1969 -OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR-World War I was bad

Apparently Oh What A Lovely War was a piece of experimental theater. The creators used period songs to highlight the tragedy of World War I, a war which was probably as close as the human race came to a self fulfilling Armageddon. This film directed by Richard Attenborough is his version of this horror, a two hour plus horror of a boring slog fest the point of which is that unsurprisingly "war is hell".



 Part of the cast was made up of big name British actors playing the typical silly assed English military types. Even when this movie was made the idea that military leaders were grandstanding incompetent clowns was already a cliche. The other part of the cast is a group of nondescript actors playing the Smith family. The Smith family is a symbol for all of the British working and middle class people who were slaughtered during World War I. The actors are so bland and interchangeable, it was hard to care.

The closing scene  is a pullback helicopter shot showing a a hillside full of white crosses of the war dead, very cool.  However, Gone with the Wind also did that same shot back in 1939.  Gone with the Wind at least had interesting characters. The DVD has the usual making of features and tries to convince the viewer that this was an important project for everyone involved. Attenborough seems sincere about the film and I would almost buy into what he has to say except I watched the film first.

The ridiculous musical sequences have to be seen to be believed. This is after all a musical.