Oh What A Lovely War Poster Original Daybill 1969 Maggie Smith
Rare Daybill Poster.Oh! What a Lovely War is a 1969 British comedy and musical 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, Susannah York, 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 and transferred to stage by Gerry Raffles in partnership with Joan Littlewood and her Theatre Workshop in 1963.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. 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. The film was shot in the summer of 1968 in Sussex, mostly in the Brighton area. Many of the extras were local folk, but a great many were students from the University of Sussex, Falmer, on the outskirts of the town. Upon release the film won many awards and was ranked the 16th top film at the UK box office in 1969.
