I can't even believe there are people who prefer this narrative jalopy to Lean's infinitely finer 'Great Expectations.' Oliver Twist is simpleton fodder. The waif protagonist is NOT interesting. He is acted upon, and actions occur around him because having a child protagonist is essentially uninteresting and problematic. Because he's so helpless and feeble (read: virtuous), nothing complex can happen to him without introducing some adult agents. Any danger Oliver experiences, lost its threat 50 years ago from over-familiarity. Every Dickens story involves illegitimacy and tiresome coincidences. OT features the biggest whopper of a coincidence in all of Dickens oeuvre: Imagine you're an orphan who doesn't know who your parents are. Imagine yourself lost in a massive city. Imagine the first person you steal from, just happens to be your long-lost grandfather. Oh come on... what a hideous, clumsy, amateurish device. Bill Sikes is one dimensional. Nancy's motives shift inexplicably. I found nothing interesting in this non-complex plot from the very first viewing. Only Great Expectations miraculously escaped Dickens tiresome, facile morality. The only reason this receives three stars is for the dramatic b/w camera work.
Review of Oliver Twist
