View source for Oh! What a Lovely War

{{Short description|1969 British musical film by Richard Attenborough}}
{{About|the 1969 film|the original 1963 stage musical|Oh, What a Lovely War!}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2024}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Oh! What a Lovely War
| image = Oh_what_a_lovely_war.jpg
| caption = Theatrical release poster
| director = [[Richard Attenborough]]
| producer = {{plainlist|
*[[Len Deighton]]
*[[Brian Duffy (photographer)|Brian Duffy]]
}}
| writer = [[Len Deighton]] (uncredited)
| based_on = {{based on|''[[Oh, What a Lovely War!]]''|[[Joan Littlewood]]}}
| starring = {{plainlist|
*[[Maggie Smith]]
*[[Dirk Bogarde]]
*[[Phyllis Calvert]]
*[[Jean Pierre Cassel]]
*[[John Clements (actor)|John Clements]]
*[[John Gielgud]]
*[[Jack Hawkins]]
*[[Kenneth More]]
*[[Laurence Olivier]]
*[[Michael Redgrave]]
*[[Vanessa Redgrave]]
*[[Ralph Richardson]]
*[[Susannah York]]
*[[John Mills]]
}}
| music =
| cinematography = [[Gerry Turpin]]
| editing = [[Kevin Connor (director)|Kevin Connor]]
| studio = Accord Productions
| distributor = [[Paramount Pictures]]
| released = {{film date|1969|4|10|df=y}}
| runtime = 144 minutes
| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| budget =
}}
'''''Oh! What a Lovely War''''' is a 1969 British [[Epic film|epic]] [[Comedy film|comedy]] [[Historical drama|historical]] [[Musical film|musical]] [[war film]] directed by [[Richard Attenborough]] (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast, including [[Maggie Smith]], [[Dirk Bogarde]], [[John Gielgud]], [[John Mills]], [[Kenneth More]], [[Laurence Olivier]], [[Jack Hawkins]], [[Corin Redgrave]], [[Michael Redgrave]], [[Vanessa Redgrave]], [[Ralph Richardson]], [[Ian Holm]], [[Paul Shelley]], [[Malcolm McFee]], [[Jean-Pierre Cassel]], [[Nanette Newman]], [[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]], [[Susannah York]], [[John Clements (actor)|John Clements]], [[Phyllis Calvert]] and [[Maurice Roëves]].

The film is based on the stage musical ''[[Oh, What a Lovely War!]]'', originated by [[Charles Chilton]] as the radio play ''The Long Long Trail'' in December 1961,<ref>''The Cambridge History of Twentieth-Century English Literature'', ed Laura Marcus & Peter Nicholls, page 478. Cambridge University Press, 2004. {{ISBN|0-521-82077-4}}, {{ISBN|978-0-521-82077-6}}.</ref><ref name="Witness">{{cite episode | title=Witness: Oh what a lovely war | series=Witness | credits=Vincent Dowd | network=[[BBC World Service]] | location=London | airdate=11 November 2011}}</ref> and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with [[Joan Littlewood]] and her [[Theatre Workshop]] in 1963.<ref>Banham (1998, 645), Brockett and Hildy (2003, 493), and Eyre and Wright (2000, 266–69).</ref>

The title is derived from the [[music hall]] song "Oh! It's a Lovely War", which is one of the major numbers in the film.

==Synopsis==
''Oh! What a Lovely War'' is a [[satire|satirical]] summary of major events of [[World War I|the First World War]] using popular contemporary songs and allegorical settings such as Brighton's [[West Pier]] to criticise the conduct of the war.

The diplomatic manoeuvring and events involving those in authority are set in a fantasy location inside the pierhead pavilion. Foreign ministers, generals and heads of state walk over a huge map of Europe, reciting words actually spoken by those historical figures. A photographer takes a picture of Europe's rulers – after handing two red poppies to the [[Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria|Archduke Ferdinand]] and his wife, the [[Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg|Duchess of Hohenberg]], he takes their picture, "[[Assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand|assassinating]]" them as the flash goes off. Many of the heads of state enjoy good personal relations and are reluctant to go to war: a tearful [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Emperor Franz Josef]] declares war on [[Kingdom of Serbia|Serbia]] after being deceived by [[Count Leopold Berchtold|his Foreign Minister]], and [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]] and [[William II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm II]] are shown as unable to overrule their countries' military mobilisation schedules. The German [[German invasion of Belgium (1914)|invasion of Belgium]] compels [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Sir Edward Grey]] to unwillingly get involved. [[Kingdom of Italy|Italy]] reneges on its [[Triple Alliance (1882)|alliance]] with the Central Powers (it [[Treaty of London (1915)|joined]] the Allies in 1915) but [[Ottoman Empire|Turkey]] joins them instead.

