Oliver Twist (1948)

Director:

David Lean

Writers:

Charles Dickens (by)
David Lean (screenplay) ...
(more)

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 | Orphan | Young Boy | Charles Dickens | Caning

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
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
Frederick Lloyd	...	Dr. Grimwig
John Howard Davies	...	Oliver Twist
Henry Edwards	...	Police Official
Ivor Barnard	...	Chairman of the Board
Maurice Denham	...	Chief of Police
Michael Dear	...	Noah Claypole
Michael Ripper	...	Barney
Peter Bull	...	Landlord of 'Three Cripples'
Deidre Doyle	...	Old Sally Thingummy
Diana Dors	...	Charlotte
Kenneth Downey	...	Workhouse Master (as Kenneth Downy)
W.G. Fay	...	Bookseller
Edie Martin	...	Annie
Fay Middleton	...	Martha
Graveley Edwards	...	Mr. Fang
John Potter	...	Charlie Bates
Maurice Jones	...	Workhouse Doctor
Hattie Jacques	...	Singer at 'Three Cripples'
Betty Paul	...	Singer at 'Three Cripples'
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Johnny Briggs	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Erik Chitty	...	Workhouse Board Member (uncredited)
Arthur Mullard	...	(uncredited)
Nosher Powell	...	(uncredited)
Eustace Shipman	...	Doctor Who Delivers Oliver (uncredited)
Paul Stockman	...	Fagin's gang member (uncredited)
Dennis Wyndham	...	Man In Street Who Punches Oliver (uncredited)

Directed by
David Lean

Writing credits
Charles Dickens		(by)
David Lean		(screenplay) and
Stanley Haynes		(screenplay)
Eric Ambler		contributor to screenplay (uncredited)
Kay Walsh		contributor to screenplay (uncredited)

Produced by
Ronald Neame	....	producer

Original Music by
Arnold Bax		(music composed by) (as Sir Arnold Bax, D. Mus., Master of the King's Musick)

Cinematography by
Guy Green		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Jack Harris

Casting by
Dennis Van Thal		(uncredited)

Set Decoration by
T. Hopewell Ash		(uncredited)
Claude Momsay		(uncredited)

Costume Design by
Margaret Furse		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Stuart Freeborn	....	make-up (as Stuart Freebourne)
George Blackler	....	make-up associate (uncredited)
Biddy Chrystal	....	hairdresser (uncredited)

Production Management
Norman Spencer	....	production manager
Pat MacDonnell	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)
Bob McNaught	....	assistant production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
George Pollock	....	assistant director
Chuck Simpson	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
John Bryan	....	set designer
T. Hopewell Ash	....	assistant art director (uncredited)
Claude Mauncy	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Geoffrey Woodward	....	assistant art director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Stanley Lambourne	....	sound recordist
Gordon K. McCallum	....	sound recordist
Winston Ryder	....	sound editor
George Paternoster	....	boom operator (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Stanley Grant	....	special effects
Joan Suttie	....	special effects

Visual Effects by
Les Bowie	....	matte painter (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Oswald Morris	....	camera operator
Jim Body	....	focus puller (uncredited)
John Godar	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Alan Hume	....	focus puller (uncredited)
Charles Trigg	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dorothy Edwards	....	wardrobe mistress (uncredited)
Bob Rayner	....	wardrobe master (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Clive Donner	....	second assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
The Philharmonia Orchestra of London	....	performers: "The 'Oliver' Themes"
John Huntley	....	music staff (uncredited)

Other crew
J. Arthur Rank	....	presenter (as J.Arthur Rank)
Maggie Unsworth	....	continuity (as Margaret Sibley)
Wenham Bill	....	production assistant (uncredited)
Stuart Chant	....	publicist (uncredited)
Iris Dalton	....	production secretary (uncredited)
Vicky Fuggle	....	production secretary (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cineguild

Distributors

• General Film Distributors (GFD) (1948) (UK) (theatrical) (as General Film Distributors Ltd.)
• Eagle-Lion Films (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• United Artists (1951) (USA) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Janus Films (????) (USA) (all media)
• Koch Media (2003) (Germany) (DVD)
• LW Editora (2005) (Brazil) (DVD)
• Pickwick Video (1990) (UK) (VHS)
• Rank Video Library (1987) (UK) (VHS)

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) | UK:A (Janus print) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 | UK:U

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Cineguild

Trivia:

Robert Donat was desperate to play Sikes and did a screen test.

Goofs:

Continuity: In the pub, Sikes finishes talking to Fagin and puts the bottle on the table to give him a poke. The next shot shows him holding the bottle and drinking.

Quotes:

Noah Claypole: Workhouse, what's your mother?
Oliver Twist: She's dead.
Noah Claypole: What she die of workhouse?
Oliver Twist: They said she died of a broken heart.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Comedy Connections: To the Manor Born (#4.5)" (2006)

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.