And the Best Picture goes to....
1968
John Woolf, Producer
2 hours 33 minutes
Estimated Budget $10,000,000
Rated G
The Other Nominated Films
Funny Girl
The Lion in Winter
Rachel, Rachel
Romeo and Juliet
Directed by Carol Reed Winner Best Director
CAST
Mark Lester
Ron Moody Nominated, Best Actor
Oliver Reed
Jack Wild Nominated, Best Supporting Actor
Shani Wallis
Hugh Griffith
Also Nominated for
John Box Winner, Best Art Direction-Set Decoration
Terence Marsh
Vernon Dixon
Ken Muggleston
Shepperton Studio Sound Dept Winner, Best Sound
Johnny Green Winner, Best Music, Score of a Musical Picture
Vernon Harris Winner, Best Writing, Best Adapted Screenplay
Onna White Honorary Award, Choreography
Oswald Morris Nominated, Best Cinematography
Phyllis Dalton Nominated, Best Costume Design
Ralph Kemplen Nominated, Best Film Editing
LOGLINE:
The adventures of a young orphan in Victorian London which include escaping from a workhouse, becoming involved with a ring of child pickpockets, and eventually learning of his true parentage.
REVIEW:
Decent enough as far as musicals go, this is the only G-rated film to win Best Picture. Directed by Carol Reed, Oliver! is based upon the Broadway musical adaption of Charles Dickens’ novel ‘Oliver Twist’, and features memorable songs such as “Consider Yourself” and “I’d Do Anything”.
Performances by the cast are highly commendable. Mark Lester plays an adorable Oliver, while Ron Moody is Fagin and Oliver Reed is the villainous Bill Sikes. Moody was Nominated for Best Actor, while Jack Wild was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role as the Artful Dodger. I should also mention Shani Wallis’ tough, yet sympathetic, portrayal as the only female character of Nancy.
As the young Oliver escapes servitude to an undertaker and makes his way to London, he is taken in by a group of juvenile pickpockets led by the unscrupulous Fagin, and eventually we’re introduced to barmaid Nancy and Bill Sikes. While watching, my first thought was that perhaps this group of misfits would somehow become a surrogate family for the young boy and lead to a happy ending.
Was I wrong, and what ensues is a plot of thievery, kidnapping and murder.
The film’s cinematography and well-designed sets recreate a gritty Victorian-era London, while the choreography was recognized with an Honorary Oscar.
My only true complaint with the film is the running time and that the last half hour felt drawn out with Sikes’ pursuit of Oliver.