The optimism of the war's early months is depicted by an archetypal British family of the time, the Smiths, shown entering Brighton's West Pier to purchase tickets from [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|General Haig]]. The film follows the young Smith men through their experiences in the trenches. A military band rouses holidaymakers from the beach to rally round and follow – some even literally [[Bandwagon effect|boarding a bandwagon]]. The first [[Battle of Mons]], presented in realistic style, maintains the cheerful mood of the bandwagon allegory.

When British casualties start to mount, a theatre audience is rallied by singing "Are We Downhearted? No!" A brightly coloured chorus line recruits [[Kitchener's Army|a volunteer army]] with "We don't want to lose you, but we think you ought to go". A music hall star ([[Maggie Smith]]) then enters a lone spotlight, and lures the doubtful young men in the audience into "taking the [[King's Shilling]]" and that "On Saturday I'm willing, if you'll only take the shilling, to [[I'll Make a Man of You|make a man of any one of you]]." The young men pass over the stage into military life, and a close-up reveals the alluring music hall singer is really a coarse, over-made-up harridan. The [[Papaver rhoeas|red poppy]] reappears as a symbol of impending death, often handed to a soldier being sent to die. Inside the pavilion, now housing the top military brass, a scoreboard shows the loss of life and "yards gained". Outside, [[Sylvia Pankhurst]] ([[Vanessa Redgrave]]) addresses a hostile crowd on the futility of war who remains unreceptive to her upbraiding for believing everything printed in the newspapers.

The depiction of the second year of the war contrasts darkly in tone. Wounded men parade past as an endless stream of grim, hopeless faces. Black humour has replaced the enthusiasm of 1914. "There's a Long, Long Trail a-Winding" captures a new mood of despair, with soldiers depicted marching in torrential rain, the only bright colour being the red poppies. British soldiers drink in an [[estaminet]] as a [[Soubrette]] ([[Pia Colombo]]) leads them in a jolly chorus of "[[The Moon Shines Bright on Charlie Chaplin]]" then shifts more darkly to the sombre "[[La Chanson de Craonne|Adieu la vie]]". At the end of the year, amidst manoeuvres in the pavilion,  [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|Douglas Haig]] replaces [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Sir John French]] as Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in France. Haig is mocked by Australian troops while he inspects British soldiers with the song "They were only playing Leapfrog" to the tune of "[[John Brown's Body]]".

At an interfaith religious service in a ruined abbey soldiers are told each religion has endorsed the war: Jewish soldiers are permitted to eat pork if Jewish, Catholics have dispensation for meat on Fridays, and all religions have put the sabbath in abeyance. Even the [[Dalai Lama]] has blessed the war effort.

The film's tone darkens again as 1916 passes and the songs contrast wistfulness, stoicism and resignation, including "[[The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling]]", "If the Sergeant Steals Your Rum, Never Mind" and "[[Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire]]". The wounded are laid out in ranks at a dressing station, a stark contrast to the healthy rows of young men who entered the war. The camera often lingers on Harry Smith's silently suffering face.

The Americans [[United States in World War I|arrive]] as a "disconnected reality" of the pavilion, interrupting the deliberations of the British generals by singing "[[Over There]]" with the altered final line: "And we won't come back – we'll be buried over there!" The resolute-looking American captain seizes the map from an astonished Haig.

