Oliver! (film)

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Oliver!
The movie's poster
Directed by	Carol Reed
Produced by	John Woolf
Written by	Charles Dickens (novel) Vernon Harris
Starring	Mark Lester Ron Moody Shani Wallis Oliver Reed
Music by	Johnny Green Eric Rogers Onna White
Cinematography	Oswald Morris
Editing by	Ralph Kemplen
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date(s)	September 26, 1968
Running time	153 min.
Country	U.K.
Language	English
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

Oliver! is a 1968 musical film directed by Carol Reed and based on the stage musical Oliver!. Both the film and play are based on the famous Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist.

1 Background
2 Reception
3 Trivia
4 External link

[edit] Background

The film used a mixture of young unknowns and 'big names': Ron Moody (Fagin), Oliver Reed (Bill Sikes), Harry Secombe (Mr Bumble), Mark Lester (Oliver), Jack Wild (Dodger), Shani Wallis (Nancy) and Joseph O'Conor as Mr. Brownlow. There was a minor outcry when Shani Wallis was given the role of Nancy in preference to Georgia Brown.

The movie was adapted by Lionel Bart and Vernon Harris, and directed by Sir Carol Reed, who was also Oliver Reed's uncle. A few of the songs from the stage production were not used in the movie, but most of them were included. The unused songs often make appearances in the incidental music, for example, the music of Sike's song "My Name" can be heard when the character first appears. The film also included extended choreography sequences not found in the original show, and some additional dialogue scenes which expanded the role of Bill Sikes, who, in the stage version, did not even make his entrance until the second act. The songs that Sikes sang in the play were omitted, so that actor Oliver Reed had an opportunity to play the frightening villain as Dickens created him, and not as played in the watered-down characterization of the stage version.

[edit] Reception

Oliver! received extremely favorable reviews and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Picture. It was the last G-rated film to be so honored, though if the film were released today it would probably receive a PG rating because of the violence that Bill shows toward Nancy - it was much easier in 1968 for films with no foul language or on-screen sex to receive G ratings, despite having some violence. (Ironically, the following year saw the first and only X-rated film to win a Best Picture Oscar: Midnight Cowboy, which was re-rated R two years later.)

Oliver! also won Oscars for Best Director, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture (Original or Adaptation), and Best Sound. Onna White also won an honorary oscar for her choreography. It was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Ron Moody), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Wild), Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, Best Film Editing and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

[edit] Trivia

The film was the last musical to win the Best Picture Oscar until Chicago won it thirty-four years later.

The movie's soundtrack was originally issued in the US on Colgems Records; it was later reissued on compact disc on the RCA Records label.

[edit] External link

Oliver! at the Internet Movie Database

Oliver Twist
Characters:	Fagin \| Bill Sikes \| The Artful Dodger \| Nancy Sikes \| Rose Maylie
Film adaptions:	Oliver Twist (1948) \| Oliver! \| Oliver & Company \| Oliver Twist (1997) \| Twist \| Boy called Twist \| Oliver Twist (2005)
Other adaptions:	Oliver! \| Fagin the Jew \| Oliver Twist (TV miniseries)