OLIVER

UK, 1968, 151 minutes, Colour.
Ron Moody, Mark Lester, Jack Wild, Shani Wallis, 0liver Reed, Harry Secombe, Peggy Mount, Hugh Griffith.
Directed by Carol Reed.

Oliver won a number of Oscars in 1968, including Best Film and Best Director. Ron Moody as Fagin was also nominated. The film is a very pleasant musical, beautifully presented and well sung and acted. It is a free adaptation from Dickens and has become a popular work in its own right. It does not intend to replace Dickens and so long comparisons are not to the point. Lionel Bart's music is well-known and liked. Here Ron Moody gives it his best as Fagin, a clever eccentric performance. Mark Lester is a bit too dewy-eyed as Oliver, but Jack Wild is a lively Artful Dodger. Oliver Reed scowls and Harry Secombe is in fine voice. Director Carol Reed made such films as The Fallen Idol, The Third Man, Outcast of the Islands. Here he manages the exuberance and pathos well. Dickens raised a lot of issues, of course. These are here in a lighter vein, but they give strength to Oliver and make it more than a musical.

1. Was this just a musical? If not, was it a "message" film?

2. How important was the whole background of social injustice and 19th century London for the film?

3. How did this musical relate to Dickens' original novel? Was it a travesty of the original or was it a valid musical adaptation?

4. What did the music and the songs add to the film, its mood, its enjoyment, its themes: eg. Food, Glorious Food, Where is Love?, Boy for Sale. Consider Yourself, Who Will Buy, Fagin's songs.. Nancy's songs? What do they add to the drama?

5. How well did the workhouse opening, the song about food, asking for more, the contrast with the governors' meal. Mr. and Mrs. Bumble. set the atmosphere for the film, engage audience sympathy and ask questions about the social abuses of the time?

6. Comment on the "Boy for Sale" situation, Oliver's work with the undertaker, 'Where is Love?", his escape, the road to London.

7. What were your impressions of the London of those days? Why? The boys on the street, the market, "Consider Yourself"? How did this compare with tavern London, the city of Bill Sykes and Nancy, compared with elegant London and the beauty of 'Who Will Bug"?

8. Why did Oliver follow the Artful Dodger? What kind of boy was the Dodger? Did you like him? Why was he there?

9. What were your first impressions of Fagin? Did you like him? Why? Why was he a thief? Was he an evil man? A greedy man? A selfish man? Did his songs help you understand his character? How? Was it important that Fagin was a Jew?

10. Did you like the boys? The lesson in stealing? Why were the boys thieves?

11. Did you like Bill Sykes, his dog? Why? What was his relationship to Fagin? Did they like each other?

12. Did Bill Sykes love Nancy? Did you like Nancy? What kind of a girl was she? Did her songs add anything to her character?

13. Was Oliver's robbery sequence well handled? His trial (and the comedy of Hugh Griffith as the Judge?)

14. Was the coincidence of Oliver finding his own family too much, or was it acceptable in this film? What effect did the kindness have on Oliver? How quickly did he forget Fagin and the boys?

15. What did the crisis of getting Oliver back reveal about the personalities of Bill Sykes (how cruel?),, Fagin (how selfish?) and Nancy (how genuinely loving?)?

16. Did Nancy do the right thing? What impression did her death make on you?

17. Fagin and "Reviewing the Situation". What did this reveal about him?

18. Was the final chase, with its tensions, exciting? Why? How frightening?

19. Were you glad Fagin went off free (without his treasures)?

20. Was the ending too happy or was it appropriate for this film?

21. Comment on the technical achievement of the film, especially the reconstruction of London in the sets, the creation of atmosphere, the staging of the dances.

22. Did the film deserve the Oscar for the Best Film of 1968?