Oh! What a Lovely War ~ end sequence

[timothymanzella]

This is a very "cooing" video. =p

[reemanwells37f]

This video went viral on Luanda

[reduolf]

I can't watch this without crying, in fact I'm in tears now...to think of all those young British, French and German men who died in such a dreadful way. It makes me proud to be British though when I think of all of those brave men who died to defend our country.

God bless you all and RIP...

[foxcell]

And when they ask us, how dangerous it was,

Oh, we'll never tell them, no, we'll never tell them:

We spent our pay in some cafe,

And fought wild women night and day,

'Twas the cushiest job we ever had.

And when they ask us, and they're certainly going to ask us,

The reason why we didn't win the Croix de Guerre,

Oh, we'll never tell them, oh, we'll never tell them

There was a front, but damned if we knew where.

Powerfull words still brings a tear to the eyes :-(

[densaner77]

:(

[striker4242]

It is a film that details how WWI was based on a massive dupe.

[adelaide102]

The lost art of cinemaphotography, telling a story with the camera, sadly people have no patience anymore to watch and listen and think.

[sabaton1231]

im 15. i watched this 100% of my own accord, even bought it myself. there is hope for the future, of that i have no doubt

[Katietoo]

Still brings tears to my eyes when I watch this footage and this loss, but so much more magnified all around the world - incomprehendable. May each and every God, Bless them, all. Thanks for sharing, very appreciated.

[whitehorsetom]

as a young lad in the 60s it was tunes that pulled me in and then i relised what was behind the tunes ,the words ,still moves me to this day.

[danjsy]

A fantastic film, can't watch the end without tears in my eyes.

[frog77]

no winners in war

[foxcell]

very tragic  good film :-(

[coopnic5]

Anyone know where this scene was filmed?

[stevesalts]

@coopnic5

South coast just outside and to the east of Brighton, between Ovingdean and Roedean girls school

[bairns1234]

I've seen this film dozens of times and this last scene has never once failed to move me to tears. This one scene encapsulates the whole bloody mess of WW1. Pefect and perfectly moving.

[0rchardend]

A very very moving end to the film - Says a lot with few words

[nylonTS]

this makes you think about our soliders today

The world hasent learned a thing you men and women die for us today

I wish man could find sence and stop all wars

I will remmember them all and hope god stops all wars

[DanielJacksonSg1civ]

@nylonTS god cannot stop wars, only people can stop wars

[nylonTS]

@DanielJacksonSg1civ Thank you for the reply

You are right god cant stop wars ??? there will always be wars while Men are fool enough to fight them ???

[7511232]

They all dead ?

[Terangeree]

@7511232

Yes.

[Proudnewfoundlander1]

Seems like almost something out of a later season of M*A*S*H, especially those "unusual episodes*

[dutchbonnet]

The film pre-dates the first series of MASH by some three years, so it's quite possible that it influenced the writers of that series. I think it also influenced the writers of the famous final episode of the 4th series of Black Adder, which you can find on YouTube.

[dra6osh]

@dutchbonnet Hi there. Can you tell me where can I find this movie? How can I get a copy? I can't find it on torrents.

[sg1fan93]

@dra6osh buy it from amazon



[298625]

I only saw this movie recently for the first time and I still haven't recovered. Just stunning. It should be universally required viewing. And that last scene is just so powerful. Thanks for posting it.

[THEWICKERMAN196]

Every time I see this bit I am reminded that people fought and died for there country and each one of those crosses is a dead man.

[foxcell]

a fantastic film Very powerfull and moving

[Illusionary22]

This film really stuck on mind. love it so much. This part especially gives me chills.

[sonority1882]

cuts me up every time I see it

[uberpedant]

My Dad forced me to watch this when I was about 14..... Wish I'd done the same with my kids. I couldn't even persuade them to wear a poppy when I tried this year. This is a superb film, it's not even an anti-war film...it's really a 'take war seriously' film.

[doctorpsycho1960]

@uberpedant What, invite people to take war seriously? Now there is a subversive notion!

[TheAccidentalMonk]

@uberpedant

Any film that asks you to 'take war seriously' is, by default, an anti-war film.

[227060]

@uberpedant it is also an anti-war film too tho

[Pathtith]

Speechless.

Thanks for posting.

[darkknightbob101]

poppy for every soldier that dies

[darkknightbob101]

0% cgi btw

[rosefitz164]

Thanks for posting and linking to the other YouTube Video. The original Joan Littlewood play was performed while I was a student at Holy Cross College and I've never forgotten this song.

[sionxxii]

Pax Vobiscium, dorme bene.

[tinabena2]

Very haunting. In the same league as the final scenes of All Quiet on the Western Front (1930) and The Four Horsemen of the Apocolypse (1921).

[Loony3107]

shit that is good.

[lauriebooth]

Excellent post

thanks

[knuckey63]

If you see the movie on DVD make sure you watch Attenbourough's comments at the end. 100,00 crosses in the final scene, each one requiring a hole to be dug. Attenbourough was in tears as he said this.

