Oh! What a Lovely War Oh! What a Lovely War Oh! What a Lovely War is a 1969 British comedy musical film directed by Richard Attenborough (in his directorial debut), with an ensemble cast including Maggie Smith, Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, John Mills, Kenneth More, Laurence Olivier, Jack Hawkins, Corin Redgrave, Michael Redgrave, Vanessa Redgrave, Ralph Richardson, Ian Holm, Paul Shelley, Malcolm McFee, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Nanette Newman, Edward Fox, Susannah York, John Clements, Phyllis Calvert and Maurice Roëves. The film is based on the stage musical "Oh, What a Lovely War!", originated by Charles Chilton as a radio play, "The Long Long Trail" in December
Oh Dear! What Can the Matter Be? The song has been parodied several times, the best known of which is the American bawdy song "Seven Old Ladies", sung to the same tune but with different lyrics. Here are the chorus and the first two verses, of seven, as published in Ed Cray's "The Erotic Muse": <poem> Oh, dear, what can the matter be, Seven old ladies were locked in the lavat'ry, They were there from Monday till Saturday, And nobody knew they were there. The first old lady was 'Lizabeth Porter, She was the deacon of Dorchester's daughter, Went there to relieve a slight pressure of water,