Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Dorathen Better Late Then Never

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

Kailansorac Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Bill Slocum "Oliver Twist" the novel rests at top of mind for the general public when it comes to Charles Dickens. Dickens wrote better novels, so why is "Oliver" so magisterial in his canon? Maybe I'm at fault for not liking the book more, but I suspect the answer has much to do with David Lean.Lean's adaptation of "Oliver Twist" is a textbook example of how a director can boil away the dross and bring out the core of a great story, adhering to the spirit of the author's intent but rediscovering it as a product of its place and time in a way that makes it timeless. The Expressionistic camera-work, its deep-focus lens pulling out details from a seemingly slapdash set, married to an unobtrusive yet penetrating score and a variety of brilliant character actors lending face and voice to a true group effort. It's like "Citizen Kane" meets Hogarth.When we first meet Oliver, he is inside his dying mother as she makes her painful way to a solitary light on a hill, a light that proves more ominous as she gets closer. Her painful journey is later made light of by one of Oliver's first enemies, a beadle named Bumble who sees her strength and bravery as exposing an animal nature that allows for his mistreatment of her son. "God Is Love" says the message on the brick wall of Oliver's workhouse, but there is no love for the boy in the first third of the film, a harrowing journey for any sensitive viewer to make.Francis L. Sullivan plays Bumble, an actor who gives the best performance in Lean's earlier Dickens movie, "Great Expectations." He's quite fine here playing quite a different role, both menacing and funny, but other actors make even deeper impressions.Alec Guinness gives his breakout performance here as Fagin, the crafty thief and seducer of virtue. Yes, Fagin as written by Dickens is also known as "the Jew," and with his big prosthetic nose Guinness plays with that stereotype more than a bit, but he also gets at the core of Dickens' villain by using that to accentuate his role as the consummate outsider, finding diabolical angles in a world where he is not welcome. Guinness was such a cerebral actor that it's hard to adjust to the feral nature of his performance here, except it makes the part and thus the movie.Fagin is a frightening villain, as is first-billed Robert Newton as the crazed Sikes, because we get the fear at the core of their villainy. Dickens wrote "Oliver Twist" not as adventure story but social exposé of his native London, a cruel city of dire poverty and no second chances. Seeing young Oliver (John Howard Davies) at its mercies is no easy thing, and we realize how Fagin and Sikes are products of that society. Watching them face a mob bent on their comeuppance is both thrilling and horrifying, because we know by then how cruel their world is.When the undertaker Sowerberry (Gibb McLaughlin) complains to Bumble early on about the small price given for his services to the workhouse, Bumble just smiles: "So are the coffins!" How he can smile at such a thing is harder to reckon than any of Fagin or Sikes' awful crimes.Being plunged into such a world, one wants for the relief Oliver first finds, than loses, with kindly Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson). Much streamlining is called for here, and aptly done by Lean and co- screenwriter Stanley Haynes. Ditching a maudlin subplot involving a young woman Oliver befriends named Rose Maylie is a stroke of genius given how little she is missed. More problematic is the matter of Oliver's mysterious stalker, Mr. Monks, who does show up here but in a way that raises more questions than answers.Could Oliver have been better incorporated into the film's second half? Howard Davies does great with what he's given, and I for one wanted more. But I think what you do get is pretty classic in its own right, a finale that ranks up there with the best filmdom has ever offered.You will want to read the book after seeing the movie, if you haven't already. And you will likely admire it, as I do, for its humanity and bracing power. Still, for getting across both Dickens' story and its underlying social commentary, no one, not even Dickens himself, did as good a job as Lean and company do here.

Keiran-604-51050 I think I am fair in saying that Oliver Twist (1948) is magnificent and superb piece of motion picture art. Without a doubt it is one of the finest screen translations of a literary classic ever made.This Masterpiece was so representational of its time that it even inspired the manufacture of products deemed to be iconic of the time such as London Distilled Gin known as Oliver Twist London Distilled Gin (See it here http://www.olivertwistgin.com . The film and literary work alike portray the real hardships and massive cultural divide that formed Dickensian London. Although the film is a softer interpretation of the book it is a fantastic tool for educating people about these times.Ensure you watch this classic and if you have not done so yet read the classic novel.

Atreyu_II As already said, this version of 'Oliver Twist' is more loyal to the time when it took place, being more authentic than other versions (many versions exist). I don't know what the other versions are like, but they can't be as bad as 'Oliver & Company' by Disney, which is a completely modified concept of this story with artwork that can only be classified as a disgrace.This is one of the great-looking B & W films and it has great sceneries too. The film is generally well-made and directed. John Howard Davies alone takes the whole thing. This charismatic English child-actor is so overlooked. Even if he did very few movie roles, he deserved more popularity thanks to his natural-born talent and charm. Here he has a very moving acting as the lead character, Oliver Twist. You really care about Oliver, he's such a good kid and goes through so many bad things that you can say he practically loses his childhood - that is, he isn't given the happy childhood he should have had and deserved. But at least there is a happy ending waiting for this sweetie.Robert Newton's acting as Bill Sikes is great, although his best performance is probably as Long John Silver in Disney's "Treasure Island". Here he obviously's got his two legs. Robert Newton was a charismatic but ill-fated actor due to his lack of reliability and problems with the booze.

Jackson Booth-Millard I've seen the Ron Moody musical version, and I saw the Sir Ben Kingsley/Roman Polanski version, but this of course is the most acclaimed version of the classic Charles Dickens tale, from director Sir David Lean (Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia). You probably know the story pretty well already, but just in case, I'll go through it. Basically, a Mother (Josephine Stuart) struggled to give birth in the workhouse, but she did, and died shortly after. 11 years later, the boy, Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) is the orphan living with many lonely children, and Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan) sends him to a work house after he said "Please, sir, I want some more" (gruel). After a little while he runs away and ends up in London, soon meeting pick pocket, the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) who takes him to the "care and comfort" of Jewish criminal Fagin (Sir Alec Guinness). The rest of the film sees Oliver trying to pick pocket, and getting to many scrapes, with the likes of Nancy (Kay Walsh) and her abusive lover Bill Sikes (Robert Newton), Chief of Police (Maurice Denham) and Police Official (Henry Edwards), and many others, till he finds his real place of comfort, and all the bad people get what they deserve. Also starring Ralph Truman as Monks, Henry Stephenson as Mr. Brownlow and Diana Dors as Charlotte. Apparently Guinness's portrayal of Fagin was considered anti-Semetic, being banned in America, I think it is the best portrayal of the character, "My Dear", lol. Other cast members, including young Davies (who would go on to produce and direct shows such as Fawlty Towrers and Mr. Bean) are very good, the story is very well put together and feels very dark, a very good adaptation by one of the finest British directors. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best British Film. Sir Alec Guinness was number 12 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, he was number 2 on Britain's Finest Actors, and he was number 11 on The World's Greatest Actor. Very good!