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A chronicle of the horrors of the First World War, told through songs and original material from the time. The Master of Ceremonies leads a colourful cast through a series of darkly humourous and often moving scenes with songs including 'Keep the Home Fires Burning', 'It's a Long Way to Tipperary', and 'Goodbye-ee'.

Oh! What A Lovely War summarises and comments on the story of World War One, strongly using popular songs of the time. Many of these songs are much older popular songs that have been sarcastically re-worded by the soldiers serving on the front lines.

The film uses a variety of symbolic settings to portray vast summations of historical and societal forces at work. Brighton's West Pier, as a location, represents the First World War, with the British public entering at the turnstiles, and General Haig selling tickets. The protagonists are named as the Smith family; which serve as allegorical representations of the working and middle classes of the nation. The film follows several young Smith men through their experiences in the trenches, most notably Freddy, Harry and George.

The opening sequence is set in a wrought-iron building intended to not look like a real location. This use of Brechtian staging illustrates the ruling class' fundamental disconnect from the realities of war as diplomatic farces, galas, and events involving the aristocracies of many European nations are shown only in this location throughout the film. As various diplomats and aristocrats walk over a huge map of Europe summarising the treaties, nationalism, and lust for expanding empire that were factors leading to the war, the scene ends with a group photo of the upper class being taken by an unnamed photographer. He hands out two red poppies to the Archduke Ferdinand and his wife and takes a picture. As the flash goes off, they fall over dead as he declares they have been assassinated.

The start of the war in 1914 is shown as a parade of optimism. A band playing patriotic music rouses citizens lounging by the beach to rally round it and follow it - some even boarding a bandwagon. They are led to the idea of war, illustrated on film as a the cheerful seaside carnival on Brighton West Pier. The first Battle of Mons is similarly cheerfully depicted yet more realistic in portrayal. Both scenes are flooded in pleasant sunshine. When the casualties start to mount, a shocked theatre audience is rallied by singing "Are We Downhearted? No!", a song which attempts to express the English psyche of the moment: "While we have Jack upon the sea/And Tommy on the land/We needn't fret".

The curtains on the stage lift to reveal several attractive young women dressed in frilled yellow dresses who recruit a volunteer army. They appeal to the patriotism of the crowd in the 'Roedean' section, singing "We Don't Want To Lose You, But We Think You Ought To Go." Maggie Smith then enters a lone spotlight as the curtain is drawn, and lures the roused but still doubtful young men in the audience into "taking the King's Shilling" by singing a song about how every day she has sex with different men in uniform, and that "On Saturday I'm willing, if you'll only take the shilling, to make a man of any one of you." The young men take to the stage and are quickly moved offstage and into military life.

As scenes from the war are depicted with less symbolism, the red poppy crops up again as a symbol of impending death, often being handed to a soldier about to be sent to die on the front lines. These scenes are juxtaposed with the white wrought-iron building which now houses the top military brass and the pier. There is now a scoreboard showing the loss of life and 'yards gained,'

1915 is depicted as darkly contrasting in tone. Many shots of a parade of wounded men illustrate an endless stream of grim, hopeless faces. Black humour among these soldiers has now replaced the enthusiasm of the early days. "There's A Long, Long Trail A-Winding" captures the new mood of despair, and the scene with the soldiers filing along in torrential rain in miserable conditions looks less like a hyperbolic musical and more like a gritty realistic portrayal of war. Red poppies provide the only bright color in these scenes. We also see English soldiers on leave and recovering from wounds, often singing songs about wanting to stay home and no longer fight. There is a scene of English soldiers drinking in an estaminet. A chanteuse leads them in a jolly chorus of "The Moon Shines Bright On Charlie Chaplin, a reworking of an American song, then shifts the mood back to darker tone by singing a soft and somber versions of "Adieu la vie".

A pan-religious service is held in a ruined abbey. A priest tells the gathered masses of soldiers that each religion has endorsed the war by way of allowing soldiers to eat pork if Jewish, red meat on Sundays if Catholic, and work through the sabbath if in service of the war for all religions. He also mentions the Dalai Lama has blessed the war effort.

1916 passes, and the film's tone darkens again. The songs contain contrasting tones of wistfulness, stoicism, and resignation; including "The Bells Of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling", "If The Sergeant Steals Your Rum, Never Mind" and "Hanging on the Old Barbed Wire". The wounded are laid out in ranks at the field station, a stark contrast to the healthy rows of young men who entered the War. Harry Smith's silently-suffering face is often lingered upon by the camera.

