Back in 1963 Oh What A Lovely War was the biggest hit that the notable company Theatre Workshop produced. But the important thing is that Attenborough doesn't use them as a freak show, as Michael Todd did with his cameos in "Around The World In 80 Days," or as happens in the upcoming "Battle of Britain." What a Lovely War, Joan Littlewood’s satirical sketch show following the chronology of the First World War, is a modern classic that is remarkably important to bring to audiences a hundred years after the end of the First World War. This sense is captured most tellingly in Maggie Smith's scene. What a Lovely War" does recreate this time, in a bitter mixture of history, satire, detail, panorama and music. Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Oh, What A Lovely War at Amazon.com. There is something paradoxical in the thought of singing about a war, and yet cheap popular songs often capture the spirit of a time … Most of the good things about it, such as the songs with the changed lyrics, the troops responding to the war with an understated black humour, seem to come from the stage production. It won the Grand Prix of the Théâtre des Nations festival in Paris that year and has gone on to become a … Originally devised by artistic director Joan Littlewood in collaboration with her cast and inspired by a radio compilation of First World War songs, it's essentially a … it's a lovely war, What do we want with eggs and ham When we've got plum and apple jam? is an epic musical developed by Joan Littlewood and her ensemble at the Theatre Workshop in 1963. "Oh! What a Lovely War.". Theatrically, there is also a crucial difference in that Littlewood's show was partly created by a cast who carried out improvisations based on their own research. This was apparently fairly common. Normally you would think making a musical out something as brutal and savage as the first world war would be … The title is derived from the "somewhat satirical" music hall song "Oh! There is something paradoxical in the thought of singing about a war, and yet cheap popular songs often capture the spirit of a time better than any collection of speeches and histories. Verified Purchase. I was in London at the time, but I was a rash youth and went to see the Windmill girls instead. The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the three boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare. Oh! Oh! First performed by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London in 1963, it received the acclaim of London audiences and critics. Oh! Musical, War: Rating: 7 (from 1 vote) Review: The year is 1914, and in Europe the heads of the various nations are beginning to grumble about each other, with the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand's position shaky, as France is eyeing Serbia as a possible cause for aggression. Michael Billington examines the ideas and sources that shaped the play, and discusses the contradictory emotions it … The film is populated with a gallery of British stars. The abilities of these great actors are employed, as well as their names and faces, and together they recreate a horrible war. Something like 90 per cent of the field officers were killed on some fronts. Especially music. In the approved style of Robert Graves and the First World War poets, the generals guzzled and swilled as they sent the troops in the trenches to their deaths. It is no longer a shock to learn, as we do in the show, that men were sucked under by the mud at Passchendaele for minimal gain when we've seen Jeremy Paxman making the same point on television. England literally lost her generation; it was dead and buried, and we seem to see it beneath the countless crosses stretching out behind John Mills in the last, stunning graveyard shot in "Oh! Oh What A Lovely War still has great relevance and, in at least one respect, has more power now than it ever has. But Oh! We are now bombarded with documentaries and books that examine the origins and conduct of the war. But, although circumstances are different, Johnson's production captures the anger at Douglas Haig's attritional policy and the sympathy for the ordinary soldier that fired the original production. This appeal to conflicting emotions has always been the secret of the show's success, and Johnson's production conveys this excellently towards the end when Haig's prayers for victory are accompanied by subversive rewrites of standard hymns by a battered infantry. "Oh! With Wendy Allnutt, Colin Farrell, Malcolm McFee, John Rae. All the knights and ladies seem to be there, and everyone else, too: Olivier, Gielgud, Richardson, at least three Redgraves (and Vanessa looking especially spirited), and the rest. It shifted attitudes to the first world war and was counterpoint to jaunty songs and hideous battle statistics. In 1963 Joan Littlewood staged in London’s East End her antimilitarist musical Oh What a Lovely War! 12th Annual AAFCA Awards to be Held April 7th, The Unloved, Part 88: The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, HBO Max’s Made for Love Really Wants Your Likes and Retweets, Emerald Fennell on Promising Young Woman, Responses to the Film, and More. Roger Ebert was the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times from 1967 until his death in 2013. It is a satire on World War I, and by extension on war in general. An anti-war film can be bitter and vitriolic through gritty authenticity or it can be absurd, mocking and sardonic, Oh! Oh! It’s Orwellian sentiment of ‘war is peace’ is pushed to the limit through playfulness, as we are bombarded with an all-singing, all-dancing group of clowns to illustrate … Oh What a Lovely War is a theatrical chronicle of the First World War, told through the songs and documents of the period. Like many a British muscial review, it contains little plot, much spirited music, and--in this case--the story of World War I. Oh yes, a musical. Form fours! About cancer. Review: Oh, what a lovely war! And so this tragic event sank into the bones of the British memory. But death is reserved for the young, not for the old, and John Mills (as Sir Douglas Haig) stays far behind the lines, studying the front from an observation tower. Michael Billington examines the ideas and sources that shaped the play, and discusses the contradictory emotions it … Oh! Especially music. This year is big for anniversaries. What a Lovely War" does recreate this time, in a bitter mixture of history, satire, detail, panorama and music. 2. