David Lean is best remembered nowadays as the director of the sweeping technicolour epics that he produced in the latter part of his career {'Lawrence of Arabia (1962)' and 'The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)' being the most well-known}. However, it was interesting to uncover a treasure-trove of "little" films from Lean's earlier years, and 'Oliver Twist (1948),' his second adaptation of a Charles Dickens novel, is the first that I've watched. The film is a morbid, expressionistic triumph of storytelling and atmosphere, with Guy Green's exquisite cinematography making the dark, shadowy back-streets of 19th century London seem overwhelmingly ominous and sinister. An impressive British cast wonderfully brings the tale to the screen, and the audience is presented with an assortment of the author's grotesque, unsavoury literary creations. Though the story is frequently very morose {occasionally you just wish that one of the characters would break into song just to lighten the mood}, it was always Dickens' intention to end on a high note, and the film's final act will leave you with a cheery smile that you've well-and-truly earned.
Though I'd previously read Charles Dicken's 1838 novel, I could hardly remember a thing about it, so I was never sure of where the story was going to lead. Young Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) is born in a workhouse outside London, a horrible institution where he is treated poorly and given little to eat. In the film's opening sequence an awe-inspiring, completely silent stumble through a rainstorm we watch Oliver's mother (Josephine Stuart), on the verge of giving birth, arrive at the workhouse, dying just minutes after the delivery of her son. Nobody knows exactly who she is, nor how she came to be here; in any case, that final motherly embrace is about the only act of kindness that Oliver will experience for many, many years to come. Seriously deprived of food by his well-fed proprietors, Oliver innocently approaches the man with the gruel ladle and requests, "Please, sir, I want some more." In the ensuing uproar, Oliver is sold to a kindly undertaker, but a spat with a bullying fellow apprentice leads to his running away towards London. Once there, Oliver falls into the care of a gnarled Jewish thief named Fagin (Alec Guinness), who employs young, homeless boys to pickpocket for his own gain.
Aside from the superb photography, what makes Lean's 'Oliver Twist' such a superb Dickens adaptation are the wonderful characterisations. Alec Guinness usually receives the bulk of the praise, and not without good reason, for his portrayal of Fagin, whose grotesqueness, with his twisted grey beard and pointed nose, is almost comical. In fact, the performance proved somewhat controversial at the time of the film's release, with some considering it anti-semitic and others objecting to the "sympathetic" portrayal of a clear villain. Likewise, Robert Newton is genuinely chilling as Bill Sikes, whose paranoia continually threatens to erupt into an explosion of sadistic violence. Anthony Newley, aged seventeen years, completely nails the role of Jack Dawkins a.k.a. the Artful Dodger a sharp-eyed juvenile with "all the airs and manners of a man." The Dodger's entrance, as he thoughtfully appraises Oliver by the water fountain, reveals a legitimate understanding of the character. Of course, the film could never have been complete without young John Howard Davies, who brings an unrivalled element of intelligence, sincerity and independence to the role, without ever forgetting that he's playing an innocent nine-year-old orphan.
Though I'd previously read Charles Dicken's 1838 novel, I could hardly remember a thing about it, so I was never sure of where the story was going to lead. Young Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) is born in a workhouse outside London, a horrible institution where he is treated poorly and given little to eat. In the film's opening sequence an awe-inspiring, completely silent stumble through a rainstorm we watch Oliver's mother (Josephine Stuart), on the verge of giving birth, arrive at the workhouse, dying just minutes after the delivery of her son. Nobody knows exactly who she is, nor how she came to be here; in any case, that final motherly embrace is about the only act of kindness that Oliver will experience for many, many years to come. Seriously deprived of food by his well-fed proprietors, Oliver innocently approaches the man with the gruel ladle and requests, "Please, sir, I want some more." In the ensuing uproar, Oliver is sold to a kindly undertaker, but a spat with a bullying fellow apprentice leads to his running away towards London. Once there, Oliver falls into the care of a gnarled Jewish thief named Fagin (Alec Guinness), who employs young, homeless boys to pickpocket for his own gain.
Aside from the superb photography, what makes Lean's 'Oliver Twist' such a superb Dickens adaptation are the wonderful characterisations. Alec Guinness usually receives the bulk of the praise, and not without good reason, for his portrayal of Fagin, whose grotesqueness, with his twisted grey beard and pointed nose, is almost comical. In fact, the performance proved somewhat controversial at the time of the film's release, with some considering it anti-semitic and others objecting to the "sympathetic" portrayal of a clear villain. Likewise, Robert Newton is genuinely chilling as Bill Sikes, whose paranoia continually threatens to erupt into an explosion of sadistic violence. Anthony Newley, aged seventeen years, completely nails the role of Jack Dawkins a.k.a. the Artful Dodger a sharp-eyed juvenile with "all the airs and manners of a man." The Dodger's entrance, as he thoughtfully appraises Oliver by the water fountain, reveals a legitimate understanding of the character. Of course, the film could never have been complete without young John Howard Davies, who brings an unrivalled element of intelligence, sincerity and independence to the role, without ever forgetting that he's playing an innocent nine-year-old orphan.