The Oscar project- "Oliver!"

[blue_lotus13]

The latest selection that I've viewed is the musical Oliver!, which won best picture in 1968. I didn't really think that this piece was deserving of a best picture, and according to some of my Internet research, neither did some of the critics. However, there are some good things about the film. It's a musical based on the story of Oliver Twist, which I have never read and probably will never read as I'm not a fan of the writing of Charles Dickens.

Mark Lester, who plays Oliver, is a really annoying child. I think he was probably cast because he looks so innocent, but he looks so innocent and pathetic that you just want to tell him to brain up and get a clue. Apparently his songs were dubbed in, and it's quite obvious.

The other characters, such as the Artful Dodger, Bill Sykes and Fagin, are amazing and the actors that portrayed them do a great job. I like musicals, but there was WAY too much singing in this one, and the dance numbers weren't that great. I wouldn't class "Oliver!" in the same category as "West Side story" or "The Sound of Music."

**I wonder if Scorsese saw this, as there are some scenes that reminded me of "Gangs of New York."

Comments

One Boy, Boy for Sale...

[(Anonymous)]

In grade 5, I played Mr. Brownlow, the nice man who takes Oliver in. Fortunately for cast and audience, it was a non-singing role.

[wasabi-poptart.livejournal.com]

My favorite thing about it was Bill Sykes. I think it was Oliver Reed's movie debut, too.

[wasabi-poptart.livejournal.com]

I just verified this. Oliver Reed's film debut was an uncredited appearance in a 1955 movie called Value for Money, wherein he played a "Mincing Queer."

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001657/

[blue-lotus.livejournal.com]

Wow! He's been in a lot of films.