Oh! What a Lovely War
Oh! What a Lovely War movie poster
Directed by	Richard Attenborough
Produced by	Richard Attenborough Brian Duffy
Written by	Len Deighton
Starring	John Mills John Gielgud Laurence Olivier Michael Redgrave Maggie Smith Susannah York
Cinematography	Gerry Turpin
Distributed by	Paramount Pictures
Release date(s)	10 March 1969 (UK release)
Running time	144 min
IMDb profile

Oh! What a Lovely War is a stage musical and 1969 musical film. The title is derived from the music hall song Oh! It's a Lovely War, which is one of the major numbers in the productions. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, CBE, KBE (born August 29, 1923) is an English actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. ... Brian Duffy Brian Duffy (Colonel, USAF, Ret. ... Len Deighton (left) teaches Michael Caine how to break an egg on the set of The IPCRESS File. ... John Mills as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the Thames Television science-fiction serial Quatermass (1979). ... Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000), known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award-winning British theatre and film actor. ... Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, (IPA: ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and four-time Emmy winning English actor, director, and producer. ... Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood in The Lady Vanishes (1938) Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, KBE (March 20, 1908 — March 21, 1985) was an English actor and the son of the Australian silent film star Roy Redgrave and the actress Margaret Scudamore. ... Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE (born 28 December 1934), better known as Dame Maggie Smith, is a two-time Academy Award, and Emmy-winning English film, stage, and television actress. ... York to the right together with Ilya Salkind on the set of Superman: The Movie, circa 1977 Susannah York (born Susannah Yolande Fletcher on January 9, 1939[1]) is an English actress. ... Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American motion picture production and distribution company, based in Hollywood, California. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year (70th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Also: 1969 (Stargate SG-1) episode. ... The Fantasticks is the longest-running musical in history. ... // Cannes Film Festival opens, but closes in support of a French general strike without awarding any prizes. ... The musical film is a film genre in which several songs sung by the characters are interwoven into the narrative. ... Music Hall is a form of British theatrical entertainment which reached its peak of popularity between 1850 and 1960. ...

It began life at the Theatre Royal Stratford East, in 1963 as a production by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop. It was based on The Donkeys by historian Alan Clark, with some scenes adapted from The Good Soldier Švejk by Czech humorist Jaroslav Hašek. The play was an ensemble production with no "stars" as such, but featured members of the company, such as Brian Murphy, Victor Spinetti and Glynn Edwards playing multiple roles. The production transferred intact to Wyndham's Theatre the same year. The Theatre Royal Stratford East is a theatre in Stratford, London, which opened in 1884. ... Joan Maud Littlewood (6 October 1914 - 20 September 2002) was a theatrical director, famous for her work in developing the left-wing Theatre Workshop. ... Theatre Workshop is a theatre group most notable for their devised pieces that included Oh, what a lovely war, and their leader, Joan Littlewood. ... Alan Kenneth Mackenzie Clark (13 April 1928 - 5 September 1999) was a British Conservative politician, historian and diarist. ... The Good Soldier Å vejk is an unfinished satirical novel by Jaroslav HaÅ¡ek. ... Jaroslav HaÅ¡ek Jaroslav HaÅ¡ek (IPA: ) (April 30, 1883 in Prague – January 3 , 1923 in Lipnice nad Sázavou ) was a Czech humorist and satirist who became well-known mainly for his world-famous novel The Good Soldier Å vejk, an unfinished collection of farcical incidents about a soldier in... Brian Murphy (born Ventnor, Isle of Wight, England, September 25th 1933) is a British actor. ... Victor Spinetti is a Welsh comic actor. ... Glynn Edwards (February 2, 1931) is a British actor. ... Wyndhams Theatre Wyndhams Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham (cp Criterion Theatre). ...

