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| Oliver Twist / Great Expectations [1948] | ![Oliver Twist / Great Expectations [1948]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51MJWQ98XQL._SL160_.jpg)
 enlarge | Director: David Lean
Actors: Robert Newton, Alec Guinness, Kay Walsh, Francis L. Sullivan, John Howard Davies
Studio: ITV DVD
Category: DVD
List Price: £12.99
Buy New: £7.58
You Save: £5.41 (42%)
Buy New/Used from £6.99
Avg. Customer Rating:  (7 reviews)
Sales Rank: 10317
Format: Black White, Pal
Language: English (Original Language)
Rating: Universal, suitable for all
Media: DVD
Running Time: 229 minutes
Number Of Items: 2
Discs: 2
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.3
Dimensions (in): 7.3 x 5.3 x 0.6
EAN: 5037115047137
ASIN: B00008DI5A
Release Date: March 17, 2003
Theatrical Release Date: July 30, 1951
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.co.uk Review
There have been many film and TV adaptations of IOliver Twist/I but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.pEvery detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce IMonty Python's Flying Circus/I for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger.p Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning IOliver!/I and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian Ifilm noir/I. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. I--Jeff Shannon/I
Amazon.co.uk Review
An astonishingly good David Lean double-bill featuring his two Dickensian adaptations, IGreat Expectations/I (1946) and IOliver Twist/I (1948), this is a reminder that cinema does not necessarily have to debase its literary sources, sometimes it can enhance them. Lean's painterly eye for evocative locations--be they windswept marshes or bustling London streets--provides the backdrop, but his focus on smaller details--the ominous tree in the graveyard with its almost human face, the reaction of Bill Sikes' dog to Nancy's murder--adds the vital ingredient that brings both place and character to life. p Starring a youthful John Mills as Pip, Lean's IGreat Expectations/I is an unadulterated delight, a serendipitous gelling of screenplay, direction, cinematography and acting that produces an almost perfect film. The cast is exemplary, with Alec Guinness in his first (official) role as Pip's loyal pal Herbert Pocket; Martita Hunt is a cadaverous Miss Havisham; Finlay Currie transforms himself from truly threatening to entirely sympathetic as Magwitch; while the young Jean Simmons makes more of an impact as the girl Estella than Valerie Hobson does as the older incarnation. Perhaps best of all, though, is Francis Sullivan as the pragmatic but kindly attorney Jaggers. p The cinematography alone (courtesy of Guy Green) would qualify IOliver Twist/I as a classic: the opening sequence of a lone woman struggling through the storm is an indelible cinematic image. Fortunately, Lean's film has many more aces up its sleeve thereafter, notably Alec Guinness' grotesque Fagin--a caricature certainly, but a three-dimensional one--and Robert Newton's utterly pitiless Bill Sikes. The skewed angles and unsettling chiaroscuro lighting transform London itself into another threatening character. --IMark Walker/I
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 disappointed, really disappointed October 15, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
It's rare for me to say this but I enjoyed this black and white version less than any others I have viewed. I could not get myself into the film. There was a good cast but the film didn't really do anything for me!!
 A masterful adaptation September 19, 2008
This is a masterclass in filmmaking from a number of angles - the cinematography is just beautiful, the adaptation feels fresh and lacks the jolts many book to film screenplays have and finally the acting is superb.
 Classic adaptation June 16, 2008
Dickens' tale of workhouse dehumanisation, middle-class arrogance, urban poverty, street crime and domestic violence balanced against moments of extreme tenderness and altruistic warmth is superbly conveyed in Lean's monumental cinema adaptation. Although significant parts of the novel are missing, such as the events occurring during Oliver's walk to London and his involvement in a botched house robbery in Chertsey, the overall impression is one of an enormous sensitivity to Dickens's work, particularly the characterisation - the fragile, victimised Oliver, the monstrous but likeable Fagin, the harrowing Bill Sykes and his wonderful dog Bulls eye. I recommend a look at Cruikshank's drawings which accompanied the novel - the likenesses to the actors in the film is remarkable. Cinematic moments of genius include the opening sequence with Oliver's mother, the snuffed out street lamp after Nancy's murder and Bulls eye's betrayal of his master. The foreshortened sets depicting the squalor and claustrophobia of early nineteenth-century working-class London are incredibly realistic. And to think this was all filmed in a studio lot at Pinewood! For me this is the best Oliver Twist on celluloid - I only wish David Lean had the time and money to make a much longer film and include all the bits of the novel that are missing.
Best movie ever made of a Dickens Novel October 7, 2007
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
As I said in the title, this is the best ever film-version of a Dickens novel. Oliver Twist expertly tells the story of this enormous novel in less than two hours' screen time. We start with baby Oliver left on the doorstep of an orphanage by his unwed mother. Proving a difficult charge to the wicked orphanage official, Oliver is sold into a job as an undertaker's apprentice. He then runs away and joins a gang of street urchins, led by master pickpocket Fagin . Oliver is rescued from this life; but, with the help of Bill Sikes, Fagin abducts Oliver. Sikes' girl friend Nancy does all she can to restores Oliver to his home. This leads to Oliver going home, but to her death.
David Lean's does Dickens again with more great results April 6, 2002
9 out of 11 found this review helpful
David Lean returned to Dickens domain two years after the release of 'Great Expectations' with this, another classic adaption. Although it is perhaps not as spellbinding as his previous adaption it is still an excellent film with a superb cast. Alec Guinness (only 34 and at the beggining of his spectacular film career) makes the definitive screen Fagin, Robert Newton seems to have been born to play Bill Sykes, John Howard Davies (later a TV producer) makes an effective Oliver and Kay Walsh makes a fine Nancy. Another great aspect of the film are the sets (designed by John Bryan) which perfectly recapture the grimy buildings and streets of Victorian London. This is the definitive screen version of Dickens tale so far (although musicalising it in 'Oliver' was an effective move) and it seems quite dissappointing today that Lean never returned to Dickens territory.
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