Oliver! (1968)

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

Lionel Bart (book)
Vernon Harris (screenplay)
(more)

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:

Pickpocket | Orphanage | Orphan | Theft | Undertaker

Awards:

Won 5 Oscars. Another 7 wins & 23 nominations

Cast

Ron Moody	...	Fagin
Shani Wallis	...	Nancy
Oliver Reed	...	Bill Sikes
Harry Secombe	...	Bumble
Mark Lester	...	Oliver Twist
Jack Wild	...	The Artful Dodger
Hugh Griffith	...	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
James Hayter	...	Mr. Jessop
Elizabeth Knight	...	Charlotte
Fred Emney	...	Chairman - Workhouse
Edwin Finn	...	Pauper - Workhouse
Roy Evans	...	Pauper - Workhouse
Norman Mitchell	...	Arresting Policeman
Robert Bartlett	...	Fagin's Boy
Graham Buttrose	...	Fagin's Boy
Jeffrey Chandler	...	Fagin's Boy
Kirk Clugston	...	Fagin's Boy (as Kirk Clugeston)
Dempsey Cook	...	Fagin's Boy
Christopher Duff	...	Fagin's Boy
Nigel Grice	...	Fagin's Boy
Ronnie Johnson	...	Fagin's Boy
Nigel Kingsley	...	Fagin's Boy
Robert Langley	...	Fagin's Boy
Brian Lloyd	...	Fagin's Boy
Peter Lock	...	Fagin's Boy
Clive Moss	...	Fagin's Boy
Ian Ramsey	...	Fagin's Boy
Peter Renn	...	Fagin's Boy
Billy Smith	...	Fagin's Boy
Kim Smith	...	Fagin's Boy
Freddie Stead	...	Fagin's Boy
Raymond Ward	...	Fagin's Boy
John Watters	...	Fagin's Boy
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
John Baskcomb	...	Workhouse Governor (uncredited)
Peter Butterworth	...	Shopkepper in Court (uncredited)
Frank Crawshaw	...	Workhouse Governor (uncredited)
Harry Fielder	...	Smart Gent (uncredited)
Jack Haig	...	(uncredited)
Peter Hoare	...	Clerk of Court (uncredited)
Anthony Kemp	...	(uncredited)
Arnold Locke	...	Workhouse Governor (uncredited)
Ruben Martin	...	Strongman (uncredited)
Elaine Paige	...	Urchin (uncredited)
Jayne Peach	...	Rose - Maid (uncredited)
Norman Pitt	...	Workhouse Governor (uncredited)
Nosher Powell	...	Man (uncredited)
Keith Roberts	...	Policeman Magistrate's Court (uncredited)
Vernon White	...	Baker Boy Dancer (uncredited)
Helen Worth	...	Urchin (uncredited)

Directed by
Carol Reed

Writing credits
Lionel Bart		(book by)
Vernon Harris		(screenplay)
Charles Dickens		(freely adapted from "Oliver Twist" by)

Produced by
John Woolf	....	producer

Original Music by
Johnny Green		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Oswald Morris		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Kemplen		(film editor)

Casting by
Jenia Reissar

Production Design by
John Box

Art Direction by
Terence Marsh

Costume Design by
Phyllis Dalton

Makeup Department
George Frost	....	make-up supervisor
Bobbie Smith	....	chief hairdresser
Hugh Richards	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
Denis Johnson Jr.	....	unit production manager
Denis Johnson	....	production supervisor

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Colin M. Brewer	....	assistant director (as Colin Brewer)
Ray Corbett	....	assistant director: second unit
Mike Higgins	....	second assistant director: second unit (uncredited)
Chris Kenny	....	third assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Robert Cartwright	....	assistant art director (as Bob Cartwright)
Vernon Dixon	....	set dresser
Peter Dukelow	....	construction manager
Percy Godbold	....	production buyer
Ken Muggleston	....	set dresser
Roy Walker	....	assistant art director
Roger Christian	....	art department assistant (uncredited)