This satire on World War I (and by extension against war in general), was a surprise hit. It was adapted by the BBC for radio more than once, and in 1969 Richard Attenborough transformed it into a film. His star-studded cast included Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Jack Hawkins, Corin Redgrave, Michael Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Maggie Smith, Ian Holm, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Nanette Newman, Edward Fox, Susannah York, John Clements, Phyllis Calvert and Maurice Roëves. This film has been released on DVD by Paramount Home Entertainment. 1867 edition of the satirical magazine Punch, a British satirical magazine, ground-breaking on popular literature satire. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Richard Samuel Attenborough, Baron Attenborough, CBE, KBE (born August 29, 1923) is an English actor, director, producer, and entrepreneur. ... Sir Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde (28 March 1921 – 8 May 1999), better known by his stage name Dirk Bogarde, was an actor and author. ... Sir Arthur John Gielgud, OM, CH (14 April 1904 – 21 May 2000), known as Sir John Gielgud, was an Emmy, Grammy, Tony and Academy Award-winning British theatre and film actor. ... John Mills as Professor Bernard Quatermass in the Thames Television science-fiction serial Quatermass (1979). ... Kenneth Gilbert More CBE, (20 September 1914 - 12 July 1982) was a successful British cinema, television and theatre actor. ... Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM, (IPA: ; 22 May 1907 – 11 July 1989) was an Academy Award, Golden Globe, BAFTA and four-time Emmy winning English actor, director, and producer. ... John Edward Jack Hawkins (September 14, 1910 - July 18, 1973) was a British film actor of the 1950s and 1960s. ... Corin William Redgrave (born 16 July 1939) is an English actor. ... Michael Redgrave and Margaret Lockwood in The Lady Vanishes (1938) Sir Michael Scudamore Redgrave, KBE (March 20, 1908 — March 21, 1985) was an English actor and the son of the Australian silent film star Roy Redgrave and the actress Margaret Scudamore. ... Vanessa Redgrave, CBE (born 30 January 1937) is an Academy Award winning English actress and member of the Redgrave family, one of the enduring theatrical dynasties. ... Sir Ralph David Richardson (19 December 1902 – 10 October 1983) was an English actor, one of a group of theatrical knights of the mid-20th century who, though more closely associated with the stage, did their best to make the transition to film. ... Dame Margaret Natalie Smith, DBE (born 28 December 1934), better known as Dame Maggie Smith, is a two-time Academy Award, and Emmy-winning English film, stage, and television actress. ... Sir Ian Holm Sir Ian Holm CBE (born 12 September 1931), born as Ian Holm Cuthbert, is an English actor. ... Jean-Pierre Cassel is a french actor, born 1932 in Paris. ... Nanette Newman (born 29 May 1934), is an English actress and author. ... There have been several well-known individuals named Edward Fox, including: Edward Fox (c. ... York to the right together with Ilya Salkind on the set of Superman: The Movie, circa 1977 Susannah York (born Susannah Yolande Fletcher on January 9, 1939[1]) is an English actress. ... Sir John Selby Clements CBE (25 April 1910–6 April 1988) was a distinguished English actor and producer. ... Phyllis Calvert (February 18, 1915 - October 8, 2002) was a English film and stage actress. ... Maurice Roëves (born 19 March 1937 in Sunderland) is a British actor. ... Paramount Home Entertainment (formerly Paramount Home Video) is a home video company founded in 1981. ...

The stage show is traditionally performed in pierrot costumes, and features such World War I-era songs as It's a Long Way to Tipperary, Pack up Your Troubles and Keep the Home Fires Burning. Harsh images of war and shocking statistics are usually projected onto the backdrop, however, providing a stark contrast with the comedy of the action taking place before it. Harlequin and Pierrot, André Derain commedia dellarte c. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ...

The 1969 film transferred the mise-en-scene completely into the cinematic domain, with elaborate sequences shot at West Pier, Brighton, elsewhere in Brighton and on the South Downs, interspersed with motifs from the stage production. These included the 'cricket' scoreboards showing the number of dead, but Attenborough did not use the pierrot costumes. However, as many critics noted, including Pauline Kael^[1] the treatment diminshed the effect of the numbers of deaths, which appear only fleetingly. Nonetheless Attenborough's final sequence, ending in a crane shot of hundreds of war graves, each individually hammered into the South Downs chalk for the shot, is regarded as one of the most memorable of the film. In film theory, mise-en-scène [mizA~sEn] refers to everything that is to appear before the camera and its arrangement -- sets, props, actors, costumes, camera movements and performances. ... West Pier concert hall, 1995 The West Pier on 11th Janurary 2003, showing the collapse of the concert hall, before the fire. ... In literature, a motif is any recurring element that has symbolic significance. ... Pauline Kael (June 19, 1919 – September 3, 2001) was an American film critic who wrote for The New Yorker magazine. ... In motion picture terminology, a crane shot is a shot taken by a camera on a crane. ...

The Song

The song was originally part of the repetoire of music hall star Ella Shields. These are the lyrics: Ella Shields (September 27, 1879 – August 05, 1952[1]) was a music hall singer and male-impersonator. ...

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war,

Who wouldn't be a soldier, eh?

Oh, it's a shame to take the pay;

As soon as reveille is gone,

We feel just as heavy as lead,

But we never get up till the sergeant

Brings us breakfast up to bed.

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war,

What do we want with eggs and ham,

When we've got plum and apple jam?

Form fours, right turn,

How shall we spend the money we earn?

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war.

Up to your waist in water,

Up to your eyes in slush,

Using the kind of language,

That makes the sergeant blush.

Who wouldn't join the army?

That's what we all inquire;

Don't we pity the poor civilian,

Sitting beside the fire.

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war,

Who wouldn't be a soldier, eh?

Oh, it's a shame to take the pay;

As soon as reveille is gone,

We feel just as heavy as lead,

But we never get up till the sergeant

Brings us breakfast up to bed.

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war,

What do we want with eggs and ham,

When we've got plum and apple jam?

Form fours, right turn,

How shall we spend the money we earn?

Oh, oh, oh, it's a lovely war.

External links and References

• Oh! What a Lovely War at the Internet Movie Database

The Internet Movie Database (IMDb) is an online database of information about movies, actors, television shows, production crew personnel, and video games. ...

References in popular culture

• BBC Radio 4's 15 Minute Musical portrayed Tony Blair's premiership in the style of Oh! What a Lovely War in a September 2006 episode entitled "Oh! What a Lovely Blair"

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