	Grandpa Smith
Corin Redgrave	...	Bertie Smith
Maurice Roëves	...	George Smith
Paul Shelley	...	Jack Smith
Kim Smith	...	Dickie Smith
Angela Thorne	...	Betty Smith
Mary Wimbush	...	Mary Smith
Vincent Ball	...	Australian Soldier
Pia Colombo	...	Estaminet Singer
Paul Daneman	...	Czar Nicholas II
Isabel Dean	...	Sir John French's Lady
Christian Doermer	...	Fritz

Runtime:

144 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:A (original rating) | UK:PG (video rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | USA:G

Filming Locations:

Bayham Abbey, Lamberhurst, Kent, England, UK

Company:

Accord Productions

Trivia:

The original Broadway production of "Oh, What a Lovely War" opened at the Broadhurst Theater in New York on September 30, 1964, ran for 125 performances and was nominated for the 1965 Tony Award for the Best Musical.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The bayonets of the band of the Irish Guards as they parade down the Brighton promenade appear to be for the L1A1 self loading rifle, first issued 1957 and still issued as standard by the time of the film, rather than the correct 1907 pattern bayonet for the Lee-Enfield No1 mkIII rifle (characterised by its longer blade length of 17" as opposed to the 8" of the L1A1's bayonet).

Quotes:

Sir Edward Grey: [as war breaks out] The lamps are going out all over Europe, we will not see them lit again in our lifetime.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)

War-what good is it?

Now on DVD with additional features including comments from all the major players. An all time favorite film because of the satire and today its nothing new same old thing. Each War seems to be worse than the last-lessons are never learned. Its the rich versus the poor-the officers who only got their commissions because they were born privileged. The film is obviously Anti War and wastes no opportunity to make pointed comments at the Masters of War. The cavalier attitude to Death is emphasised when one leader reads out the figures of "Casualties-201447 privates and officers killed yesterday.Ground gained-NIL" This movie says more about the futility of War than any other