How I Won the War

How I Won the War
US film poster
Directed by	Richard Lester
Screenplay by	Charles Wood
Based on	How I Won the War by Patrick Ryan
Produced by	Richard Lester
Starring	Michael Crawford John Lennon Roy Kinnear Lee Montague Jack MacGowran Michael Hordern Jack Hedley Karl Michael Vogler
Cinematography	David Watkin
Edited by	John Victor-Smith
Music by	Ken Thorne
Production company	Petersham Pictures
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date	18 October 1967 (1967-10-18) (UK)
Running time	109 minutes
Country	United Kingdom
Language	English

How I Won the War is a 1967 British black comedy film starring Michael Crawford, Jack MacGowran, Roy Kinnear, Lee Montague, and John Lennon in his only non-musical acting role. The film, which was directed and produced by Richard Lester, is based upon the 1963 novel of the same name by Patrick Ryan.

The film uses a variety of styles such as vignettes, straight-to-camera, and docu-drama to tell the tale of the fictional 3rd Troop, the 4th Musketeers and their misadventures through the Second World War. The screenplay takes a comic and absurdist attitude towards the conflict through the Western Desert Campaign in mid-late 1942 to the crossing of the last intact bridge on the Rhine at Remagen in early 1945.^[1]