Oliver Twist

UPC: 037429128121

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Suitable for Children, Children in Peril]

Summary: The second of director David Lean's adaptations of a Charles Dickens novel (Great Expectations (1946) was the first), Oliver Twist expertly boils down an enormous novel to a little less than two hours' screen time. The film begins with baby Oliver left on the doorstep of an orphanage/workhouse by his unwed mother. Proving a difficult charge to the wicked orphanage official, Oliver (John Howard Davies) is sold into a job as an undertaker's apprentice. He runs away and joins a gang of larcenous street urchins, led by master pickpocket Fagin (Alec Guinness). Oliver is rescued from this life by the kindly Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson); but, with the complicity of evil Bill Sikes (Robert Newton), Fagin abducts Oliver. Sikes' girl friend Nancy (Kay Walsh) restores Oliver to Brownlow, leading to tragic consequences before an ultimately happy ending. Oliver Twist was filmed in England in 1948, but its American release was held up for three years due to the allegedly anti-Semitic portrayal of the duplicitous Fagin. Even in its currently censored form, Oliver Twist is one the best-ever film versions of a Dickens novel. It served as a blueprint for Oliver! (1968), the Oscar-winning musical version. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Category: Drama

Awards: Best British Film – British Academy of Film and Television Arts Film Presented – null Film Presented – London Film Festival

Features: The original theatrical trailer
Subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired

Oliver Twist

Format: DVD

Release Date: 01/12/1999

Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 Pre-1954 Standard

Audio: 1 USA & territories, Canada, 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 116 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) English

Subtitles: English

Region: USA & territories, Canada

Chapters: Chapters
0. Chapters
1. Logos [:19]
2. Opening Titles [1:21]
3. The Parish Workhouse [3:19]
4. Birth And Death [3:29]
5. Oliver's Presentation To The Board [3:45]
6. "Please Sir, I Want Some More" [3:19]
7. Apprentice To Mr. Sowerberry, The Undertaker [4:23]
8. Old Sally's Bit Of News [6:22]
9. Oliver Defends His Mother's Name [6:26]
10. Lessons In Trade From Fagin And The Artful Dodger [6:44]
11. Oliver's First Shilling [3:17]
12. The Great Chase [3:08]
13. Mr. Sykes And Nancy [3:16]
14. Courtroom Drama [3:23]
15. Olilver Awakens In Heaven [3:46]
16. Mr. And Mrs. Bumble [2:32]
17. A Deal With Monks [1:25]
18. Oliver's Capture [8:04]
19. Nancy Attacks Fagin [6:36]
20. A Spy Among Spies [7:02]
21. Special Work For The Arful Dodger [5:46]
22. A Killing [5:29]
23. Syke's Demons Pay A Visit [3:38]
24. Brownlow Takes Charge [4:46]
25. Dog Chase [2:53]
26. Honor Among Thieves [3:19]
27. Oliver's Safe Return [6:51]
28. End Credits [:54]

Dan Jardine

David Lean's ambitious interpretation of this Charles Dickens classic is a powerful but flawed film. Guy Green's hyaline cinematography dominates the picture from its opening shots of a terrified young woman stumbling around in a stormy heath to its closing scenes of mob violence. His camera is perched above the characters, implying moral superiority to the many flawed characters, while making the ever-vulnerable Oliver look cowed and beaten. The turbulent world of mid-19th century London, with its incessant hustle and bustle of human industry, is recreated so carefully that the vibrant set designs almost overshadow the memorable characters that roam these streets. A smorgasbord of urban decay, social disorder, and class conflict imbues the film with a potent sensuality, as both natural elements and human architecture conspire to consume the disadvantaged. An unrecognisable Alec Guinness, endowed with pounds of prosthetics to mask his youthful vigour, creates a sympathetic Fagin out of a potentially racist caricature. Robert Newton's Mephistophelean Bill Sikes is exemplary, particularly in the scene in which he brutally murders Nancy then sits in tortured and hysterical contemplation of the deed. Dickens' faith in the human spirit is well-depicted in Oliver's ability to survive despite the cruelty of this unjust world. Both Dickens when he wrote the novel and Lean when he filmed it were men near the beginning of their careers whose optimism shone through the darkness of the material. However, the film closes with scenes of mob vigilantism and sentimentality that carry messages betraying the social commentary that precedes them. ~ Dan Jardine, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Edie Martin  Actor 
Ivor Barnard  Actor 
Hattie Jacques  Actor 
Deirdre Doyle  Actor 
Diana Dors  Actor 
Henry Edwards  Actor 
Michael Dear  Actor 
Peter Bull  Actor 
Henry Stephenson  Actor 
Kenneth Downey  Actor 
Frederick Lloyd  Actor 
Maurice Jones  Actor 
Anthony Havelock-Allan  Producer 
Stanley Haynes  Screenwriter 
David Lean  Director 
David Lean  Screenwriter 
Ronald Neame  Producer 
Arnold Bax  Composer (Music Score) 
Robert Newton  Actor 
Alec Guinness  Actor 
Kay Walsh  Actor 
Francis L. Sullivan  Actor 
John Howard Davies  Actor 
Anthony Newley  Actor 
Mary Clare  Actor 
Ralph Truman  Actor 
Josephine Stuart  Actor 
Gibb McLaughlin  Actor 
Kathleen Harrison  Actor 
Amy Veness  Actor 
W.G. Fay  Actor 
Maurice Denham  Actor 

Country: UK