H6910 HOW I WON THE WAR (GREAT BRITAIN, 1967) (Other titles: Comment, j’ai gagne la guerre)

Credits: director, Richard Lester ; writer, Charles Wood ; novel, Patrick Ryan. Cast: Michael Crawford, John Lennon, Roy Kinnear, Lee Montague. Summary: War/comedy set in North Africa and Europe during WWII. Lt. Ernest Goodbody (Crawford), a middle-aged British veteran of WWII reminisces about his triumphs in the British Army. His warm memories, however, belie the realities of a disastrous career leading one of the worst units in the British Army. According to Michael Lanning (below), Vietnam provided the motivation for this anti-war, anti-officer, anti-military film. Vietnam is mentioned at film’s end when one soldier asks another: “There’s a new war shaping up in Vietnam; do you think you’ll be in it?” The second soldier responds “No, I don’t like the director.”

Armstrong, Marion. “Savage satire” Christian century 85 (Jan 24, 1968), p. 117-18. Billington, Michael. “Film that tilts at war films” Times (London) (Oct 18, 1967), p. 8. Braucourt, Guy. “Comment, j’ai gagne la guerre (How I won the war)” Cinema 126 (May 1968), p. 103-6. Britt, Gwenneth. “How I won the war” Films in review 18 (Nov 1967), p. 579-80. C., P. “How I won the war” Helix (Seattle) 3 (Feb 14, 1968), p. 8. Ciment, Michel. “How I won the war” Positif 95 (1968) Coleman, John. [How I won the war] New statesman 74 (Oct 20, 1967), p. 517. Corliss, Richard (see under Kozloff, Max) Crowther, Bosley. “How I won the war” New York times (Nov 9, 1967), p. 56. Dawson, Jan. “How I won the war” Monthly film bulletin 34/406 (Nov 1967), p. 168-9. Dent, Alan. “A materpiece - and three messes” Illustrated London news 252 (Nov 4, 1967), p. 35. Devine, Jeremy M. Vietnam at 24 frames a second [GB] (p. 31) Gill, Brendan. “I laugh, therefore I am” New Yorker 43 (Nov 18, 1967), p. 137. Gilman, Richard. “Shooting them up” New republic 157 (Nov 25, 1967), p. 32-5. Gross, Leonard. “John Lennon: Beatle on his own” Look 30 (Dec 13, 1966), p. 58- 60, 62, 66. Hampe, Barry. “An evening of fun at World War II” Distant drummer (Philadelphia) 1 (1968), p. 20. Haroldson, Thomas. “‘How I won the war’ - Brilliant” Fifth estate (Detroit) 2 (Dec 15, 1967), p. 17. Hartung, Philip T. “No flag, no rally” Commonweal 87 (Dec 15, 1967), p. 359-60. Hatch, Robert. “Films” Nation 205 (Nov 13, 1967), p. 506, 508. Houston, Penelope. “How I won the war” Sight and sound 36 (autumn 1967), p. 202. “How I won the war” American dream (Tempe, Ariz.) 1 (1968), p. 11. [How I won the war] Daily cinema n.9424 (Sep 22, 1067), p. 6. “How I won the war” Filmfacts 10 (Jan 1, 1968), p. 360-62. “How I won the war” Good morning teaspoon (San Francisco) 4 (May 1, 1968), p. 6. [How I won the war] Kine weekly n.3128 (Sep 23, 1967), p. 10. 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Martin, James. “How I won the war” Open city (Los Angeles) 2 (Feb 2, 1968), p. 14. McCaffrey, Donald W. “War and holocaust for some painful laughter” Chap. 3 in his Assault on society : satirical literature to film Metuchen, N.J. : Scarecrow Press, 1992. (p. 46-7) McMahan, Ida and Whitehorn, Ethel. “How I won the war” PTA magazine 62 (Jan 1968), p. 39. Morgenstern, Joseph. “A hard day’s war” Newsweek 70 (Nov 20, 1967), p. 106. Murphy, Arthur D. (Murf). “How I won the war” Variety 248 (Oct 25, 1967), p. 6. Page, Malcolm. “Charles Wood: ‘How I won the war’ and ‘Dingo’” Literature/film quarterly 1/3 (1973), p. 256-62. “Richard Lester” [interview] New Yorker 43 (Oct 28, 1967), p. 50-51. Richardson, Royce. “Dick Lester and his war” Take one 1 (Dec 1967), p. 4-6. Ripp, Judith. “How I won the war” Parents’ magazine 42 (Dec 1967), p. 27. Robinson, Barry. “How I won the war” Media and methods 4 (Jan 1968), p. 42-3. Rosenfeldt, Diane. Richard Lester: a guide to references and resources Boston : G.K. Hall, 1978. (p. 30-31+) Schickel, Richard. “The pop-pop-pop film is ad ud against war” Life 63 (Nov 17, 1967), p. 8. Schlesinger, Arthur, Jr. “Brilliant, unnerving” Vogue 150 (Dec 1967), p. 175. Schreck, Stephen. [How I won the war] Prairie fire (Regina, Ont.) 1 (Feb 10, 1968), p. 6. [Reprinted from Ramparts] Shapiro, Jerry. [How I won the war] News project (Flushing, N.Y.) 1 (Dec 17, 1967), p. 11. Sheed, Wilfrid. [How I won the war] Esquire 69 (Jan 1968), p. 29, 32. Sone, Hal L. “Anti-war film in spotlight” North Valley free press (Chico, Calif.) 1 (Feb 7, 1968), p. 8. Sweeney, Louise. “Lester’s ‘How I won the war’” Christian science monitor 59 (Nov 24, 1967), p. 14. Tynan, Kenneth. “Lester: Mir wird schlect” [interview of Lester and Charles Wood] Film 6 (Jan 1968) “Vaudeville of the absurd” Time 90 (Nov 17, 1967), p. 105. Walker, Valerie L. “How I won what?” Seed (Chicago) 2 (1968), p. 16. Walsh, Moira. “How I won the war” America 117 (Nov 25, 1967), p. 668. Weldon, Michael. The psychotronic video guide New York : St. Martin’s Griffin, 1996. (p. 277) Wendt, Ernst. “Fuck for peace (Make films not war)” Film 6 (Jan 1968) Whitehorn, Ethel (see under McMahan, Ida) Youngblood, Gene. “Lester wins the war by default” Los Angeles free press 5 (Feb 9, 1968), p. 12.