OLIVER! (DVD)

~~ Oliver ~~

I am on a DVD buzz at the moment and enjoying watching them and also enjoying telling you all about them. Oliver Twist is a classic Rags to Riches story.

~~ The Film ~~

Well this is Oliver (The Musical 1968 version), based on Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens. It is set in Victorian London and Oliver Twist is an orphan in one of London's workhouses. The story starts in the workhouse ...
...(Gruel), after eating Oliver gets up and says those immortal words "Please Sir, can I have some more", he is dragged into the other room where the bosses are eating their food and sent out with Mr Bumble to be sold. (I will describe the songs later on in the review).

Oliver is sold to an Undertaker and very soon he runs away, he ends up being found by the Artful Dodger who takes him to Fagin, this leads us to the eventful, ... more

~~ Oliver ~~

I am on a DVD buzz at the moment and enjoying watching them and also enjoying telling you all about them. Oliver Twist is a classic Rags to Riches story.

~~ The Film ~~

Well this is Oliver (The Musical 1968 version), based on Oliver Twist, written by Charles Dickens. It is set in Victorian London and Oliver Twist is an orphan in one of London's workhouses. The story starts in the workhouse with all the children going down to have there supper (Gruel), after eating Oliver gets up and says those immortal words "Please Sir, can I have some more", he is dragged into the other room where the bosses are eating their food and sent out with Mr Bumble to be sold. (I will describe the songs later on in the review).

Oliver is sold to an Undertaker and very soon he runs away, he ends up being found by the Artful Dodger who takes him to Fagin, this leads us to the eventful, funny and entertaining life of a thief. On Oliver's first day on the streets as a pickpocket he gets caught, but he has not actually stolen anything he was just watching, he ends up in court but gets let off when a witness comes forward. After the court has finished the victim of the pickpocket incident takes Oliver home.

Just as Oliver is settling into his new home, the evil Bill Sikes with the help of Nancy grab him and take him back to Fagin's. Nancy has a soft spot for the boy and is worried for his well being around Mr Sikes, so she goes to see the wealthy Mr Brownlow that had taken Oliver in. They arrange to meet up so she can hand Oliver over to him and get him safely home where he belongs.

~~ Movie Trivia ~~

Oliver hit the theatre in 1960 and was a big hit show, it finally became the musical movie in 1968.

The Director Carol Reed could not have been more pleased to be picked for the show, his own father Herbert Beerbohm Tree played Fagin in a 1905 show. Carol had always dreamed of filming his own version of Oliver Twist.

Music and Lyrics by Lionel Bart

Oliver won 5 Oscars including Best Director and Best Film, it was actually the last musical to win Best Film in the 20th Century.

~~ The Cast ~~

Ron Moody - played Fagin - who ran a gang of young pickpockets, he would 'fence' the stolen goods that the young boys got and what Bill Sikes bought in. But he had a soft spot as well.

Carol Reed really wanted Ron Moody for the part of Fagin, but Columbia Pictures wanted Peter Sellers to play the part, fortunately Peter Sellers was not available and Carol Reed got his way. This in my opinion was the right choice as Ron Moody is excellent as Fagin, when you see the film who will understand what I mean when I say he was perfect for the part.

Oliver Reed - plays Bill Sikes - Bill is a nasty piece of work, he is a common thief and a bit clever with his fists, he goes everywhere with his dog Bullseye. Oliver Reed portrays this dark foreboding character very well; he really looks the part especially with bushy sideburns down both sides of his face.

Oliver Reed is also the nephew of the Director Carol Reed.

Shani Wallis - playing Nancy - she is Bill's girlfriend and totally besotted by him. She also has a soft spot for Oliver as well as all Fagin's boys. It is her soft spot for Oliver and her trying to help him that brings her demise at the hands of Bill Sikes.

Mark Lester - plays Oliver - he has a sweet innocent face and fits the part perfectly, Carol Reed managed very well to get the expressions he wanted out of the boy. There is a scene where Fagin opens his box of treasures, Oliver sees him and shows a look of surprise and amazement. To get that look Carol uses the magic trick of pulling a rabbit out of a hat (but he used his coat). It worked the look was there.

