Oh! What a Lovely War

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Oh! What a Lovely War (10-Mar-1969)

Director: Richard Attenborough

Writer: Len Deighton

From a play by: Charles Chilton; Joan Littlewood

Keywords: Musical, WWI

Name Occupation Birth Death Known for

Michael Bates Actor 4-Dec-1920 11-Jan-1978 A Clockwork Orange

Dirk Bogarde Actor 28-Mar-1921 8-May-1999 A Bridge Too Far

Phyllis Calvert Actor 18-Feb-1915 8-Oct-2002 Madonna of the Seven Moons

Jean-Pierre Cassel Actor 27-Oct-1932 19-Apr-2007 The Crimson Rivers

Edward Fox Actor 13-Apr-1937 Force 10 from Navarone

John Gielgud Actor 14-Apr-1904 21-May-2000 Prospero's Books

Jack Hawkins Actor 14-Sep-1910 18-Jul-1973 Land of the Pharaohs

Ian Holm Actor 12-Sep-1931 Time Bandits

John Mills Actor 22-Feb-1908 23-Apr-2005 Ryan's Daughter

Juliet Mills Actor 21-Nov-1941 The Rare Breed

Kenneth More Actor 20-Sep-1914 12-Jul-1982 The Admirable Crichton

Nanette Newman Actor 29-May-1934 International Velvet

Laurence Olivier Actor 22-May-1907 11-Jul-1989 Shakespearean actor

Cecil Parker Actor 3-Sep-1897 20-Apr-1971 The Ladykillers

Corin Redgrave Actor 16-Jul-1939 6-Apr-2010 Not About Nightingales

Michael Redgrave Actor 20-Mar-1908 21-Mar-1985 Mourning Becomes Electra

Vanessa Redgrave Actor 30-Jan-1937 Julia

Ralph Richardson Actor 19-Dec-1902 10-Oct-1983 Things To Come

Maggie Smith Actor 28-Dec-1934 Prof. McGonagall in Harry Potter

Susannah York Actor 9-Jan-1941 14-Jan-2011 They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

REVIEWS

Review by Colin Phillips (posted on 12-Aug-2005)

Very theatrical but powerful anti-war movie in which the absurdity of the First World War is revealed through the enlistment of the Smith brothers, symbols of Britain's lost generation (all the brothers are killed). There is no trench warfare on screen, and whenever somebody dies, a red poppy denotes the death. The real star of the movie is the array of First World War songs, which are beautifully mounted. The movie has a cast of great British stars. Not to everybody's taste but a powerful musical satire with a bold, sardonic ending. Unforgettable if you can handle symbolic representations of war without boredom or irritation.

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