Two years after GREAT EXPECTATIONS, David Lean returned to Dickens for a second time with OLIVER TWIST.
Lean and co-adapter Stanley Haynes stripped away any characters that pulled focus from Oliver's perilous adventures which leaves a clear narrative for Dickens' characters to come to fully-rounded life.
John Howard Davies was a perfect Oliver, never fading off screen even among the actors around him all giving full-blooded, characterful perforrmances.
Anthony Newley is a wonderful Artful Dodger while Kay Walsh (then Mrs David Lean) is a fiery Nancy - her murder scene remains as terrifying as when I first saw it as Bill Sykes' bulldog frantically scratches at the door to escape her screams.
Robert Newton is an average Bill Sykes but all are eclipsed by Alec Guinness' Fagin. Just 34, he is unforgettable - Lean requested a bigger nose for him as the original make-up looked more like Jesus!
Shelf or charity shop? A definite shelf. Controversy erupted when it was released - it was banned for two years in the USA as the character of Fagin was judged anti-semitic (which probably explains why it received no Academy Award nominations). When finally released seven minutes of Guinness' performance were edited out. There were calls to ban it in Germany and in Israel too - but it was banned in Egypt for making Fagin too sympathetic! OLIVER TWIST is memorable also because of the contributions of Guy Green's cinematography and John Bryan's production design, both returning after GREAT EXPECTATIONS. Speaking of which Kay Walsh - who had suggested the way that film should end - here was responsible for OLIVER TWIST's moody opening as Oliver's mother battles a storm across the moors to reach the workhouse.
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