The Americans arrive, but are shown only in the 'disconnected reality' of the pier and white iron building, singing "And we won't come back - we'll be buried over there!" Freddy notices with disgust that after three years of this nightmare, he is literally back where he started, fighting at Mons.

As the Armistice is sounding, Freddy is the last one to die. The film closes with a long slow pan out that ends in an aerial view of soldiers' graves, dizzying in their geometry and scale, as the voices of the dead sing, "We'll Never Tell Them".

The play originated with Charles Chilton's radio musical The Long Long Trail, composed of World War I songs and named for the popular music hall song "There's A Long Long Trail A-Winding." The piece was a radio documentary that used facts and statistics, juxtaposed with songs of the time, as an ironic critique of the reality of the war.

The musical premiered at the Theatre Royal Stratford East on 19 March 1963; according to Charles Chilton, Joan Littlewood was unconvinced until the show actually opened.[citation needed] The official censor did not grant permission for performance in the West End until Princess Margaret attended a performance and commented to the Lord Chamberlain, Lord Cobbold, that "What you've said here tonight should have been said long ago, don't you agree, Lord Cobbold?"; at this point the transfer was more or less assured despite the objections of the family of Field Marshal Haig. It was an ensemble production featuring members of the theatre's regular company, which included Brian Murphy, Victor Spinetti and Glynn Edwards, all of whom played several roles. The sets were designed by John Bury. The production subsequently transferred to Wyndham's Theatre in June of the same year. The production was a surprise hit, and the musical was adapted by the BBC for radio several times.

The musical premiered in the United States on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre on 30 September 1964 and closed on 16 January 1965 after 125 performances. It was seen there by actor and former subaltern Basil Rathbone, who wrote to Charles Chilton that "we were duped, it was a disgusting war".[citation needed] Directed by Littlewood, the cast featured Spinetti and Murphy, plus Barbara Windsor. It received four Tony Award nominations, including Best Musical, and Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical (for Windsor). Spinetti won the Theatre World Award.

Act 1
"Row, Row, Row" (lyrics by William Jerome, music by James Monaco) – The Ensemble
"We Don't Want to Lose You (Your King and Country Want You)" (music and lyrics by Paul Rubens) – The Ladies
"Belgium Put the Kibosh on the Kaiser" (music and lyrics by Paddy Ellerton) – Valerie Walsh
"Are We Downhearted" – The Men
"It's a Long Way to Tipperary" (music and lyrics by Jack Judge and Harry Williams) – The Men
"Hold Your Hand Out Naughty Boy" (music and lyrics by Murphy and David) – The Men
"I'll Make a Man of You" (music and lyrics by Arthur Wimperis and Herman Finck) – Barbara Windsor
"Pack Up Your Troubles in Your Old Kit-Bag" (lyrics by George Asaf) – The Men
"Hitchykoo" (lyrics by L. Wolfe Gilbert, music by Lewis F. Muir and Maurice Abrahams) – Fanny Carby
"Heilige Nacht" – Colin Kemball
"Goodbye...ee" (lyrics by R. P. Weston, music by Bert Lee) – Victor Spinetti

Act 2
"Oh What a Lovely War" – The Ensemble
"Gassed Last Night" – The Men
"Roses of Picardy" (music by Haydn Wood) – Linda Loftus and Ian Paterson
"Hush Here Comes a Whizzbang" – The Men
"There's a Long Long Trail" (lyrics by Stoddard King) – Ian Paterson
"I Don't Want to Be a Soldier" – The Men
"Kaiser Bill" – The Men
"They Were Only Playing Leapfrog" – The Men
"Old Soldiers Never Die" – Murray Melvin
"Far Far from Wipers" (music and lyrics by Bingham and Greene) – Colin Kemball
"If the Sergeant Steals Your Rum" – The Men
"I Wore a Tunic (When You Wore a Tulip)" – Ian Paterson
"Forward Joe Soap's Army" – The Men
"Fred Karno's Army" – The Men
"When This Lousy War is Over" – Colin Kembal
"Wash Me in the Water" – The Men
"I Want to Go Home" – The Men
"The Bells Of Hell Go Ting-a-ling-a-ling" – The Men
"Keep the Home Fires Burning" (lyrics by Lena Gulibert Ford, music by Ivor Novello) – Myvanwy Jenn
"Sister Susie's Sewing Shirts" (lyrics by R. P. Weston, music by Herman Darewski) – Barbara Windsor
"La Chanson de Craonne" (music and lyrics by Valliant and Couturier) – The Ensemble
"Don't Want to Be a Soldier" – The Ensemble
"And When They Asked Us" (music and lyrics by Jerome Kern) – The Ensemble

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