Sound Department
Buster Ambler	....	sound recordist
John Cox	....	sound supervisor
Jim Groom	....	sound editor
Bob Jones	....	sound recordist
Tony Dawe	....	adr and sound effects mixer (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Alan Bryce	....	special effects (as Allan Bryce)

Stunts
Nosher Powell	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Freddie Cooper	....	camera operator
Brian West	....	photography: second unit
Maurice Gillett	....	supervising electrician (uncredited)
Bob Penn	....	still photographer (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
John Wilson-Apperson	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Marcel Durham	....	assistant film editor
Michael R. Sloan	....	assistant editor (uncredited)
Sati Tooray	....	colorist (uncredited)

Music Department
Lionel Bart	....	music and lyrics by
Dusty Buck	....	music coordinator
Johnny Green	....	choral arrangements (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	music arranged by (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	music conducted by (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	music supervised by (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	orchestrations (as John Green)
Robert Hathaway	....	associate music editor
Ray Holder	....	choreographic music layouts
Eric Rogers	....	additional orchestration
Eric Rogers	....	associate music supervisor
Ken Runyon	....	music editor (as Kenneth Runyon)
Onna White	....	musical sequences staged by

Other crew
Donald Albery	....	produced by arrangement and in association with
Graham Barkley	....	title backgrounds designer
George Baron	....	assistant choreographer
Pamela Davies	....	continuity
Larry Oaks	....	assistant choreographer
Loretta Ordewer	....	production secretary
Tom Panko	....	associate choreographer
Onna White	....	choreography by
Kathe Green	....	singing double: Mark Lester (uncredited)
Patrick Isherwood	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Romulus Films (as A Romulus Production)
• Warwick Film Productions

Distributors

• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2008) (USA) (DVD)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1968) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical) (presents)
• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• Columbia TriStar Home Video (2000) (UK) (DVD)
• Pioneer Entertainment (1990s) (USA) (video) (LaserDisc)

Other Companies

• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages

Also Known As:

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 | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | 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:

Amazingly, the composer of this highly respected score, Lionel Bart, could not read music himself. From his earliest days in theater, he would sing his melodies to a trained pianist, who would then set the tunes down on sheet music and orchestrate them.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The "Boy For Sale" sequence deviates from both the novel and history: even during the harshest phases of Poor Law reform it was illegal for the government to sell paupers as slaves to tradespeople. It was also pointless, as apprentices could be had for nothing, and the state had to pay tradespeople for the service of taking paupers off their hands (as is the case in the novel, where the fee is paid by Bumble to Sowerberry).

Quotes:

Fagin:Bill, please, no violence!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Cats Don't Dance (1997)

Soundtrack:

Oliver!

A true work of art...excellent songs, amazing performances...

"Oliver!" is a vast improvement over the marvelous Broadway stage version, opening up the scenes with the ability to expand the range of the material and still remain faithful to the Dickens story. Brimming with unforgettable songs and dances (that choreography by Onna White is timeless), it is so well cast--down to the smallest roles--and so faithful to the spirit of Dickens' work that you can no longer imagine that classic without the songs.

Fagin is played to perfection by Ron Moody. His "You Gotta Pick A Pocket Or Two" is just one of the highlights incorporating clever lyrics and great choreography. The boys who kidnap Oliver are a rowdy lot, looking every bit the ruffians they're supposed to be. The best of the lot is Jack Wild's Artful Dodger, leading the gang in "Consider Yourself".

But not all is light and cheery. The darker aspects of the story are sometimes a little too graphic for my taste, although all of the performances are extremely well played, including Oliver Reed as Bill Sykes. The scenes involving his demise are so melodramatic they seem to belong to another film.

Whatever the faults may be, including a rather extended running time, there is scarcely a dull moment. With songs like "Who Will Buy?" and "Where Is Love?" -- not to mention "Food, Glorious Food" -- you will find yourself falling under the spell of this great musical. Highly recommended and fully deserving of its Best Picture Oscar.