Jack notices with disgust that after three years of fighting, he is literally back where he started, at Mons. As the [[Armistice of 11 November 1918|Armistice]] is sounding, Jack is the last one to die. A splash of red, at first glance blood, comes into focus as a poppy. Jack's spirit wanders the battlefield, first into the room where the elder statesmen of Europe are [[Treaty of Versailles|drafting]] the coming peace, oblivious to his presence, and finally on a tranquil hillside, where he lies with his brothers on the grass before their figures morph into crosses. The film closes with a long slow pan out over a giant cemetery with countless soldiers' graves as the voices of the dead sing "We'll Never Tell Them" (a parody of the [[Jerome Kern]] song "[[They Didn't Believe Me]]").

==Cast (in credits order)==

===Smith family===
{{castlist|
* [[Wendy Allnutt]] as Flo Smith
* Colin Farrell <!-- (not the Irish-born Hollywood actor of the [[Colin Farrell|same name]]) --> as Harry Smith
* [[Malcolm McFee]] as Freddie Smith
* [[John Rae (actor)|John Rae]] as Grandpa Smith
* [[Corin Redgrave]] as Bertie Smith
* [[Maurice Roëves]] as George Smith
* [[Paul Shelley]] as Jack Smith
* Kim Smith as Dickie Smith
* [[Angela Thorne]] as Betty Smith
* [[Mary Wimbush]] as Mary Smith
}}

At the time, [[the Beatles]] were interested in making an anti-war film. At [[Bertrand Russell]]'s suggestion, [[Paul McCartney]] met with the producer [[Len Deighton]] to discuss the opportunity of the band portraying the Smith family, although in the end it was not possible to arrange their appearance.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/len-deighton-the-spy-and-i-521520.html | title=Len Deighton: The spy and I | newspaper=The Independent|location=London | date=4 January 2006 | access-date=8 August 2015}}</ref>

===Also starring===
{{div col |colwidth=22em}}
*[[Vincent Ball]] as Australian Soldier
*[[Pia Colombo]] as Estaminet Singer
*[[Paul Daneman]] as [[Nicholas II of Russia|Tsar Nicholas II]]
*[[Isabel Dean]] as Sir John French's Lady
*[[Christian Doermer]] as Fritz
*[[Robert Flemyng]] as Staff Officer in Gassed Trench
*[[Meriel Forbes]] as Lady Grey
*[[Frank Forsyth]] as [[Woodrow Wilson]]
*[[Ian Holm]] as [[Raymond Poincaré|President Poincaré]]
*[[David Lodge (actor)|David Lodge]] as Recruiting Sergeant
*[[Joe Melia]] as the Photographer
*[[Guy Middleton]] as [[Sir William Robertson, 1st Baronet|Sir William Robertson]]
*[[Juliet Mills]] as Nurse
*[[Nanette Newman]] as Nurse
*[[Cecil Parker]] as Sir John
*[[Natasha Parry]] as Sir William Robertson's Lady
*[[Gerald Sim]] as Chaplain
*[[Thorley Walters]] as Staff Officer in Ballroom
*[[Anthony Ainley]] as Third Aide
*[[Michael Bates (actor)|Michael Bates]] as Drunk Lance Corporal
*[[Fanny Carby]] as Mill Girl
*[[Cecilia Darby]] as Sir Henry Wilson's Lady
*[[Geoffrey Davies]] as Aide
*[[Edward Fox (actor)|Edward Fox]] as Aide
*[[George Ghent]] as Heckler
*[[Zeph Gladstone]] as Chauffeur (uncredited)
*[[Peter Gilmore]] as Private Burgess
*[[Ben Howard (actor)|Ben Howard]] as Private Garbett
*[[Norman Jones (actor)|Norman Jones]] as Scottish Soldier
*[[Paddy Joyce]] as Irish Soldier
*[[Angus Lennie]] as Scottish Soldier
*[[Harry Locke]] as Heckler
*[[Clifford Mollison]] as Heckler
*[[Derek Newark]] as Shooting Gallery Proprietor
*[[John Owens (actor)|John Owens]] as Seamus Moore
*[[Ron Pember]] as Corporal at Station
*[[Dorothy Reynolds]] as Heckler
*[[Norman Shelley]] as Staff Officer in Ballroom
*[[Marianne Stone]] as Mill Girl
*[[John Trigger]] as Officer at Station
*[[Kathleen Wileman]] as Emma Smith at Age 4
*[[Penelope Allen]] as Solo Chorus Girl
*[[Maurice Arthur]] as Soldier Singer
*[[Freddie Ascott]] as 'Whizzbang' Soldier
*[[Dinny Jones]] as Chorus Girl 
*[[Carole Gray]] as Chorus Girl
*[[Bernard Jarvis]] as the whistling blowing soldier in the trench
*[[Jane Seymour (actress)|Jane Seymour]] as Chorus Girl (uncredited and film debut)
{{div col end}}