Thank you for putting it up

[BrunoL36]

The most powerful thought provoking movie ending of all time. Thanks for posting.

[scoppio07]

Thanks netram26 for your replies - Andy

[2pikeman]

seen this film about 20 times,still moves me to tears every time,unbelievable ending

[MaddieLouxx]

I have an exam about the play of this in less than 2 hours your comments on here 'although its the film and I can strictly not talk about the film just the play, they have really helped me to see other peoples reaction to the satire and music hall form of play/film. thank you x

[NickServIdentify]

I watched this for the first time in an English class, and fought hard not to cry. Now I'm in my own home, I can't help but cry. Great film.

[missbabyice]

Best thing about the film was ending.

[robjturner]

Why is this classic film never shown on terrestial tv e.g. the bbc? I'm sure it's on a secret "banned" from public viewing list...

[MusicMuncher001]

The bbc has many government links and this film shows how the governement and the people in power sent all those men to their deaths. Also many people are more affected by WW1 than any other war as it was the first war in a long time that had been so close to home and people still find it hard to forgive those people in power for what they did and then repeated in WW2.

But basically, yea, probably a 'banned' list.

[RicardosRealm]

I remember seeing this on the BBC at least three times as a kid, plus a few times on Channel 4 too. So not really a banned movie.

[MusicMuncher001]

Three times isn't a lot really though.

[metacarple]

For many years there were serious copyright problems with the film as most of the songs were re-writes of already existing and copyrighted material. It's only fairly recently that it has been released to DVD because of this. Having said that, it has been shown on the BBC at least three times around Armistice day as I've taped it each time.

[stellaviolens]

@robjturner Oh I don't think this is the right time after a decade of involvement in almost pointless wars.There might be complaints !

I can't remember the preceding scenes. I'm sure there was a close up, someone in a gas mask shouting loudly & a long taped path.

This scene made me cry before but today I felt my stomach lurch as the extent of the thousands of crosses on the hill side becomes clear.

R. Attenborough , amazing talented . As musicals go, this for me is the most poignant. .

[peterwilliamss6]

all the male family members die. That is the last scene. Note how when he lies in the grass to join the male members of his family that soon their bodies are replaced with crosses.

[Taylorboast4]

i was in floods of tears when i watched this part for the first time

[Cricketboy1200]

ive never watched the film, does this mean all the main charchters died?

[NotoriousMannk]

For me this clip sums up the generation that faught the war more than anything. Their humour, resilience, acceptance of the job in hand and humility afterward!! True Britons and very humbling!!

[coralarch]

Unforgettably heart-wrenching. After 40 years, it's still pertinent!

[Jeorney]

The final episode of BlackAdder Goes Forth gets to me in that way. The one where they go over-the-top into no man's land. Unusually affecting ending for a great comedy series.

watch?v=MXgYWNstas8

[JrWofulrabbit]

I love this song :3

We did oh! it's a lovely war for our school play (:

[lakewalker11]

Does anyone know the lyrics to this song? I know it's a rewrite of the Jerome Kern classic "They Didn't Believe Me", but I can't make out the new lyrics towards the end. Thanks.

[golddustmagazine]

And When They Ask Us (Tune: 'They wouldn't believe me') And when they ask us, how dangerous it was, Oh, we'll never tell them, no, we'll never tell them: We spent our pay in some cafe, And fought wild women night and day, 'Twas the cushiest job we ever had. And when they ask us, and they're certainly going to ask us, The reason why we didn't win the Croix de Guerre, Oh, we'll never tell them, oh, we'll never tell them There was a front, but damned if we knew where.

[lakewalker11]

Thank you golddustmagzine!

[coralarch]

Thanks, gold. Does anyone here know how many crosses were planted for this scene? Nowadays, it'd be computerised, but I think it was for real in 1969.

[scoppio07]

someone was asking about the character who went to war during the song goodbyeee (brother bertie went to war, etc) and if we knew what happened to him later in the film - would you know? - thanks

[dutchbonnet]

I have a feeling he survives to the end and is one of the soldiers in this closing sequence, but I'm not certain. The DVD is available now, either to buy of from Internet rental places like Lovefilm-dot-com. If I get the time I'll try to work it out from my own copy.

[scoppio07]

Thank you for that reply. It does look like one of the men sitting on the hill during the end sequence. Did they survive though? Or maybe I'm reading too much into! Thanks again for taking the trouble to respond.

[netram26]

All of the men sitting on the side of the hill at the end are dead. Brother Jack, the one we see walking past the women is the last to die. He is shown walking close behind the women because he came very close to coming home but was killed in the final week of the war. He passes by the women and lays down in the field beside his brothers and cousin. You can't see it fully in this clip but there are five of them who are soon replaced by five crosses among fifty thousand.

A must-see film!

[RicardosRealm]

I was really struck at 0:21 in this scene how much the anonymous Tommie running down the slope uncannily resembled James McAvoy lost on the beaches of Dunkirk in the wonderful Atonement. There's also a wonderfully brief scene in that film with McAvoy's character Robbie walks through a field of poppies that makes me wonder if Oh What A Lovely War inspired Joe Wright when directing Atonement.

