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Oh! What a Lovely War (1969)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
3 October 1969 (USA)
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Tagline:
The ever popular war game with songs battles & a few jokes more
Plot:
A movie about the First World War based on a stage musical of the same name, portraying the "Game of...
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Awards:
Won Golden Globe.
Another 7 wins
&
5 nominations
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User Comments:
Should be subtitled: Don't Go Near the Poppies
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Cast
(Cast overview, first billed only) | 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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
144 min
Country:
Language:
Color:
Color (Technicolor)
Aspect Ratio:
2.35 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
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Fun Stuff
Trivia:
The last film of Cecil Parker
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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).
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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.
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Movie Connections:
Featured in The 100 Greatest War Films (2005) (TV)
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| IMDb Musical section | IMDb UK section | Add this title to MyMovies |
I first saw this movie in the theater in 1969. In my opinion it was by far the most powerful anti-war movie I had ever seen. I came to IMDB looking for a place where I could order a copy so that my children could see it. I can not think of another movie which makes use of the media so effectively. For instance, the party atmosphere of the boardwalk where we see a toy merry-go-round with puppets which blends into a real merry-go-round with real soldiers and real women which blends into real soldiers in a real battle. And the scene where the "upper class" lady is enticing men to join the army morphs into a whore soliciting anybody she can drag onstage. Then the camera moves to the men gathered backstage and the backdrop of the curtains in the theatre becomes the canvas cover of the truck carrying the men to the battlefront. Death is symbolized by poppies. The surrealistic atmosphere allows the characters to pass by poppies, or be handed a poppy rather than being shot or dying from mustard gas. And I particularly liked the scoreboard where the result--regardless of the men lost or the ground lost was always VICTORY! The final scene with the women and children having a picnic in a beautiful field requires the scope of the "big screen." When the child comes running up to his mother and asks, "What did Daddy do in the war?" the answer comes not from the mother but from the camera pulling back very slowly from the picnic. We see a cross and some poppies and then we see more poppies and more crosses until all we can see are the crosses and poppies of Flanders Field and we are no longer able to distinguish the people having the picnic. This is a film for those who enjoy surrealism and satire. It is a must for anyone studying anti-war films. And as an added treat, it has in it practically everybody who was anybody in British theatre at the time it was made.