Oliver Twist (1948 film)
| Oliver Twist | |
|---|---|
Original theatrical poster
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| Directed by | David Lean |
| Produced by |
Ronald Neame Anthony Havelock-Allan |
| Written by | David Lean Stanley Haynes |
| Based on |
Oliver Twist 1837 novel by Charles Dickens |
| Starring |
Alec Guinness Robert Newton Kay Walsh John Howard Davies Anthony Newley |
| Music by | Arnold Bax |
| Cinematography | Guy Green |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by |
General Film Distributors (UK), Eagle-Lion, United Artists (USA, 1951) |
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Release date
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30 June 1948 (UK) |
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Running time
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116 minutes (UK) |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
Oliver Twist (1948) is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dickens' 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan, cinematographer Guy Green, designer John Bryan and editor Jack Harris. Lean's then-wife, Kay Walsh, who had collaborated on the screenplay for Great Expectations, played the role of Nancy. John Howard Davies was cast as Oliver, while Alec Guinness portrayed Fagin.
In 1999, the British Film Institute placed it at 46th in its list of the top 100 British films.
A young woman in labour makes her way to a parish workhouse and dies after giving birth to a boy, who is systematically named Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) by the workhouse authorities. As the years go by, Oliver and the rest of the child inmates suffer from the callous indifference of the officials in charge: beadle Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan) and matron Mrs. Corney (Mary Clare). At the age of nine, the hungry children draw straws; Oliver loses and has to ask for a second helping of gruel ("Please sir, I want some more").
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