Oliver!

"Much much more than a musical!"

1968 2h 33m EN

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7.0

SOLID

★7.0TMDB · 511

DramaFamily

Synopsis

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Musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' Oliver Twist, a classic tale of an orphan who runs away from the workhouse and joins up with a group of boys headed by the Artful Dodger and trained to be pickpockets by master thief Fagin.

“Much much more than a musical!”

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Cast

Ron Moody
Fagin
Shani Wallis
Nancy
Oliver Reed
Bill Sikes
Harry Secombe
Mr. Bumble
Mark Lester
Oliver
Jack Wild
The Artful Dodger
Joseph O'Conor
Mr. Brownlow
Peggy Mount
Mrs. Bumble

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Carol Reed
Writers: Vernon Harris
Languages: English
Countries: United Kingdom

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

RUNTIME

Did you know

Clocks in at 153 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.7× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

ERA

Did you know

58 years old — a genuine piece of film history.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Carol Reed, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Lionel Bart. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Ralph Kemplen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Ron Moody and Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "Much much more than a musical!".

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Carol Reed directs. Oswald Morris behind the camera. Lionel Bart scores. Ralph Kemplen cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United Kingdom. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Clocks in at 153 minutes — on the longer side of feature-length cinema.
2Made its money back 3.7× over at the box office.
358 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
4Directed by Carol Reed, shot by Oswald Morris. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
5Original score by Lionel Bart. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
6Editor Ralph Kemplen shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
7Ron Moody and Shani Wallis and Oliver Reed carry the top of the cast.
8Marketing tagline: "Much much more than a musical!".
9IMDB entry: tt0063385 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
10Classified under 10 themes, including "london, england", "based on novel or book", "pickpocket", "orphanage".

The technical file

Cinematography: Oswald Morris
Original score: Lionel Bart
Editing: Ralph Kemplen
Production design: John Box
Costume design: Phyllis Dalton
Makeup / hair: George Frost
Runtime: 153 min · 2h 33m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $10,000,000
Box office: $37,400,000
Return: 374% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): G
IMDB: Oliver! (1968)

Awards

Academy Award for Best Sound
Academy Award for Best Original Musical Score
National Board of Review: Top Ten Films
Academy Award for Best Production Design
Academy Award for Best Director
Academy Award for Best Picture

Individual records documented via Wikidata; the summary above may count more.

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Carol Reed

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2019-09-13
★ 8/10
I consider Oliver! the movie to be my mate. Charles Dickens famous novel of an orphan boy, Oliver Twist, who escapes from his poor life to seek his fame and fortune in London, is adapted as a glossy musical. Who would have thought that a story from the brilliant Dickens could be so sweet and endearing? So it be with Carol Reed's (Best Director Winner) unforgettable 1968 Best Picture Winner. Yes it's some way away from the essence of the source, those in need of that should be seeking out David Lean's fabulous 1948 version, but with an array of wonderful tunes and choreography, this Oliver is a treat for all the family. The cast are uniformly strong, notably Ron Moody (Fagin), Oliver Reed (who as Bill Sykes is probably playing himself!), Mark Lester (Oliver) and the fabulous Jack Wild (The Artful Dodger). While Lionel Bart's songs are as timeless as they are engaging. The 60s was a tough decade for cinematic musicals, with many of them turning out to be bloated exercises in tedium. But Oliver! is one of the shining lights in the genre, a true uplifter guaranteed to have the feet a tapping and the smile firmly implanted on ones face. So if you have yet to see and be charmed by it? Come on in, join our number and consider yourself one of us. 8/10
CinemaSerf2023-06-03
★ 8/10
Sir Carol Reed has delivered a belter of a film that I'm certain would have Charles Dickens dancing with delight. Mark Lester is ideally cast as the weedy title character; brought up in the harshness of a Victorian workhouse. After daring to ask for "more" at supper time, he is sold to the local undertaker; runs away to London and the rest is the stuff of well known literature. Ron Moody is outstanding as "Fagin", with Shani Wallis "Nancy"; Oliver Reed as the dastardly "Bill Sikes" and Jack Wild as the "Artful Dodger" all making the best of Lionel Bart's cracking musical adaptation of this tale of 19th century London squalor and violence. I did a version of this on stage in Glasgow when I was but a child, and when I see it again now I remember almost all of the words (that, and the looks I got going home on the bus with my stage make up still on!).