===Guest stars===
{{castlist|
*[[Dirk Bogarde]] as Stephen
*[[Phyllis Calvert]] as Lady Haig
*[[Jean-Pierre Cassel]] as French Colonel
*[[John Clements (actor)|John Clements]] as [[Helmuth von Moltke the Younger|General von Moltke]]
*[[John Gielgud]] as [[Count Leopold Berchtold]]
*[[Jack Hawkins]] as [[Franz Joseph I of Austria|Emperor Franz Josef I]]
*[[Kenneth More]] as [[Wilhelm II, German Emperor|Kaiser Wilhelm II]]
*[[Laurence Olivier]] as [[John French, 1st Earl of Ypres|Field Marshal Sir John French]]
*[[Michael Redgrave]] as [[Sir Henry Wilson, 1st Baronet|Sir Henry Wilson]] 
*[[Vanessa Redgrave]] as [[Sylvia Pankhurst]]
*[[Ralph Richardson]] as [[Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon|Sir Edward Grey]]
*[[Maggie Smith]] as Music Hall Star
*[[Susannah York]] as Eleanor
*[[John Mills]] as [[Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig|General (later Field Marshal) Sir Douglas Haig]]
}}

==Production==
The producers were the novelist [[Len Deighton]], photographer [[Brian Duffy (photographer)|Brian Duffy]]<ref name=indy06>{{Cite news | last = Scott | first = Robert Dawson | title = Len Deighton: The spy and I |work=The Independent|location=UK | date = 4 January 2006 | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/len-deighton-the-spy-and-i-521520.html | access-date = 14 January 2014}}</ref> and Richard Attenborough, who was making his directorial debut.<ref name="Dempsey_DW2001">{{cite web|last=Dempsey|first=Mike|title=Immaculate conception|work=Design Week|publication-date=2001-12-14 | url=http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Disciplines/Design/Articles/e9b9bcb0f6fc43b58a0252154c35e868/Immaculate-conception.html|access-date=2007-12-06|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719095559/http://www.mad.co.uk/Main/News/Disciplines/Design/Articles/e9b9bcb0f6fc43b58a0252154c35e868/Immaculate-conception.html|archive-date=19 July 2011}} [http://mikedempsey.typepad.com/graphic_journey_blog/2009/01/an-eye-for-detail.html Alt URL]</ref> The Deighton Duffy production company had produced the film adaptation of Deighton's ''[[Only When I Larf (film)|Only When I Larf]]'' starring Richard Attenborough.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fashion and portrait photographer Brian Duffy dies aged 76|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturenews/7805616/Fashion-and-portrait-photographer-Brian-Duffy-dies-aged-76.html|work=The Telegraph|date=5 June 2010|access-date=5 June 2010 | location=London | first=Roya | last=Nikkhah}}</ref> Deighton wrote the screenplay for ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' and the opening title sequence was created by Len Deighton's lifelong friend [[Raymond Hawkey]], the designer responsible for many of Deighton's book covers in the 1960s.<ref>{{cite news | url = https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/books-obituaries/7971812/Raymond-Hawkey.html | newspaper = [[The Daily Telegraph]]|location=London | date = 30 August 2010 | title = Books Obituaries: Raymond Hawkey | access-date = 2014-01-14}}</ref> In an attempt to shame other people who he thought were claiming credit for things they hadn't actually done, Deighton decided not to be listed in the film credits, a gesture he later described as "stupid and infantile".<ref name=indy06 />

