John Lennon’s Film Debut: How I Won the War (1967)
Opening in “The Rhine – 1945,” the anti-war How I Won the War is most widely known for featuring Beatle John Lennon in his first motion picture performance. Directed by Richard Lester, it is based on a novel by Patrick Ryan, and tells the story of an inept British commander in World War II. A war comedy, How I Won the War was released when America was thickly involved in Viet Nam.
How I Won the War is “The Memoirs of Lt. Ernest Goodbody” (Michael Crawford), the type of officer who would most likely be assassinated by the men under his command (he is spared such fate and captured by Germans). Goodbody doesn’t quite understand the concept of war, which he considers to be a right jolly sport. When asked what his being an officer means, he replies, “It means my mother will be pleased.”
In training, one recruit agonizes over a splinter, another complains that the officers can’t speak to him “that way” because “I’m married.” Do the men discuss the war? No, they all have more mundane matters on their minds. Seeing their performance during exercises, one knows that if they were typical of the English army, German would now be the official language of Great Britain.
Part parody, part satire, part farce, part burlesque, How I Won the War has held up well over the years, and remains a clever reminder of the follies of war. Goodbody’s regiment is a collection of slackers and loonies; his superior officers are boobs and egocentric self-promoters. Much in the spirit of 1970’s M*A*S*H, How I Won the War is gifted with a Monty Python-like sense of the absurd. Characters occasionally speak directly to the camera and often exchange dialogue that make little sense.
How I Won the War is not a trivialization of the war experience, but a brilliant, surreal anti-war statement. While amusing us on one level, interwoven battle footage reminds us that war is hell. Although a send-up of the military, characters and situations will seem uncomfortably familiar to those who have experienced working within a dysfunctional bureaucracy.
How I Won the War was released in March, offered by MGM’s Limited Edition Collection. Manufactured on demand, it is available through on-line retailers. A commemorative booklet, with introduction by Yoko Ono, is included with the DVD—making it “…a must-have for John Lennon fans.”
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