Oliver! (1968)

I love this movie so much

You won't be disappointed!

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Oliver Twist is a poor orphan, living at a workhouse. He angers the powers-that-be at the workhouse when, one dinner, he asks for more food. They decide to sell him and he ends up working for an undertaker. The undertaker treats him badly and he escapes, heading for London. Once there he falls in with a gang of boys, thieves who steal for their adult leader, Fagin. Great musical adaptation of Oliver Twist, the Charles Dickens novel. I'm generally not into musicals but this works. The music isn't overdone and fits in well with the story, plus it propels the story along.Good performances all round.Won the 1969 Best Picture Oscar.

Charles Dickens's "Oliver Twist" exposed the cruel treatment of orphans in 1800s England (and the overall plight of the poor). Carol Reed's adaptation of the musical stage production also does this, so it's a good movie in that respect. But seriously, "Oliver!" was not the best movie of 1968. That year gave us "2001: A Space Odyssey" (a philosophical science fiction movie; it should have won Best Picture), "Planet of the Apes" (a look at evolution), "Charly" (about developmental disabilities), "The Lion in Winter" (about Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine), "Yellow Submarine" (which I consider the greatest animated feature of all time) and "Night of the Living Dead" (one of those horror flicks that addresses social issues). Moreover, that year was dominated by the escalation of the Vietnam War, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, the student uprising in Paris, the protests outside the Democratic Convention in Chicago, the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia, the massacre of protesters in Mexico City right before the Olympics got held there, and finally, Nixon's election as president.As for the movie itself, I thought that Nancy was the most intriguing character. I especially liked her song "Oom-pah-pah". Otherwise, it was a just OK movie.

Olive Twist (Mark Lester) is one of the many orphans working in the Dickensian workhouse. He asks for more gruel angering Bumble who sells him into servitude to Mr. Sowerberry the undertaker. Facing more punishment, he escapes to London where he meets the Artful Dodger. He's brought to old criminal Fagin, the leader of the gang of pickpocketing kids.It's a grand production with some great songs. The translation to the big screen worked out for this movie. It's a bit dark for a kids movie unlike 'Annie' or 'Wizard of Oz'. There is a darker moodiness in the story and music. It's still one of the great movie musicals and needs to be seen by lovers of the genre.

The 1960s was the last great decade for movie musicals. Although Chicago broke the streak, Oliver! was the last classic musical to win Best Picture. It's in good company, West Side Story, My Fair Lady and The Sound of Music are excellent films, but Oliver! is certainly the lesser of the four. Naturally, like most films of the like, it's bloated more than it's worth, touching 2 and a half hours. It results in far too many moments where the songs slow the pacing rather than progress the story, though they at least take it further a little. Fortunately most of them are catchy and familiar and it's certainly helped by bigger chorus lines, elaborate sets and calculated choreography. Obviously with a bleak tone like this, it's not necessarily always a joy.However, its biggest problem is the lead. The Oliver Twist here is whiny and wooden, having none of the energy that the radiant and wonderful Ron Moody and Jack Wild bring to the table, who deserved way more screen time than they already had. They were theatrical, but well measured enough to suit cinema. Classic as it may be, its plot does tend to suffer and jump around too much and be quite contrived, but what lifted Oliver! above average is its affection for its characters, once they get settled anyway. Shani Willis' Nancy felt extraneous at first but she brought an essential sensitivity to the film and ended up one of the most charming characters. It's a hit and miss film and doesn't do anything extraordinary but it's enjoyable and moving enough for a please-all picture. Certainly not up to Carol Reed's 1940s standards anyway.7/10