The 1969 film transferred the [[mise-en-scène]] completely into the cinematic domain, with elaborate sequences shot at West Pier in 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 Deighton did not use the pierrot costumes. However, as many critics, including [[Pauline Kael]],<ref>Kael, Pauline (1971) 'Off with the statues' heads!' in ''Deeper into Movies'', Calder Boyars</ref> noted, the treatment diminished the effect of the numbers of deaths, which appear only fleetingly. Nonetheless, Deighton's final sequence, ending in a helicopter shot of thousands of war graves is regarded as one of the most memorable moments of the film. According to Attenborough, 16,000 white crosses had to be hammered into individually dug holes due to the hardness of the soil. Although this is effective in symbolising the scale of death, the number of crosses was in fact fewer than the number of deaths in a single battle: depicting the actual number killed in the entire war would have required the scale to have been [[World War I casualties|replicated more than 1000 times]].

The film was shot in the summer of 1968 in Sussex, mostly in the Brighton area. Many of the extras were local people, but a great many were students from the [[University of Sussex]], [[Falmer]], on the outskirts of the town. The film's locations included the West Pier (now gutted by fire and wrecked), [[Ditchling Beacon]], Sheepcote Valley (the trench sequences), Old [[Bayham Abbey]], near [[Frant]] (the church parade), [[Brighton railway station|Brighton station]] and [[Ovingdean]] (where thousands of crosses were erected for the classic finale).{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

===The song===
The song was written by J. P. Long and Maurice Scott in 1917 and was part of the repertoire of music hall star and male impersonator [[Ella Shields]].<ref>Max Arthur (2001) ''When This Bloody War Is Over''. London, Piatkus: 47</ref> The first verse and the chorus follow:

{{poemquote|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 civilians sitting beside the fire.

''Chorus:''
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
Our 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.}}

Two pre-musical renditions, one from 1918, can be found at Firstworldwar.com.<ref>[http://www.firstworldwar.com/audio/ohitsalovelywar.htm firstworldwar.com]</ref> Almost all of the songs featured in the film also appear on the CD41 album series ''Oh! It's a Lovely War'' (four volumes).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ltmrecordings.com/oh!itsalovelywar.html|title = Automatic Redirect}}</ref>

==Release==
The film had its premiere at the Paramount Theatre on [[Piccadilly Circus]] in London on 10 April 1969 before opening to the public the following day.<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=[[Evening Standard]]|location=London|date=2 April 1969|page=19|title=Entertainment Guide}}</ref>

==Reception==
[[Vincent Canby]] of ''[[The New York Times]]'' called it "a big, elaborate, sometimes realistic film whose elephantine physical proportions and often brilliant all-star cast simply overwhelm the material with a surfeit of good intentions."<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Vincent Canby |last=Canby |first=Vincent |date=3 October 1969 |title=Film Festival: Jolly Satire |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |page=34 }}</ref> ''[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]'' called the film "dedicated, exhilarating, shrewd, mocking, funny, emotional, witty, poignant and technically brilliant."<ref>{{cite magazine |date=16 April 1969 |title=Oh! What a Lovely War |magazine=Variety |page=6 }}</ref> [[Roger Ebert]] of the ''[[Chicago Sun Times]]'' gave the film 4 stars out of 4, writing that it was not a movie but "an elaborately staged tableau, a dazzling use of the camera to achieve essentially theatrical effects. And judged on that basis, Richard Attenborough has given us a breathtaking evening."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/oh-what-a-lovely-war-1969 |title=Oh! What a Lovely War |last=Ebert |first=Roger |author-link=Roger Ebert |date=30 October 1969 |newspaper=[[Chicago Sun Times]] |access-date=7 October 2020|via=[[RogerEbert.com]] }}{{rating|4|4}}</ref> [[Gene Siskel]] of the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]'' also gave the film a perfect grade of 4 stars and wrote it "deserves an Academy Award nomination for the best picture of the year ... You can sit back and enjoy this film on any one of many levels. The songs are good, the lyrics are biting; the staging and costuming blend with the story rather than overshadow it. The acting seems effortless."<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Gene Siskel|last=Siskel|first=Gene|date=31 October 1969|title=O! what a lovely motion picture!|newspaper=[[Chicago Tribune]]|page=17, Section 2 }}{{rating|4|4}}</ref> Kevin Thomas of the ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' wrote: "What noted British actor Richard Attenborough, in a dazzling directorial debut, and his principal writers Len Deighton and Brian Duffy have done is to transform the highly political and one-dimensional Joan Littlewood theatre piece into timeless—and painfully timely—tragic allegory."<ref>{{cite news|author-link=Kevin Thomas (film critic)|last=Thomas|first=Kevin|date=17 September 1969|title='Lovely War' Accomplishes a Difficult Artistic Task|newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]|page=1, Part IV}}</ref> Gary Arnold of ''[[The Washington Post]]'' wrote: "The conception is intriguing, but the film turns into an infernal, precision machine. As one big production number succeeded the other and one perfectly measured and symmetrical tableau faded into the next, I began to feel stupefied rather than touched. The physical production was rolling over the songs, the characters and the vignettes."<ref>{{cite news |last=Arnold |first=Gary |date=17 October 1969 |title=Lovely War |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |page=B13 }}</ref> David Wilson of ''[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]]'' wrote that "one is simply left admiring a worthy mosaic of bits and pieces, full of good ideas but nowhere near to being a self-contained dramatic entity."<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wilson |first=David |date=May 1969 |title=Oh! What A Lovely War |journal=[[The Monthly Film Bulletin]] |volume=36 |issue=424 |page=94 }}</ref>

