Oscar Winners - Oliver!

Columbia Pictures/Romulus Films, 1968
Starring Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Carol Reed, and Jack Wild
Directed by Carol Reed
Music and Lyrics by Lionel Bart

Oliver! came out at a turning point for Hollywood and the American film industry. Huge "roadshow" musicals, usually based after popular shows, were the studios' way of pulling people away from their newfangled TV sets and into the theaters. Inspired by the success of The Sound of Music, these lavish epics had massive sets, elaborate costumes, widescreen color cinematography, and casts of thousands. They also couldn't have come out at a worse time. Rock was taking over as the music of the future, making the Broadway show look passe, and newer styles of film making were telling more intimate and violent stories. Does that mean Oliver! is as out of date as it's Victorian setting? Let's head to a workhouse in a small town in England and find out...

The Story: Oliver Twist (Lester) is sold to an undertaker after he asks Mr. Bumble (Harry Secombe) for more of his daily gruel. That ends after Oliver attacks one of his apprentices for saying nasty things about his mother. The boy eventually escapes to London, where he falls in with the Artful Dodger (Wild), a crafty young pickpocket. Dodger brings him to his boss Fagin (Moody), the roguish head of a group of boy thieves. The real head of the group is brutish Bill Sykes (Reed), who rules over the London underworld with an iron fist. His girlfriend Nancy (Shani Wallis) finds Oliver charming.

Oliver is caught by a rich gentleman, Mr. Brownlow (Joseph O'Conor), when he tries to pick his pocket. Mr. Brownlow takes him to his lavish row house in Bloomsbury Square. Bill and Fagin are determined to make sure he doesn't talk about them and order Nancy to kidnap the boy. Nancy's not too happy about the situation and is determined to bring him back to Brownlow...especially after Bumble shows up and reveals the truth about who Oliver really is...

The Song and Dance: Like The Sound of Music, this is a big movie - and this time, the story is as sweeping as the camerawork. Ron Moody got an Oscar nomination as the roguish and calculating Fagin, who may kind-of like the kids he works with, but loves the gold he gets from them more. Wild was also nominated as the hilarious Dodger. Reed is appropriately intimidating as Sykes, and Wallis makes a heartbreaking Nancy. Reed's work here also won an Oscar; check out that finale, with half the cast chasing Sykes and Oliver around a dark and foggy London, or the opening with the Beadle selling Oliver.

Favorite Number: Moody has a grand time with his three big solos, "You've Got to Pick a Pocket or Two" and the two versions of "Reviewing the Situation." It's the chorus numbers where this movie really works. "Consider Yourself," "Who Will Buy?" and "Oom Pah Pah" are all energetic and fun to watch, with some great choreography by Onna White. (She earned a special Oscar for her work.) My favorite song from this is "I'd Do Anything," and it doesn't disappoint - Wallis, Wild, and the kids are absolutely adorable, with their parasols and spoof manners.

Trivia: Moody was carried over from the original London cast of Oliver! in 1960, which featured the Georgia Brown as Nancy and Keith Hamshere, who later became a popular still photographer in Hollywood, as Oliver. The show ran for nearly a decade there. It did almost as well on Broadway, with Clive Revill as Fagin, Brown as Nancy, and the late Davy Jones of The Monkees as the Artful Dodger. It's been revived on Broadway once and in London three times, most recently in 2009 with Rowan Atikson as Fagin.

This was and remains the only G-rated movie to win Best Picture. It was also the last British movie to win Best Picture until Chariots of Fire in 1983.

What I Don't Like: Poor Oliver himself is a bit bland, compared to the colorful folks around him. It doesn't help that Lester has a tiny little voice that barely can be heard in "Where Is Love?" Despite the kids and goofy comic numbers like "I'd Do Anything," this is a fairly dark musical, especially in the second half. Considering there's two murders, one a bit gristly, some violence, and a kidnapping, I'm not even sure how this got a G rating. The plot can also get a bit convoluted in the second half, and that's after eliminating a lot of characters from the book and most of Oliver's tangled family history.

The Big Finale: Alternatively charming and intense, the great cast and some outstanding dances carry the day here. If you have older kids or young teens the ages of Oliver and the Artful Dodger who are ready for a slightly darker musical and/or are interested in history, try this one on them.

Home Media: I have the 2006 DVD with the movie on two sides of the disc. There's apparently a Blu-Ray edition that's more-or-less the same thing, and it's available on several streaming platforms.

DVD
Blu-Ray
Amazon Prime