Oliver! (1968)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Carol Reed

Writers:

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

Orphanage | Pickpocket | Orphan | Boy | Dickens

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
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)
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)
Elaine Paige	...	Urchin (uncredited)
Jane 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
Charles Dickens		(freely adapted from "Oliver Twist")
Lionel Bart		(book)
Vernon Harris		(screenplay)

Produced by
John Woolf	....	producer

Original Music by
Lionel Bart

Cinematography by
Oswald Morris		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Kemplen

Casting by
Jenia Reissar

Production Design by
John Box

Art Direction by
Terence Marsh

Costume Design by
Phyllis Dalton

Makeup Department
George Frost	....	makeup supervisor
Bobbie Smith	....	chief hair stylist
Hugh Richards	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

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

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

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	....	photographer: 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
Dusty Buck	....	music coordinator
Johnny Green	....	conductor (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	music arranger (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	music arranger: choral (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	music supervisor (as John Green)
Johnny Green	....	orchestrator (as John Green)
Robert Hathaway	....	associate music editor
Ray Holder	....	choreographic music layouts
Eric Rogers	....	additional orchestrator
Eric Rogers	....	associate music supervisor
Ken Runyon	....	music editor (as Kenneth Runyon)
Onna White	....	musical sequences stager

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	....	choreographer
Kathe Green	....	singing double: Mark Lester (uncredited)
Patrick Isherwood	....	assistant accountant (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Romulus Films
• Warwick Film Productions

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1968) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1968) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1972) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• American Broadcasting Company (ABC) (1975) (USA) (TV) (pan/scan)
• Columbia TriStar (2006) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Sunset Gower Studios  sound stages

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: Near the end of the movie, we see Fagin and Dodger walking out of the city down a long cobblestone street. As they walk directly towards the sun rising in the distance, with their faint shadows seen following them appropriately, we also see larger, more pronounced shadows on the brick wall to their left - which is at a full 90 degree angle away from the sun in front of them.

Quotes:

Bill Sikes: [realizing he's trapped] Nancy, I loved you didn't I? Look what you've done to me!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Bloodlust! (#7.7)" (1994)

Soundtrack:

As Long As He Needs Me

My brief review of the film

A high-spirited, lively version of the well-known story, the film manages to fit in songs and dances without subtracting from the deeper issues in Dickens' novel. The times are depicted vividly well, with excellent sets and costumes, and the film works as both surface entertainment for the young generation, and as a drama with deeper ideas behind it for the more adult viewer. As a musical, the story is not as potent as otherwise - if you compare it to David Lean's version for example - but yet the film explains parts of the story better than Lean's version did. It is not a perfect film as such, with some dances routines seeming pointless and a length that does become a tad annoying, but it is such a brilliant realisation of Dickens, and it is so well done, that it is hard not to think highly of the film. Ron Moody especially is very good: perfect as Fagin in an Oscar nominated role.