The film presently has a score of 75% on [[Rotten Tomatoes]] based on 16 reviews, with an average grade of 8.2 out of 10.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/oh_what_a_lovely_war/ |title=Oh! What A Lovely War |publisher=[[Rotten Tomatoes]] |date=22 September 2015 |access-date= 6 February 2024 }}</ref>

The ''[[Toronto Star]]'' received complaints from veteran organizations about the advertisement for the film that featured cemetery crosses and later ran the adverts without the image.<ref>{{cite magazine |date=15 October 1969 |title=Toronto Star 'Censors' Ads For 'Lovely War'; 'Cemetery' Irks Vets |magazine=Variety |page=22 }}</ref>

===Box office===
It ranked the 16th film at the UK box office in 1969.<ref>"The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times [London, England] 27 Sept. 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 April 2014</ref>

===Accolades===
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|-
! Award
! Category
! Nominee(s)
! Result
! Ref.
|-
| rowspan="10"| [[23rd British Academy Film Awards|British Academy Film Awards]]
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| rowspan="2"| [[Richard Attenborough]]
| {{nom}}
| rowspan="10" align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |title=BAFTA Awards (1970) |publisher=[[British Academy of Film and Television Arts]] |url=http://awards.bafta.org/award/1970/film |access-date=23 November 2013}}</ref>
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Direction|Best Direction]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role|Best Actor in a Supporting Role]]
| [[Laurence Olivier]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role|Best Actress in a Supporting Role]]
| [[Mary Wimbush]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Production Design|Best Art Direction]]
| [[Donald M. Ashton]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Cinematography|Best Cinematography]]
| [[Gerry Turpin]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Costume Design|Best Costume Design]]
| [[Anthony Mendleson]]
| {{won}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Editing|Best Editing]]
| [[Kevin Connor (director)|Kevin Connor]]
| {{nom}}
|-
| [[BAFTA Award for Best Sound|Best Soundtrack]]
| [[Don Challis]] and [[Simon Kaye]]
| {{won}}
|-
| United Nations Award
| Richard Attenborough
| {{won}}
|-
| [[British Society of Cinematographers#Award categories|British Society of Cinematographers Awards]]
| [[British Society of Cinematographers Award for Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film|Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film]]
| Gerry Turpin
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://bscine.com/media/uploads/awards/bsc-cinematography-feature-film.pdf?v |title=Best Cinematography in Feature Film |access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[22nd Directors Guild of America Awards|Directors Guild of America Awards]]
| [[Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Feature Film|Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures]]
| Richard Attenborough
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.dga.org/Awards/History/1960s/1969.aspx?value=1969|title=22nd DGA Awards |website=[[Directors Guild of America Awards]] |access-date=5 July 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[27th Golden Globe Awards|Golden Globe Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film|Best English-Language Foreign Film]]
| {{won}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.goldenglobes.com/film/oh-what-lovely-war |title=Oh! What a Lovely War – Golden Globes |website=[[HFPA]] |access-date=5 July 2021 |ref={{harvid|HFPA|1970}}}}</ref>
|-
| [[Mar del Plata International Film Festival]]
| Best Feature Film
| Richard Attenborough
| {{nom}}
| align="center"| <ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mardelplatafilmfest.com/37/en/edicion/11 |title=37th Mar del Plata International Film Festival |website=[[Mar del Plata International Film Festival]] |date=26 December 2022 |access-date=26 December 2022}}</ref>
|-
| rowspan="2"| [[1969 New York Film Critics Circle Awards|New York Film Critics Circle Awards]]
| colspan="2"| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Film|Best Film]]
| {{Runner-up}}
| rowspan="2" align="center"| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nyfcc.com/awards/?awardyear=1969 |title=1969 New York Film Critics Circle Awards |website=[[New York Film Critics Circle]] |access-date=3 June 2021}}</ref>
|-
| [[New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Director|Best Director]]
| Richard Attenborough
| {{Runner-up}}
|}

