Oliver!

Rating

Director

Sir Carol Reed

Screenplay

Vernon Harris (Musical Book by Lionel Bart, Novel Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens)

Length

153 min.

Starring

Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed, Harry Secombe, Mark Lester, Jack Wild, Hugh Griffith, Joseph O’Conor

MPAA Rating

G

Review

The classic tale of a young orphan who finds a home among thieves and cutpurses in the big city receives a rich and musical treatment in Oliver!

One-hundred and thirty years after Charles Dickens published his acclaimed novel Oliver Twist, director Sir Carol Reed takes the story that was turned into a musical in 1960 by composer Lionel Bart and crafts an amazing tableau of color and song.

The death of Oliver’s (Mark Lester) mother impacted him like few other events did. He never really knew her but he loved her all the same. That love made his ability to fit into an orphanage workhouse difficult. When he courageously asks for “more”, he’s sold to an undertaker. When he starts a row with the older boy of the house, he’s returned to the orphanage from where he escapes to find his way to the big city.

Upon arrival, he’s taken in by The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and given a home by a scruffy old man named Fagin (Ron Moody). The residence is a run down loft perched precariously over a sewage ditch where more than a dozen other children have taken refuge. As a part of this “household”, he is expected to earn a living like all the others and The Artful Dodger and an associate are assigned to teach him the tricks of the trade of pickpocketing.

As fate often intervenes in these tales, Oliver’s pinched for the crime despite his lack of involvement but is released into the custody of the wealthy man from whom he is accused of stealing. Mr. Brownlow (Joseph O’Conor) takes him in like the grandson he never had and thus sets in motion events that send the famed thief Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) and his girlfriend Nancy (Shani Wallis) after the boy.

Many musicals have eschewed realism for gloss and style. Sir Reed takes a different bent adapting Oliver! to the big screen. Production designer John Box has manufactured an authentic yet showy palette of scenery that puts many musicals to shame. The back alley and loft are particularly effective in creating a credible setting in which these characters feel perfectly at home.

Child actors rarely give believable or even decent performances. The boys in Oliver!, Lester and Wild, do admirably well given their roles. However, the true standout of the film is Moody. Though he originated the role in London’s West End, he transforms the character for the screen into the selfish yet concerned man he should be. Despite the way he uses the children for his own financial gain, Moody helps the audience believe that he has true concern for their wellbeing if not for their survival.

On the other side of the moral paradigm, Mr. Reed creates in Bill Sikes the very model of a villain. Sikes is gruff, unkempt, vaguely charismatic and vicious. Balancing him is the girlfriend who he doesn’t deserve. Wallis has a difficult task being the only important female character to the story. It’s not difficult to imagine her career never took off after this picture. She fit well into the character and has a terrific set of vocals but her character lacks life in any scene in which she doesn’t come to Oliver’s defense.

Most of the songs are easily forgettable but a few stand out vividly. “Food Glorious Food” and “Who Will Buy?” stay with me well after the film’s close. While the former isn’t an amazing piece of musical composition, the fantastic choreography that accompanies it on screen makes it more memorable. The latter is a rich and melodic piece that begins softly with one voice and builds dramatically to a chorus of voices. In addition, the matching scene on film is breathtaking in its tempo and editing.

Some have called Oliver! one of the worst films ever to win the Best Picture Oscar. I must disagree completely. The film is well acted, well designed and intensely fun. It’s not a film that just anyone can appreciate but it is one of the few pictures in the array of Academy Award winners that feels like it fits.

Review Written

November 27, 2006