How I Won the War (1967)

It is World War II. Lt Goodbody (Michael Crawford) is an officer because he comes from the right class: however, he is an idiot (a well brought up idiot, it is true, but an idiot nonetheless). The assignment he is given suits his abilities, and also the abilities of his troop (composed of slackers, incompetents, layabouts and the like) - to construct an unnecessary cricket pitch in the middle of the desert. Only his Sergeant, Transom (Lee Montague) is a "proper" soldier, and spends the entire film steaming with frustration at having to nursemaid this overprivileged ninny and his idiot charges. And, despite Transom's best efforts, members of the platoon are killed, one by one (and in one of many surreal touches, they remain with the platoon in spirit, albeit clad entirely in a unique pastel shade).Dick Lester's absurdist anti-war film is a challenging but entertaining experience, albeit you have to be in the right frame of mind for it. The cast list is a roster of the cream of British acting talent - we don't produce too many headliners, but by heck we fill up the cast with people who know their job.The elephant in the room is John Lennon. Having worked with Lester in the two Beatles features, and being ready for a sabbatical, Lennnon sallies forth in a straight acting role as the lazy Musketeer Gripweed. Seen for the first time with short hair and his (subsequent) trademark round national Health spectacles, it would be good to report that Lennon steals the show. He doesn't - his lack of acting experience and training shows too much for that - but he doesn't disgrace himself either.This film has become something of a rarity, yet it has something to say, and it says it eloquently and entertainingly while being quietly challenging at the same time.

There is a reason for the old theatrical axiom that satire is what closes on Saturday night: satire by itself is just not very entertaining. It has to be funny, too. The target here is war, and just how silly men get when caught up in the middle of it, and this is pretty obvious by the five minute mark of the movie. The production looks very good, recreating the appearance of WWII's North African Theater quite well, but the key weakness is the central story conceit: that a unit of the British Army would be sent into a hellishly dangerous area to set up a cricket pitch. The idea must have had some appeal on paper to somebody, since the movie got the go-ahead, but unless it had actually been based on a true incident or something, the idea is just too obvious and far a reach to build a movie around, and the occasional shots at army tradition and military thinking (there's an oxymoron) just aren't funny enough to keep things interesting while the absurd story plays out. Michael Crawford, a brilliant comedian in other material such as Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, tries hard to keep an edge to his work, but the material for the large part just isn't there. John Lennon, for all that he is second billed, doesn't have much of a character or much screen time. He just pops up occasionally as a kind of PFC Greek Chorus to comment on the goings on. This would seem a good use of the eccentric and sardonic Lennon, but once again the problem is that he is simply not given much to work with. Richard Lester can be a funny and creative director, but here he isn't and as co-writer of the thing he should have realized that the material was lacking. He didn't. Not a terrible movie, but definitely lower echelon stuff. Catch-22 is a better and more ambitious movie, and so is Oh What a Lovely War.

Taking a break from the Beatles, John Lennon starred in the zany "How I Won the War", about a wacky platoon in WWII. The movie shows that while Lennon devoted his life to political issues, he clearly had a humorous side. I guess that with all the horror in war, we have to try and keep our sense of humor somehow. There may have been some controversy about this movie when it first came out, given the Vietnam War, but there's never a dull moment anywhere in the movie. It just goes to show what a great guy Lennon was."And I'm not a thief, really. I've never found anything worth keeping." Now that's just a great line!

Although (unfairly) ravaged by critics at the time and so generally dismissed ever since, HOW I WON THE WAR is both a brilliant anti-war film and anti war film film (much more so than the usually heralded M*A*S*H). Filled with biting satire and brilliant performances from Michael Crawford, John Lennon, Roy Kinnear, Ronald Lacey, Michael Hordern and, well, the entire cast, HIWTW was perhaps a bit too odd for 1967 audiences who expected perhaps a more madcap adventure, but today it deserves not only a rethink - but a reissue on DVD. (Why this wonderful movie is not available on DVD (at least in the US) is yet another slap in its face.) Richard Lester and writer Charles Wood (who also wrote HELP! for the Beatles) have crafted a brilliant black comedy that easily stands with Dr Strangelove. It won't be everyone's cup of tea, granted, but if you forget your preconceptions and let it wash over you, you will be richly rewarded. RELEASE IT ON DVD!