Movie Stats:
Released 1968 (UK)
British, in English
Director – Carol Reed
Stars – Mark Lester, Jack Wild, Ron Moody, Oliver Reed,
Shani Wallis
Plot Summary:
Based on the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist, when young orphan Oliver (Lester) is tossed out of his orphanage/workhouse for
asking for more gruel, he eventually makes his way to London, where he falls in
with young pickpocket The Artful Dodger (Wild) and his equally young band of
thieves, who are under the direction of an old man named Fagin (Moody). Reed
co-stars as the dastardly Bill Sikes and Wallis as his wife (or maybe
girlfriend; it wasn’t clear from the movie & I’ve never read the book)
Nancy.
Bad Stuff:
I really disliked Oliver’s singing voice. I wasn’t
particularly surprised to learn that the actor had been dubbed over by a girl,
although apparently the filmmakers kept that a secret for 20 years.
I felt a little uncomfortable with the plight of an orphan
being turned into a comedy. One scene, the boy is abused in a way that is shown
as “comical,” the next he’s crying and singing “Where Is Love?” Geez, that’s
tragic, not funny.
It’s surprisingly violent – although none of it is graphic –
for a G-rated movie.
Good Stuff:
LOVED Moody’s singing voice. I think I could listen to that
guy sing all day long.
There was great acting from everybody. I didn’t notice a
weak link in the bunch. Child actors in particular can be really hit or miss,
but I thought Lester was magnificent. More than once, a simple facial
expression of his cut me to the core. I also thought Reed was pretty magnificent – really scary. I found myself wondering if the child actors were genuinely
afraid of him during filming because he had some crazy eyes going on.
The big production song-and-dance sequences were great, especially “Consider Yourself.” I’m not surprised that they took weeks
to film.
The Verdict:
I had a lot of reservations going in. This is the fourth and
final musical to win Best Picture in the 1960s. I have to admit that I’ve
gotten pretty burned out on them & have been feeling relieved that I don’t
have to watch another musical until 2002’s “Chicago.”
However, despite these reservations, I found myself
thoroughly entertained. I don’t think I found it as comical as I was supposed
to, but I enjoyed myself nonetheless. There was solid acting, good songs, great
dance sequences, lovely costumes, and lots of excitement, adventure &
drama. What’s not to like?
2 comments:
We watched this as part of music class in elementary school to "get ready" for the school music program. I watched later when I was all grown up and was surprised we could sit through it, also that they showed it to us. I really like some of the songs from this show, especially "I'd do anything."
I liked a lot of the songs as well. I can't imagine sitting through this as a kid. It's a very long movie.
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