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      Oliver Twist

      Released Jun 28, 1948 1h 45m Drama List
      100% 25 Reviews Tomatometer 84% 5,000+ Ratings Audience Score When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan), for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) and his criminal mentor, Fagin (Alec Guinness). When kindly Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson) takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes (Robert Newton) plots to kidnap the boy. Read More Read Less

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      Critics Consensus

      David Lean brings the grimy beauty of Charles Dickens' Victorian England to vivid cinematic life in Oliver Twist, a marvelous adaptation that benefits from Guy Green's haunting cinematography and Alec Guinness' off-kilter performance.

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      Critics Reviews

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      David Parkinson Empire Magazine When Lean does subjugate his ego to Dickens's genius, this becomes a powerful study of depravity, misery and cruelty... Rated: 4/5 Nov 27, 2019 Full Review Don Druker Chicago Reader Alec Guinness as the master pickpocket Fagin is the high point of David Lean's 1948 version of the Dickens classic. Nov 6, 2007 Full Review Variety Staff Variety From every angle this is a superb achievement. Nov 6, 2007 Full Review Vernon Young New Mexico Quarterly Certainly no better film than England's Oliver Twist was shown to American filmgoers during the year 1951 and one hopes that it will now enter the repertory of vanguard movie societies as securely as The Baker's Wife has done. Jan 17, 2024 Full Review Roger Moore Movie Nation But what we remember from this tale...beautifully rendered in one of the loveliest black and white films ever here... is a little boy asking the one unforgivable request during one malnourished meal. "Please sir, can I have some more?" Rated: 4/4 Oct 14, 2020 Full Review Adrian Turner Radio Times This masterly adaptation of the Dickens novel by director David Lean brims with unforgettable scenes and performances, especially Alec Guinness's Fagin and Robert Newton's genuinely frightening Bill Sikes. Rated: 5/5 Nov 27, 2019 Full Review Read all reviews

      Audience Reviews

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      Tony M A great film for its time but I prefer the 1968 musical Oliver. Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/21/24 Full Review Steve D Not a bad version but there are many better options. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/20/24 Full Review Nathan A The acting in the movie is a spectacle to view. The rating of the movie although should not be G or general audience as the book may well have been. The film has adult themed manipulation of a child with payment of information along with showing the scene of a murder with emotional reaction by a dog then the final scene of the masses following the police or with acts of justice to justify violence with violent ends combine a movie for at least PG viewing. The rating is not full as mentioned so fresh since it is an adaptation. Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars 09/30/23 Full Review Audience Member Classic movie portrayal of classic novel. Classy! Rated 5 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member A really decent adaptation of a Dickens classic. Not much more you can say about this. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/28/23 Full Review William L A faithful adaptation of the Dickens classic responsible for much of the visual distinction associated with the tale. A great use of light and shadow to accompany the black and white color scheme that only serves to enhance some of the exceptional sets, cinematography, and sense of intensity carried over from the source material. With his prosthetic nose, Guinness is near-unrecognizable, but seizes the screen with every moment that the camera is on him. (4/5) Rated 4 out of 5 stars 09/09/20 Full Review Read all reviews Post a rating

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      Movie Info

      Synopsis When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan), for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) and his criminal mentor, Fagin (Alec Guinness). When kindly Mr. Brownlow (Henry Stephenson) takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes (Robert Newton) plots to kidnap the boy.
      Director
      David Lean
      Screenwriter
      Stanley Haynes, David Lean
      Production Co
      Cineguild
      Genre
      Drama
      Original Language
      English
      Release Date (Theaters)
      Jun 28, 1948, Original
      Release Date (Streaming)
      Nov 18, 2016
      Runtime
      1h 45m
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