Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Arianna Moses Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

Mandeep Tyson The acting in this movie is really good.

Justina The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

leethomas-11621 Watch it for the story but characterisation lets film down.SPOILER ALERT If there were more scenes like that of the killing of Nancy it would have been a great movie. Director Lean stopped and showed Robert Newton just sitting and contemplating what he'd just done and it was peaceful, even beautiful. We should have had a scene like this with Oliver, alone and lonely. An equivalent scene to "Where Is Love?" in the musical. Or even a scene like the magnificent opening one showing his pregnant mother struggling alone against the storm. I can't think of a scene in which Oliver is ever alone. We need that to see his misery and to know him better. Many of the scenes are too cluttered and unrelievingly dark. Maybe Victorian England was like that. Whenever Newton and the wonderful Anthony Newly (Artful Dodger) are on-screen the movie picks up, but truly I felt more for Sykes' dog than for most of the humans! Anti-Semitic depiction of Fagin would not be tolerated today.

Eric Stevenson A common complaint of today's movies is that there is nothing original and everything is just a sequel, remake or based on something else. It's weird because it really has always been like that, at least as far back as the 1940's. We had tons of classic novels to work on and this film was no exception. I feel bad for not having read the original Dickens classic, but anyone should enjoy this. I am understanding the story more and more through these adaptations. This one wasn't quite as good as "Oliver!", but it definitely ranked as one of the best.I think the main reason is that there are a lot of truly intense moments in this. We get to see most of the characters engage in some very serious and rather violent scenes. Tame by today's standards, but these are some pretty powerful things as we see even Oliver defend himself well. I agree that Fagin does seem like a Jewish stereotype here. It's great how it all leads up to the biggest climax in any "Oliver Twist" version. Dodger doesn't do that much, but he still gets in some great scenes. Oliver Twist himself isn't focused on that much in the second half, but the characters are still interesting enough for you to care about. Alec Guinness is certainly unrecognizable here. ***1/2.

sgcim I can't believe that only one person in the review section, and no one in the message board section has commented on the magic of the film score for OT. Arnold Bax, the composer, was one of England's greatest composers, and this was the only film he scored, even though he was asked to do others. Perhaps the fact that people didn't even notice the music, yet enjoyed the tone and mood of the film is a reflection on how well the score worked. In any event, I saw this film when I was a kid back in the 60s, and it's amazing how so much of it has stayed with me after all these years. I never even realized that it was AG who played Fagin till I saw the credits! The last scenes of the entire city rampaging through London to hunt down Bill Sykes was wild! I think it may have caused me to imagine that something like that should happen to a certain corrupt leader of NYC...The scene with the dog was much more powerful than showing the actual violence that was going on. Excellent film making.

Jackson Booth-Millard I've seen the Ron Moody musical version, and I saw the Sir Ben Kingsley/Roman Polanski version, but this of course is the most acclaimed version of the classic Charles Dickens tale, from director Sir David Lean (Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai, Lawrence of Arabia). You probably know the story pretty well already, but just in case, I'll go through it. Basically, a Mother (Josephine Stuart) struggled to give birth in the workhouse, but she did, and died shortly after. 11 years later, the boy, Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) is the orphan living with many lonely children, and Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan) sends him to a work house after he said "Please, sir, I want some more" (gruel). After a little while he runs away and ends up in London, soon meeting pick pocket, the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) who takes him to the "care and comfort" of Jewish criminal Fagin (Sir Alec Guinness). The rest of the film sees Oliver trying to pick pocket, and getting to many scrapes, with the likes of Nancy (Kay Walsh) and her abusive lover Bill Sikes (Robert Newton), Chief of Police (Maurice Denham) and Police Official (Henry Edwards), and many others, till he finds his real place of comfort, and all the bad people get what they deserve. Also starring Ralph Truman as Monks, Henry Stephenson as Mr. Brownlow and Diana Dors as Charlotte. Apparently Guinness's portrayal of Fagin was considered anti-Semetic, being banned in America, I think it is the best portrayal of the character, "My Dear", lol. Other cast members, including young Davies (who would go on to produce and direct shows such as Fawlty Towrers and Mr. Bean) are very good, the story is very well put together and feels very dark, a very good adaptation by one of the finest British directors. It was nominated the BAFTA for Best British Film. Sir Alec Guinness was number 12 on The 50 Greatest British Actors, he was number 2 on Britain's Finest Actors, and he was number 11 on The World's Greatest Actor. Very good!