

Oh! What a Lovely War
"The musical shot in the arm!"
The working-class Smiths change their initially sunny views on World War I after the five boys of the family witness the harsh reality of trench warfare.
Cast (127)

Laurence Olivier
Field Marshal Sir John French

Vanessa Redgrave
Sylvia Pankhurst

Maggie Smith
Music Hall Star

John Mills
Field Marshall Sir Douglas Haig

Corin Redgrave
Bertie Smith

Maurice Roëves
George Smith

Ian Holm
President Poincare

Juliet Mills
Nurse

Michael Bates
Drunk Lance Corporal

Edward Fox
Aide to Field-Marshal Haig

Dirk Bogarde
Stephen

Jean-Pierre Cassel
French Colonel

John Clements
Gen. von Moltke

John Gielgud
Count Leopold Von Berchtold

Jack Hawkins
Emperor Franz Josef

Kenneth More
Kaiser Wilhelm II

Michael Redgrave
Gen. Sir Henry Wilson

Ralph Richardson
Sir Edward Grey

Susannah York
Eleanor

Robert Flemyng
Staff Officer in Gassed Trench

Paul Daneman
Czar Nicholas II

Guy Middleton
Gen. Sir William Robertson

Angela Thorne
Elizabeth May 'Betty' Smith

Wendy Allnutt
Florence Victoria 'Flo' Smith

Colin Farrell
Harry Arnold Smith

Malcolm McFee
Frederick Percy 'Freddie' Smith

John Rae
Grandpa Smith

Paul Shelley
Jack Henry Smith

Kim Smith
Richard 'Dickie' Smith

Mary Wimbush
Mary Emma Smith

John Owens
Seamus Moore

Vincent Ball
Australian Soldier

Penelope Allen
Solo Chorus Girl

Pia Colombo
Estaminet Singer

Isabel Dean
Sir John French's Lady

Christian Doermer
Fritz

Joe Melia
The Photographer

Nanette Newman
Nurse

Cecil Parker
Sir John

Natasha Parry
Sir William Robertson's Lady

Gerald Sim
Chaplain

Thorley Walters
Staff Officer

Anthony Ainley
3rd Aide

Geoffrey Davies
Aide to Haig

Fanny Carby
Mill Girl

Peter Gilmore
Pte Burgess

Ben Howard
Pte Garbett

Norman Jones
Scottish Soldier

Angus Lennie
Scottish Soldier

Paddy Joyce
Irish Soldier

Harry Locke
Heckler

Ron Pember
Corporal

Marianne Stone
Mill Girl

Christine Noonan
Mill Girl (uncredited)

Derek Newark
Shooting Gallery Proprietor

Clifford Mollison
Heckler

Norman Bird
Training Sgt (uncredited)

Jeremy Child
Wealthy Young Man (uncredited)

Richard Davies
Sergeant in Burial Party (uncredited)

Stanley Lebor
Soldier (uncredited)

Jane Seymour
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Wensley Pithey
Archduke Ferdinand (uncredited)

Meriel Forbes
Lady Pamela Grey

David Lodge
Recruiting Sergeant at Music Hall

Maurice Arthur
Soldier Singer at Chaplain's Address

Freddie Ascott
'Whizzbang' Soldier

Cecilia Darby
Sir Henry Wilson's Lady

George Ghent
Heckler at Pankhurst Speech

Dorothy Reynolds
Heckler at Pankhurst Speech

John Trigger
Officer at Railway Station

Kathleen Wileman
Emma Smith - Age 4

Phyllis Calvert
Lady Dorothy Haig

Pamela Abbott
Czarina Alexandra (uncredited)

Charlotte Attenborough
Emma Smith - Age 8 (uncredited)

Annie Bee
Girl Friend in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Joanne Brown
Singer (uncredited)

Christopher Cabot
Soldier in Shell Hole (uncredited)

Frank Coda
Soldier in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Ambrose Coghill
His Father (uncredited)

Stella Courtney
Poincaré's Lady (uncredited)

Sheila Cox
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Elizabeth Craven
Kaiserin Augusta (uncredited)

John Dunn-Hill
Irish Soldier (uncredited)

Ray Edwards
3rd Staff Officer in Ballroom (uncredited)

Charles Farrell
Policeman (uncredited)

Hermione Farthingale
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Frank Forsyth
President Woodrow Wilson (uncredited)

Joyce Franklin
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

John Gabriel
Nikolai Lenin (uncredited)

Zeph Gladstone
Sir John's Chauffeuse (uncredited)

Ruth Gower
General von Moltke's Lady (uncredited)

Kim Grant
Soldier in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Carole Gray
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Paul Hansard
German Officer (uncredited)

Kathleen Helme
Berchtold's Lady (uncredited)

Richard Howard
Young Soldier at Mons (uncredited)

John Hussey
Soldier on Balcony (uncredited)

Dinny Jones
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Lind Joyce
Scoreboard Girl (uncredited)

Dolores Judson
Haig's Girlfriend (uncredited)

Ruth Kettlewell
Duchess Sophie (uncredited)

Delia Linden
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

Richard Loring
Soldier in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Tom Marshall
Soldier in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Stanley McGeagh
Soldier in Gassed Trench (uncredited)

Isabelle Metcalfe
Girl Friend in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Jenny Morgan
Girl Friend in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Anthony Morton
Italian Military Attaché (uncredited)

Steve Plytas
Turkish Military Attaché (uncredited)

Andrew Robertson
2nd Scottish Soldier (uncredited)

Sue Robinson
Chorus Girl (uncredited)

David Scheuer
French Soldier (uncredited)

Valerie Smith
Girl Friend in 'Goodbyee' (uncredited)

Guy Standeven
American Officer (uncredited)

Pippa Steel
Scoreboard Girl (uncredited)

P.G. Stephens
Irish Soldier (uncredited)

Tony Thawnton
Officer on Telephone (uncredited)

Christian Thorogood
Irish Soldier (uncredited)

Brian Tipping
4th Scottish Soldier (uncredited)

Bette Vivian
Heckler at Pankhurst Speech (uncredited)

Tony Vogel
German Soldier (uncredited)

Arthur White
Sergeant in Dugout (uncredited)

Michael Wolf
German Officer (uncredited)

John Woodnutt
British Officer (uncredited)

Julia Wright
Haig's Secretary (uncredited)

Mary Yeomans
Scoreboard Girl (uncredited)

Norman Shelley
Staff Officer in Ballroom
You Might Also Like

Buck Privates
1941

All Quiet on the Western Front
1930

What Did You Do in the War, Daddy?
1966

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp
1943

No Time for Sergeants
1958

Carry On Sergeant
1958

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
1964

Duck Soup
1933

To Be or Not to Be
1942

The Secret of Santa Vittoria
1970

Head
1968

The War Below
2021

The Codes of War
2025

To Be or Not to Be
1983

Sleeper
1973

The Englishman Who Went Up a Hill But Came Down a Mountain
1995

Dear John
2010

Private Peaceful
2012

Tobruk
1967

Benediction
2021
Similar Movies

Dad Doll
N/A

A Shot in the Dark
1964

Re-Animator
1985

Grave Decisions
2006

Nowhere
1997

Dogma
1999

The Alternative
2017

The Bridge
1959

Pack Up Your Troubles
1939

Ninotchka
1939

There's Something in the Barn
2023

A Paw Over Dark
2023

Death at a Funeral
2007

The Kill Room
2023

The Princess Bride
1987

Pleasantville
1998

The Last Parade
1931

Tenacious D in The Pick of Destiny
2006

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes!
1978

Born on the Fourth of July
1989