Oliver Twist (1948 film)
| Oliver Twist | |
|---|---|
| File:OlivertwistPoster.jpg | |
| Directed by | David Lean |
| Written by | David Lean Stanley Haynes Charles Dickens (novel) |
| Produced by | Ronald Neame Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Starring | Alec Guinness Robert Newton Kay Walsh John Howard Davies Anthony Newley |
| Cinematography | Guy Green |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
| Music by | Arnold Bax |
| Distributed by | Rank |
Release dates |  30 June, 1948 30 July, 1951 |
Running time | 115 min. (GB) / 105 min. (USA) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Oliver Twist (1948) is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his next film, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan, cinematographer Guy Green, designer John Bryan and editor Jack Harris. Lean's then-wife, Kay Walsh, who had collaborated on the screenplay for Great Expectations, played the role of Nancy.
Plot
John Howard Davies plays Oliver Twist, an orphan whose life begins in the poorhouse. When Oliver dares to ask for more food at supper, he is sent at once to work in an undertaker's establishment. After much abuse, he runs away to London where he is tricked into joining a gang of pickpockets and thieves led by the arch-scoundrel, Fagin (Alec Guinness). Oliver has no heart for the life of a thief. Eventually, he comes to the attention of Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson), an elderly gentleman who gives him a comfortable home. Oliver finds happiness for the first time in his life. However, his former associates track him down (fearing he will disclose their whereabouts to the law), and carry him back to their haunts. Mr. Brownlow and the authorities rescue Oliver while Fagin and his associates are brought to justice. The mystery of Oliver's birth is unravelled, and Mr. Brownlow discovers Oliver is his grandson.
Cast and characters
- John Howard Davies as Oliver Twist, an orphan
- Alec Guinness as Fagin, the leader of a gang of thieves
- Robert Newton as Bill Sikes, Fagin's associate
- Kay Walsh as Nancy, Sikes' inamorata
- Henry Stephenson as Mr. Brownlow, a kind gentleman
- Francis L. Sullivan as Mr. Bumble, the beadle
- Anthony Newley as The Artful Dodger, Fagin's associate
- Ralph Truman as Monks
- Michael Dear as Noah Claypole, an undertaker's boy
- Diana Dors as Charlotte
- Frederick Lloyd as Mr. Grimwig
- Mary Clare as Mrs. Corney
- Hattie Jacques as a pub singer
Differences from the novel
While in general faithful to the Dickens storyline, Lean's film omits the Rose Maylie sub-plot altogether. Instead, while Oliver is forced by Sikes to help him burgle a house, Nancy goes directly to Mr. Brownlow to warn him of the plot against the boy, and Fagin dispatches the Artful Dodger instead of Noah Claypole (who appears only in the early scenes) to spy on her. Oliver returns safely from the burglary with Sikes, rather than being accidentally shot during the break-in.
Nancy's best friend, Bet, is also omitted from this film. It is the Artful Dodger, and not Bet, who discovers the murder, and who betrays the murderer to the police.
Nancy and Oliver do not even meet until she helps to kidnap the boy; and he seems to be unaware of any real concern she may have for him until he leaves with Sikes to commit the burglary (while wrapping a scarf around Oliver's neck prior to his leaving, she momentarily touches his cheek to silently reassure him, and he looks back at her in surprise as Sikes pushes him out the door).
Agnes Fleming, Oliver's mother, is turned in the screenplay into Brownlow's daughter, rather than simply the paramour of Oliver's father.
Oliver's father is never mentioned at all in the film, while in the book he was Mr. Brownlow's best friend.
Although the film includes the character of Monks, Oliver's half-brother, it is never explained in the script that Monks is the half-brother at all. He seems to be merely a mysterious stranger who turns up to make trouble for Oliver. The one clue to his identity is furnished when he says to Brownlow, "Is this a trick to deprive me of my inheritance?", and Brownlow replies "You have no inheritance, for as you know, my daughter had the child!" The terms of the will left by Oliver's father - that Oliver would be disinherited if he ever committed a criminal act, are also left unexplained.
Controversy
Alec Guinness's portrayal of Fagin was considered anti-semitic by some. Guinness wore heavy make-up, including a large prosthetic nose, to make him look like the character as he appeared in George Cruikshank's illustrations in the first edition of the novel. As a result of objections by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith and the New York Board of Rabbis, the film was not released in the United States until 1951 and with seven minutes of profile shots and other parts of Guinness's performance cut. It received great acclaim from critics, but no Oscar nominations. The film was banned in Israel for anti-semitism and in Egypt for portraying Fagin too sympathetically.[citation needed]
Beginning in the 1970s, the full-length version of Lean's film began to be shown in the United States. It is that version which is now available on DVD. The film is now considered one of the great classics of British cinema. In 1999, the British Film Institute ranked Oliver Twist 48th on its Top 100 British Films.
Trivia
- Robert Donat auditioned for the role of Sikes.
- Kay Walsh was married to David Lean at the time of the filming, but the stresses of filmmaking caused Lean to enter psychoanalysis. This played a large part in their ultimate divorce.
- David Lean was unconvinced that Alec Guinness could ever play Fagin, until Guinness auditioned for the part.
References
- Vermilye, Jerry. (1978). The Great British Films. Citadel Press, pp. 117–120. ISBN 080650661X.
