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Oliver Twist Movie Review

Oliver Twist is a 1948 British drama film directed by David Lean and starring Alec Guinness and John Howard Davies among others. It’s an exceptional adaptation.

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“Please, sir, I want some more“

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David Lean directed this film two years after his ‘Great Expectations’ adaptation, cementing him in the process as the ultimate Dickens director. I really enjoyed the aforementioned picture, but this one is even stronger and it deserves more respect for everything that it did right. Needless to say, it’s the greatest film take on this story and it will probably remain such in the future.

John Howard Davies is a surprisingly good Oliver. This child actor never had a career after he grew up, but his performance here is among the better child performances for sure. He is very believable and memorable and they gave him more realistic dialogue, which made him a better version of his literary counterpart.

But everybody else did a great job here too. The standouts are Alec Guinness and Robert Newton. The latter was cast two years later as the villain in Disney’s ‘Treasure Island’ and he was just as perfectly cast as Sykes. He’s fittingly menacing in the role and he also sold the character’s descent into madness toward the end. I also really appreciated how Guinness brought both danger and humanity to his complex portrayal of Fagin. His fake nose did not look too bad, his voice was interesting and some of his moments were so powerful, especially his last line.

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Frances L. Sullivan was just wonderful as the bumbling and hilarious Mr. Bumble. I was so glad to witness this character on the big screen in his full glory and every single scene of his was just a delight. Kay Walsh was way too old to play the young Nancy, but she still did a lovely job, bringing a lot of empathy for her tragic character. Her death scene was definitely felt.

This movie did not shy away from depicting the darkest moments in the novel, though the dog’s death was omitted and probably for the better. But the third act was fittingly brutal and eventually hopeful while being very climactic and spectacular. This section wasn’t too faithful to the source material, but every addition was done to make it more cinematic, which did wonders for the resulting film.

Yes, this Oliver Twist is immensely cinematic. This is by far Lean’s biggest accomplishment here. We all know this story, especially those of us who read it, so the movie should elevate the written story to a more epic, dazzling viewing experience, which is exactly what he did with it. The black-and-white cinematography employed here is not just splendid and polished, but also genuinely evoking silent cinema in its high expressiveness and focus. The movie isn’t silent, but it felt like it as the visuals were clearly accentuated in every single frame, which was such a strong choice that gave the movie a flair of its own. The German Expressionist touches were especially intriguing and some shots were just so artistic and effective in their framing.

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The score and sound are both excellent too and the same goes for the costumes and sets. The production design on this movie was fantastic with the poor parts of London fully coming to life and the grimy, dilapidated house was meticulously detailed and unforgettable. The directing from Lean was sublime, the editing phenomenal and it was so well paced that it was engaging throughout. The emotional investment was there and the tone varied from dark to humorous very effectively. The sophistication of the novel and its thematic resonance were somewhat lost and I did find the first half less riveting than the second one, but for the most part I loved this film. It had so many scenes that were striking with the opening being incredibly cinematic and unique.