G | 2h 33min | Drama, Family, Musical | 27 September 1968 | Color, ws
Director: Carol Reed
Stars: Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed.
Onna White ... musical sequences stager
George Baron ... assistant choreographer
Larry Oaks ... assistant choreographer
Tom Panko ... associate choreographer
16 songs in the Soundtracks.
I've never been attracted to this film. I remember having a book of Oliver Twist when I was a child, because I remember the illustration of "please sir, I want more", but if I read it, I don't remember the story. I wish I still didn't.
Of course a woman has to give her life to save the boy. Fortunately, her tormenter/murderer also dies.
How this got a G rating, I cannot imagine. Just for her beating death this should be up at least 1 notch higher. And it ends with a lyric about crime paying. The Production Code is very dead.
A bunch of cheery songs about workhouses and pickpockets is a very strange concept.
Quite an amazing coincidence that Oliver is supposedly related to the man he's accused of stealing from, and then the man makes the strange decision to take him in when he learns Oliver is wrongly accused. And don't you love a society that turns a blind eye to a child being sold or taken in by a stranger.
I bought a copy of this after I started this quest because it was one of the few music/als to win an Oscar for Best Picture. (The competition: Funny Girl, Rachel Rachel, Romeo and Juliet, The Lion in Winter; this is the year K.Hepburn and B.Streisand tied for Best Actress.) Without my discipline about this quest, I would have stopped watching at least at the intermission, if not sooner.
Of course, the look of the film is dreary; that's the life it's depicting. Even the well-off man does not live in a colorful environment.
I'll give it a 6- for now, so that I will watch it again before condemning it to the never-watch pile. I'll add some extra minuses for emphasis. The dancing was ok, but not enough to make me add this to "worthwhile dancing" list if I didn't hate the film.
How this got a G rating, I cannot imagine. Just for her beating death this should be up at least 1 notch higher. And it ends with a lyric about crime paying. The Production Code is very dead.
A bunch of cheery songs about workhouses and pickpockets is a very strange concept.
Quite an amazing coincidence that Oliver is supposedly related to the man he's accused of stealing from, and then the man makes the strange decision to take him in when he learns Oliver is wrongly accused. And don't you love a society that turns a blind eye to a child being sold or taken in by a stranger.
I bought a copy of this after I started this quest because it was one of the few music/als to win an Oscar for Best Picture. (The competition: Funny Girl, Rachel Rachel, Romeo and Juliet, The Lion in Winter; this is the year K.Hepburn and B.Streisand tied for Best Actress.) Without my discipline about this quest, I would have stopped watching at least at the intermission, if not sooner.
Of course, the look of the film is dreary; that's the life it's depicting. Even the well-off man does not live in a colorful environment.
I'll give it a 6- for now, so that I will watch it again before condemning it to the never-watch pile. I'll add some extra minuses for emphasis. The dancing was ok, but not enough to make me add this to "worthwhile dancing" list if I didn't hate the film.
distr. Columbia, dir. Reed; 6---
