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First World War musical, comprising a series of satirical sketches highlighting the futility of conflict from the perspective of the ordinary soldiers - many from the same family - and covering famous historical moments, including the Christmas truce. Richard Attenborough's directorial debut, starring Ralph Richardson, Laurence Olivier, John Mills and John Gielgud
1969
HD
16x9
subtitles
Music/Ballet/Dance
Musical
Cast & Crew
Ralph Richardson
(Actor)
.. Sir Edward Grey
Laurence Olivier
(Actor)
.. Field Marshal Sir John French
John Gielgud
(Actor)
.. Count Leopold Von Berchtold
John Mills
(Actor)
.. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
Jack Hawkins
(Actor)
.. Emperor Franz Josef
Susannah York
(Actor)
.. Eleanor
Ian Holm
(Actor)
.. President Poincare
Michael Redgrave
(Actor)
.. Gen Sir Henry Wilson
Richard Attenborough
(Director)
More Information
Did You Know..
Ralph Richardson
(Actor)
.. Sir Edward Grey
Laurence Olivier
(Actor)
.. Field Marshal Sir John French
Born:
May 22, 1907
in
Dorking, Surrey
John Gielgud
(Actor)
.. Count Leopold Von Berchtold
John Mills
(Actor)
.. Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig
Born:
February 22, 1908
in
Norfolk
Best Known For:
A distinguished film and TV career.
Early-life:
Born Lewis Ernest Watts Mills at the Watts Naval School in North Elmham, Norfolk on February 22, 1908. His father was a teacher and his mother worked as a theatre box-office manager. John trained as a dancer in London at Zelia Raye's Dancing School and began appearing as a chorus boy in revues on the London stage.
Career:
Mills made his film debut in The Midshipmaid (1932) and went on to appear in a number of films, including Goodbye, Mr Chips (1939), before he enlisted in the Royal Engineers at the start of the Second World War. His war was cut short in 1942 by a stomach ulcer. He quickly returned to acting and went on to star in a number of acclaimed films in a career that spanned 70 years. Notable works included Great Expectations (1946), Scott of the Antarctic (1948), The Colditz Story (1954), Ice Cold in Alex (1958), Tunes of Glory (1960), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), Oh! What a Lovely War (1969), Ryan's Daughter (1970), Young Winston (1972), Gandhi (1982) and Hamlet (1996). Among his roles on TV, he starred in Quatermass, Young at Heart, A Woman of Substance and Martin Chuzzlewit. He also appeared in a number of productions on Broadway. He was knighted in 1976. He died on April 23, 2005, at the age of 97.
Quote:
"One of the luckiest things that ever happened to me was to be born with a desperate desire to become an actor."
Trivia:
Father of actors Juliet and Haley Mills. Won an Academy Award for Ryan's Daughter. He portrayed a military character, usually an officer, in a number of films.
Jack Hawkins
(Actor)
.. Emperor Franz Josef
Susannah York
(Actor)
.. Eleanor
Ian Holm
(Actor)
.. President Poincare
Born:
September 12, 1931
in
Goodmayes, Ilford
Best Known For:
More than 40 years of acclaimed film and theatre roles.
Early-life:
Ian Holm Cuthbert was born on September 12, 1931, in Goodmayes, Ilford. His father worked as a psychiatrist and superintendent at the local mental asylum. His brother Eric died of cancer in 1944. He attended Chigwell Grammar School, and became interested in acting after watching a production of Les Miserables, starring Charles Laughton. He began studying at Rada in 1950 and, after a year of National Service, joined the Royal Shakespeare Company.
Career:
Holm's first professional appearance was as a spear carrier in a 1956 production of Othello. In the 1960s and 1970s, he was said to be the most likely successor to Laurence Olivier. His first memorable screen appearance came in 1968's A Midsummer Night's Dream. His most famous movies since include Alien, Chariots of Fire, Greystoke, Brazil, The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Day After Tomorrow.
Quote:
"I'm a small, stumpy guy who came into movies a bit late."
Trivia:
He was awarded a CBE in 1990 and knighted in 1998.
Michael Redgrave
(Actor)
.. Gen Sir Henry Wilson
Richard Attenborough
(Director)
Born:
August 29, 1923
in
Cambridge
Best Known For:
Directing Gandhi.
Early-life:
Richard Samuel Attenborough was born in Cambridge on August 29, 1923. He was the eldest son of an academic. His mother was a founding member of the Marriage Guidance Council. His younger brothers were John, who worked in the motor trade, and TV presenter and naturalist David. His parents also adopted two German-Jewish refugee girls who had lived with the family during the Second World War. Richard began acting at 12 and went on to study at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Career:
Attenborough's film debut was 1942's In Which We Serve, playing a cowardly sailor; in real life, he served with the RAF's Film Unit, sustaining permanent ear damage in the process. He became a post-war star thanks to hits such as Brighton Rock (1947),The Great Escape (1963), and I'm All Right Jack (1959). He and Bryan Forbes formed a production company in the early 1960s, which made films including The Angry Silence (1960) and Whistle Down the Wind (1961). Attenborough directed his first film, Oh! What a Lovely War, in 1969, won an Oscar for Gandhi in 1982, and also directed the acclaimed movies A Bridge Too Far (1977), Chaplin (1992) and Shadowlands (1993). He returned to acting in the 1990s to appear in Jurassic Park (1993), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), and Elizabeth (1998). He was knighted in 1976 and made a life peer in 1993. He died on August 24, 2014, at the age of 90.
Quote:
On capital punishment: "I think it is obscene that we should believe that we are entitled to end somebody's life, no matter what that person has supposedly done or not done."
Trivia:
Married fellow thespian Sheila Sim in 1945.
