Oliver Twist (1948)

User Rating:

7.9/10   

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

Charles Dickens (novel)
David Lean (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 July 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

A Screen Event To Be Remembered For All Time !

Plot:

Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist is about an orphan boy who runs away from a workhouse and meets a pickpocket on the streets of London...

Plot Keywords:

Pickpocket | Young Boy | Orphan | Child Abuse | Criminal Gang

Awards:

Nominated for BAFTA Film Award. Another 1 nomination

Cast

Robert Newton	...	Bill Sikes
Alec Guinness	...	Fagin
Kay Walsh	...	Nancy
Francis L. Sullivan	...	Mr. Bumble
John Howard Davies	...	Oliver Twist
Henry Stephenson	...	Mr. Brownlow
Mary Clare	...	Mrs. Corney
Anthony Newley	...	Artful Dodger
Josephine Stuart	...	Oliver's Mother
Ralph Truman	...	Monks
Kathleen Harrison	...	Mrs. Sowerberry
Gibb McLaughlin	...	Mr. Sowerberry
Amy Veness	...	Mrs. Bedwin
Diana Dors	...	Charlotte
Frederick Lloyd	...	Dr. Grimwig

Runtime:

116 min | USA:105 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Germany:12 | Egypt:(Banned) (original release) | Canada:G (Ontario) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Independent Producers

Trivia:

Banned on inital release in both Israel and Egypt; in Israel for being anti-Semitic, and in Egypt for making Fagin too sympathetic.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When the crowd chase Oliver down an alleyway following the theft at the bookstore, the "brick" wall wobbles, revealing its flimsy structure.

Quotes:

Noah Claypole: Do you know who I am?
Oliver Twist: No Sir.
Noah Claypole: I'm Mr Noah Claypole and you're under me so don't you forget it!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Return to the Edge of the World (1978)

Soundtrack:

The 'Oliver' Themes

David Lean's Superb Dickens

Still the most Dickensian of all the Oliver Twist films David Lean's inspired version, never the less is much indebted in its style to the German Expressionist Cinema. It's London is more related to Fritz Lang than Victorian England but the spirit of Dickens is alive and well in the accurately drawn caricatures from the novel. Outstanding performances by Francis J. Sullivan as ridiculous Mr. Bumble, Alec Guiness's chillingly evil Fagin despite a badly judged nose job, and the eye boggling twitching Robert Newton as the ferocious Bill Sykes. Even his dog trembles at his temper, in fact the dog is a major actor in this version.

John Newton Howard is a rather angelic Oliver, with a more refined delivery than one would have expected from a workhouse background. But it all goes decidedly well thanks to Lean's superb direction, stunning images, clever editing and a sterling cast. Viewed today so many years after it was filmed it remains the most vivid and Gothic recreation of the story. Probably Charles Dickens would approve. The heroic length recent version by Roman Polanski is generally faithful to the novel but lacks the pizazz and humour that is in Dicken's writing. David Lean made only two excursions into Dickens (Oliver Twist and Great Expectations) both milestones in cinema. One can but wonder how well he may have brought Bleak House or Our Mutual Friend to the screen.