Jack Wild - playing The Artful Dodger - he has to be my favourite character, even when I watched this as a child I liked this part. He is cheeky, he is loyal to Fagin, he is friendly and looks out for Oliver (well sort of).

Jack Wild was spotted by a Talent Scout whilst he was playing football on the local park.

Others are Harry Secombe - Mr Bumble, Peggy Mount - Mrs Bumble, Joseph O'Conor - Mr Brownlow, Leonard Rossiter (Rising Damp) - Mr Sowerberry, Hilda Baker (remember the pickling factory) as Mrs Sowerberry, Kenneth Cranham as Noah Claypole, Hugh Griffith as The Magistrate, Megs Jenkins as Mrs Bedwin and Sheila White as Bet.

~~ Songs ~~

Overture - this was really strange the screen actually had 'OVERTURE' written across it as the orchestra played.

Food, Glorious Food - the starting song in the workhouse when all the boys come down the stairs for their gruel, singing of all the wonderful foods they would like to eat "cold jelly and custard".

Boy For Sale - Mr Bumble walking Oliver around the snowy streets, until he finally sells him at the reduced price of 3 guineas.

Where is Love - Oliver singing this looking out of the cellar window in the undertakers just before he makes his escape.
Consider Yourself - sung by the Artful Dodger, one of my favourite songs, this song takes them through the streets of London and some absolutely wonderful choreography, with different store holders doing there own little dance sketches.

You've got to pick a pocket or two - a fun song where Fagin, with the help of his boys is showing Oliver the art of pick pocketing.

It's a Fine Life - sung by Nancy in the public house with the regulars and barmaids dancing around, a lively fun song.

I'd Do Anything - this is done in Fagin's den, where The Artful Dodger and boys make a makeshift carriage and along with Nancy they sing the song.

Be Back Soon - the boys are off to do a days work for Fagin, with his pennywhistle he is like the Piped Piper of Hamlyn as he marches them out to see them off.

The movie goes for a 3 minute INTERMISSION AND ENTR'ACTE here, it actually says both those on the screen whilst the orchestra plays in the background. The reason behind this break is so they can skip to a totally different scene. The next scene opens with Oliver being woken up in a proper bed in a proper Victorian town house.

Who Will Buy - this is the second full scale elaborate song and dance scene. It is started off by a rose seller walking down the cobbled street, you then flick to other street sellers, street entertainers, school children etc - once again fantastic music and fantastic dancing.

As Long As He Needs Me - Bill Sikes has just struck Nancy and walked off, she is crying and starts singing this ballad.

Reviewing the Situation - this is a very catchy song, I find myself singing it in my head as I try to write about it. Fagin is thinking of running away as Bill is getting a little out of control and Fagin deep down is very much the coward. It is a fun song.

Omm-Pa-Pa - The omm pa pa song you know the one, its been sang a lot of the years in many variations - but in this film it was sung by Nancy, she used it to get the whole pub up and dancing so that she could sneak Oliver out of the pub right from under Bill Sikes nose.

~~ Extras ~~

Languages/Audio Setup! - English, German, Italian and Spanish.

Subtitles: English, German, Dutch, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Arabic, Czech, Danish and Finnish.

Scene Selections: A choice of 32 scenes in blocks of 4

~~ Extra Features: ~~

Theatrical Trailer - this is a selection of scenes and songs advertising Oliver.
1968 Featurette: A short five minute behind the scenes feature of the story of Oliver and the making of movie, showing the chorography of the scene set in Bloomsbury Square.

Photogallery: this only shows a photo of the original poster.

~~ My Opinion ~~

I loved this movie, it was fun all the way, and the songs as in any musical told the story along with the dialogue. The story had a happy ending, I love happy endings. The acting was brilliant and the choreography was outstanding and it is not surprising that Onna White won an Oscar for it.

It was also nice to see actors in it that hit our screens during the 70's in comedy shows, like Hilda Baker, Leonard Rossiter and Harry Secombe, just to mention three.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, I do hope that you enjoyed it. Lyn x

 

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