Thanks for sharing , dutchbonnet.

[geowyn]

Brother Bertie is the one with the moustache who is resting his head on his hand.

[netram26]

Bertie is the lone man in the hole at Ypres ahead of George and his squad who hollers to them to get back. The next shot is of Bertie covered in mud with the poppy on his lapel that tells us he is dying. George passes out poppies to his men to show that they're next.

Harry is the one who gets moved to the ground because they need the stretcher. Freddie throws the smoke bomb (at his sergeant) then charges the machine guns. Jack is shot as the poppy fills the screen in the next to last scene.

[calmness30]

@scoppio07 The actor was Corin Redgrave of the Redgrave acting Dynasty who dies recently. He was also killed in the film and is seen lying on the grass with other fanily members at the end.

[jdb47games]

This is one of the most powerful moments of cinema. It makes me cry every time.

[fotografics]

The crosses in the last shot are props, not an actual war cemetery. Apparently Attenborough wanted crosses and real war graves are rectangular headstones, also the real cemetaries have trees and paths which would have spoilt the shot. However...

If you go to any of the war cemetaries in Belgium or France (which I did a couple of years ago) the reality is far, far more impressive, moving and shocking. Personally I think he should have used a real cemetary.

[rhysjones1]

sorry, ive just read my message and i was clearly in a rush. crosses* and west not wets

[rhysjones1]

ran out of words

the point of this play is for it to be funny and make a joke and what not, then give a line like During the summer and fall of 1914, France lost as many men on the battlefield as the U.S.Army would lose in all of the 20th century

[dutchbonnet]

I think there are certain events in human history that we can only begin to comprehend with the help of the arts, whether film, stage, literature or radio. This is one of them, the Holocaust is another. I'm sure we can all think of more. Maybe with the help of the Internet and sites like YouTube we can create a worldwide community strong enough to say no and actually put an end to the most extreme instances of human folly in this generation. Thanks to rhysjones1and to all who have commented.

[rhysjones1]

awsum. is that place actually real, with all those corsses?

we are doing it now with Wets Glamorgan youth Theatre, and someof the stuff weve learnt is incredible. 240 people died every hour for 4 years during the war.

35 million people, which is about half the whole population of britain wiped out.

And for what.

[trackend]

no the crosses are not real graves they were put on the Sussex downs for that one scene

[privatespam]

lost for words if you cant feel the emotion of this , you to are dead

[susannah2b]

thanks so much for posting this .. I too heard the Radio 4 coverage repeated today.  the most moving & heartwrenching sequence; I hadn't realized how brilliant Attenborough was, so many years' ago. How do artists get these simple, powerful ideas for illustrating unfilmable events ....

[mdavid62]

I have just watched it for the very same reason I heard about it on Paul Gambacinni's show and was pleased it was posted here. A tremendous piece of film making.

[effyleven]

I came here because I just heard the story of this final shot in Paul Gano

[effyleven]

[My finger slipped... I posted by accident. Sorry. I'll try again.]

I came here because I just heard Paul Gambaccini's Radio 4 documentary of how the stage play was effectively transferred to film by Richard Attenborough doing his first ever direction..

At the time I saw Joan Littlewood's production right there on stage at Theatre Royal, Stratford East. But I never saw the film ...

..... therefore never saw this incredible shot until today.

No adequate words for it, are there? :-(

[Ebutseed]

Thanks for posting that. The whole film was worth making for this scene alone which you couldn't do in the theatre. The difficulties were enormous though. All the crosses were planted by hand on a hillside just outside Brighton and filming was from a helicopter without a steadicam. I fill up every time I watch it!

[DINKYDALTON2]

So true. The whole film is a preperation for the end scene, which has rightly been described by most film critics as the most heartbreaking inditement of the folly of war. Sadly this and others wars and conflicts haven't left the slightest impression on the worlds ruling elite, who still seem to view the value other peoples as they would value any of crop, or commodity, *astards.

[andmaketherain]

@DINKYDALTON2 Wait till humanity reaches the stars, and we start destroying entire worlds and galaxies...

[biggun77]

This song kinda breaks my heart for some reason!

[DINKYDALTON2]

Because it depicts the wholescale butchery of a generation in an evil game played by those who believed their heritage allowed them to do as they wished. It would take a cold heart not to be moved by this film and this ending. Humanity is good.

[whispperson]

This is Such a Brilliant Movie. A very Underated Movie with some Haunting Images set to a Score of Genuine WW1 music.

Thanks for this Clip.

[AntonioChiesa]

It's a very powerful ending, but the show works best in the theatre. Littlewood et al were not creating for the screen and, in spite, of decent performances and Attenborough as Director the film just so obviously lacks the spontaneity that only comes from live performance.

[sludgefingers]

I deliberately searched for this segment hoping someone might have posted it - thnx for doing so.