==References in popular culture==
* English rock band [[Colonel Bagshot]] released an anti-war album of the same name in 1971, their first and only LP.
* 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".
* At a Google Talks event, James Rado, one of the original writers and creators of ''[[Hair (musical)|Hair]]'', stated that ''Oh! What a Lovely War'' was what made him want to work on a musical dealing with war. Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/T_o7mk4U2do Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20140506134341/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_o7mk4U2do&list=PL77B65A8070130181 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_o7mk4U2do |title=@Google: The Public Theatre's Revival of Hair |date=22 August 2008 |access-date=26 August 2008 |via=YouTube }}{{cbignore}}
* The song "The Bells of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" was used as the play-out music for Ned Sherrin's 1964 BBC-TV show ''Not So Much a Programme, More a Way of Life''.
* [[Babyshambles]] named their live album ''[[Oh! What a Lovely Tour]]'' after this film.

==References==
===Citations===
{{Reflist}}

===Sources===
{{refbegin}}
* Banham, Martin, ed. 1998. ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre.'' Cambridge: [[Cambridge University Press]]. {{ISBN|0-521-43437-8}}.
* Brockett, Oscar G. and Franklin J. Hildy. 2003. ''History of the Theatre''. Ninth edition, International edition. Boston: Allyn and Bacon. {{ISBN|0-205-41050-2}}.
* [[Richard Eyre|Eyre, Richard]] and Nicholas Wright. 2000. ''Changing Stages: A View of British Theatre in the Twentieth Century''. London: Bloomsbury. {{ISBN|0-7475-4789-0}}.
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0064754|title=Oh! What a Lovely War}}
*{{Rotten Tomatoes|oh_what_a_lovely_war}}
*[http://www.ltmrecordings.com/oh!itsalovelywar.html ''Oh! It's A Lovely War'' album series at CD41]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150801042816/http://www.deightondossier.net/Films/owalwbackground.html Len Deighton article on producing the film, on the Deighton Dossier website]

{{Richard Attenborough}}
{{Len Deighton}}
{{Golden Globe Award for Best English-Language Foreign Film}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oh! What A Lovely War}}
[[Category:1969 films]]
[[Category:1969 musical films]]
[[Category:1969 war films]]
[[Category:British musical films]]
[[Category:British war films]]
[[Category:1960s historical musical films]]
[[Category:British historical musical films]]
[[Category:World War I films set on the Western Front]]
[[Category:Anti-war films about World War I]]
[[Category:Films directed by Richard Attenborough]]
[[Category:Films set in Brighton]]
[[Category:Films produced by Richard Attenborough]]
[[Category:Paramount Pictures films]]
[[Category:Christmas truce]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Nicholas II of Russia]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Wilhelm II]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Woodrow Wilson]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Douglas Haig, 1st Earl Haig]]
[[Category:Anti-war comedy films]]
[[Category:1969 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Films based on musicals]]
[[Category:Musical films based on actual events]]
[[Category:1960s English-language films]]
[[Category:1960s British films]]
[[Category:Works by Len Deighton]]
[[Category:English-language musical films]]
[[Category:English-language war films]]
[[Category:English-language historical films]]