Four-star movie: Oliver!

[carbonel]

Oliver!
Director: Carol Reed
1968

It's hard to believe that this movie was directed by the same man who directed The Third Man and Odd Man Out. But he did, and he won an Oscar for it.

I love this movie. I saw it when it came out, at the golden age of science fiction 12, so I can't be entirely objective about it. It takes place in in unrealistic movie musical world, even though there are occasional nods to the dark sides Victorian London. I hadn't realized, until I did my homework for this watching, that Mark Lester didn't sing his own songs -- they were dubbed by Kathe Green. That may explain the small singing voice that never seemed to quite fit his spoken voice. But that's a small quibble compared to the color and music and spectacle of this movie.

Comments

[lil-shepherd.livejournal.com]

There are some stunning set-piece numbers in this movie. "Who Will Buy (This Wonderful Morning)" is one of them. I don't like Dickens in general, and 'Oliver Twist' embodies a lot of the reasons for my dislike, but I'll make an exception for this one. I rather think that this is the only musical Reed ever directed.

[bibliofile.livejournal.com]

Loved Oliver! Mark Lester and Jack Wild were two of my first in a long run of crushes on attractive British actors about my own age. (Sadly, Jack Wild remained short, while I myself did not.) Didn't realize that Lester didn't sing in the movie, though. Still, nobody's perfect.