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. it's a lovely war, Who wouldn't be a soldier eh? Oh! First performed by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop at the Theatre Royal, Stratford East, London in 1963, it received the acclaim of London audiences and critics. Oh! Find album reviews, stream songs, credits and award information for Oh! And the deepest impact of the film comes from the realization that there have been wars even more horrible since this one. Shaun Prendergast acts as MC and does the famous, totally incomprehensible drill routine; Ian Bartholomew and Michael Simkins perfectly establish the detachment from reality of the military leaders; and Caroline Quentin renders the recruiting song, I'll Make a Man of You!, with a classy suggestiveness. Miss Littlewood, and Attenborough after her, present the war as a British music hall review; there's a lot of smiling up front, but backstage you can see the greasepaint and smell the sweat, and the smiles become desperate, and there begins to be blood. When Oh What a Lovely War was first staged in 1963, it struck the Guardian critic as being as "unfair as any powerful cartoon", and the audiences at Stratford East as being a very good idea. But Terry Johnson's revival, while retaining such vital features as the pierrot costumes and the newsreel ticker tape, is no slavish carbon copy, but a reimagining of a show that still leaves one emotionally devastated. 5.0 out of 5 starsAn impossible act to follow. Oh What a Lovely War continues at the Theatre Royal Stratford East until 15 March.. Right turn! No matter. Oh, What a Lovely War! But the sinews of the show are still there and the 12-strong cast works with tireless dedication. Some portions, as even director Richard Attenborough admitted, go on too long; however, so many other portions are just brilliant. The result is a film of good intentions and uncompromising dullness. Lez Brotherston's set, with its filigree echoes of the theatre's proscenium arch, is more elaborate than the original, and the sound of exploding shells is more insistent than I recall. are the best which I could hear so far in a musical in Cambridge. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 October 2016. WHAT A LOVELY WAR really isn't a movie at all, but a theatrical tableau. It isn't one, but it is an elaborately staged tableau, a dazzling use of the camera to achieve essentially theatrical effects. Oh! Oh! A lot has changed since 1963. They owned the material, whereas the current cast perform it. What a Lovely War is perhaps a special case. ... Joan Littlewood's Oh! 1. The most dramatic point Graves makes is that the war almost literally exterminated the generation that would have ruled Britain in the 1930s and 1940s. If Johnson has made changes, they are largely visual and aural. What a Lovely War is a classic tribute to the soldiers of the First World War, transforming the horrors of the war into a satirical musical. It's a shame to take the pay. Directed by Richard Attenborough. set out in the 60s to reinforce this message, using satire and comedy to make its point and, in the hundredth anniversary year of the Armistice, Ravensbury Players’ production is … What a Lovely War feels a bit like a version of the Marat/Sade directed by David Lean. But we cannot be disappointed, because the voices in the Oh, what a lovely war! A truly great anti war film adapted brilliantly from Joan Greenwood's theater piece by Richard Attenborough, OH WHAT A LOVELY WAR deserves to be seen today by a new generation of filmgoers. What a Lovely War! Like most people, I know World War I at second or third hand, through such sources as Robert Graves' "Goodbye to All That." While that may sound like it is in familiar territory to BBC television series Blackadder Goes Fourth, its director, the now Lord Richard Attenborough, manages to poke fun at the Generals while also hailing the enthusiasm the troops showed despite being sent to their doom. ", which is one of the major numbers in the production. Those which have (like "King and Country") have done it in microcosm; we care for the Courtenay character, but we do not reflect on the total war. In 1975, he won the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism. If ever a show deserved to be called "iconic" it was Joan Littlewood's original 1963 musical entertainment. In its emphasis on the perspective of ordinary soldiers and its use of crinolines and clown costumes, Oh What a Lovely War departed from previous portrayals of the First World War. “[Musicals can] seem like puff pieces of art,” says Kimmings, “but actually if you think about the good ones, they deal with huge issues. Here is a scathing burlesque of the idiocy of war set in WWI and driven by to tunes of the time, each one seemingly innocuous, but loaded with irony and acid just below the surface. America, which came into the war rather late and sustained much lighter casualties, could afford the luxury of a "lost generation" in the 1920s. The film does a good job of War summarising & commenting on the events of the First World War using popular songs of the time, many of which were parodies of older popular songs, & using allegorical settings such as Brighton's West Pier to criticise the war itself & the manner in which the eventual victory was won. Meanwhile, politicians, kings and rulers play stupid games of diplomacy and etiquette, and "acceptable losses" are counted in the hundreds of thousands. 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! In pictures: 50 years of Oh What a Lovely War, Did you catch this show – or any other recently? Oh What a Lovely War is a theatrical chronicle of the First World War, told through the songs and documents of the period. What a Lovely War - Original Soundtrack on AllMusic I wasn't lucky enough to see Joan Littlewood's original London stage production of "Lovely War," back in the early 1960s. She plays a robust, patriotic broad who lures the young men from the audience to the stage with promises of love and implications of heroic death. There are a lot of laughs along the way and some genuinely delightful renditions of songs and dances. What a Lovely War" as a movie. It's a mistake to review "Oh! One of the finest moments comes in the Christmas 1914 scene, when the entrenched British and Germans exchange songs and presents: the German rendering of Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht brings a lump to the throat, which is immediately checked by the lewd British response of Christmas Day in the Cookhouse. There have been wars even more horrible since this one War really is n't movie. Enormity of the stupidity which caused it the 12-strong cast works with tireless dedication Oh, a... 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