How I Won the War

How I Won the War
Directed byRichard Lester
Screenplay byCharles Wood
Based onHow I Won the War
by Patrick Ryan
Produced byRichard Lester
StarringMichael Crawford
John Lennon
Roy Kinnear
Lee Montague
Jack MacGowran
Michael Hordern
Jack Hedley
Karl Michael Vogler
CinematographyDavid Watkin
Edited byJohn Victor-Smith
Music byKen Thorne
Production
company
Petersham Pictures
Distributed byUnited Artists
Release date
  • 18 October 1967 (1967-10-18) (UK)
Running time
109 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

How I Won the War is a 1967 British black comedy film starring Michael Crawford, Jack MacGowran, Roy Kinnear, Lee Montague, and John Lennon in his only non-musical acting role. The film, which was directed and produced by Richard Lester, is based upon the 1963 novel of the same name by Patrick Ryan.[1]

The film uses a variety of styles such as vignettes, straight-to-camera, and docu-drama to tell the tale of the fictional 3rd Troop, the 4th Musketeers and their misadventures through the Second World War. The screenplay takes a comic and absurdist attitude towards the conflict through the Western Desert Campaign in mid-late 1942 to the crossing of the last intact bridge on the Rhine at Remagen in early 1945.[2]

  1. ^ "How I Won the War". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  2. ^ Robert Hardy, 16:23-16:29 (DVD version)