Oliver! (1968)

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

Charles Dickens (freely adapted from "Oliver Twist")
Lionel Bart (book)

Release Date:

5 October 1968 (Japan)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Family | Musical

Tagline:

More of a Masterpiece Than a Musical! [re-release]

Plot:

Musical adaptation about an orphan who runs away from an orphanage and hooks up with a group of boys trained to be pickpockets by an elderly mentor.

Plot Keywords:

Orphanage | Pickpocket | Orphan | Theft | Undertaker

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 6 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

Ron Moody	...	Fagin
Shani Wallis	...	Nancy
Oliver Reed	...	Bill Sikes
Harry Secombe	...	Mr. Bumble
Mark Lester	...	Oliver Twist
Jack Wild	...	The Artful Dodger
Hugh Griffith	...	The Magistrate
Joseph O'Conor	...	Mr. Brownlow
Peggy Mount	...	Mrs. Bumble
Leonard Rossiter	...	Sowerberry
Hylda Baker	...	Mrs. Sowerberry
Kenneth Cranham	...	Noah Claypole
Megs Jenkins	...	Mrs. Bedwin
Sheila White	...	Bet
Wensley Pithey	...	Dr. Grimwig

Also Known As:

Lionel Bart's Oliver! (UK) (poster title)

Runtime:

153 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (35 mm optical prints) | 70 mm 6-Track (Westrex Recording System) (70 mm prints) | 4-Track Stereo (Westrex Recording System) (35 mm magnetic prints)

Certification:

Iceland:L | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Brazil:12 | Argentina:Atp | Finland:K-8 | Sweden:11 | UK:U | USA:G | West Germany:12 | Ireland:G | Australia:G | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Shepperton Studios, Shepperton, Surrey, England, UK

Company:

Romulus Films

Trivia:

The London sets covered six sound stages and a huge studio backlot - with rich and poor sections. The sets were adaptable overnight in spite of their sturdy look, due to the fact that single dance numbers sometimes required changing sets up to a dozen times.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The steps at London Bridge are not designed in the manner that the real ones were. The real steps were, as Dickens describes them narrow at the top and widen horizontally at the bottom, allowing a person to hide and eavesdrop on (or watch) those on the upper steps without being seen.

Quotes:

[about Oliver]
Mr. Bumble: Mother came to us destitute. Brings a child into the world, takes one look at him and promptly dies - -without leaving so much as a forwarding name and address!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Brady Bunch Hour: (#1.5)" (1977)

Soundtrack:

Oliver!

Pure movie magic!

Its strange that the film that won the best picture Oscar at the 1968 Academy Awards was a film made in England, but if ever a movie deserved that honor, I think it is Oliver. This movie is a true classic that should be on every best picture list and given a place of honor at The American Film Institute. Movie musicals died out a long time ago and it is a shame because this is the best movie musical I have ever seen. Usually movie musicals are slipshod with some great numbers mixed in with some poor ones. Oliver does the impossible, because every number and every dance in this film hits the bullseye! From "Food Glorious Food" to "Consider Yourself" to "Who Will Buy This Wonderful Morning". Ron Moody, Shani Wallace (as Nancy) and Mark Lester as Oliver all give outstanding performances. Mark Lester was at one time the most famous child actor in the entire world. He was the Ricky Schroder of his day or the MacAuley Culkin of his day (I'll bet he wishes he could have made the kind of money they did!). Mark Lester is now a doctor in England and I wrote him a couple e-mails and he talked about Oliver and what a fine experience it was making the film. Shani Wallace was a fine English actress who never got the credit she deserved. She was so good as the sweet, loving Nancy who took a shine to little Oliver and gave her life saving him (her murder scene still makes me shiver, even Charles Dickens said that bothered him when he wrote it!). Doctor Lester wrote me that Shani Wallace was like a big sister to him and it shows on the screen. Ron Moody is delightfully hammy as Fagin. He sort of reminds me of Charles Laughton the way he carries the part to its ludicrous extreme but you savor it along with him. Charles Dickens was so good at portraying the poverty and horrible living conditions of his time and this film shows that especially in the workhouse. Children really lived under those conditions and it is horrifying. The scene that got me is where they are being served horrible gruel and are walking by the dining room where Mister Bumble and his henchmen are dining like kings! That really made me angry. Anyhow, Oliver is a wonderful film that would stand up to any film today and is a good viewing experience for the whole family. It will leave you with a happy heart and a lump in your throat and what more could you ask for?