Hitchcoc "Oliver Twist" has been done so many times, including versions in the last few years. I really enjoyed George C. Scott as Fagan, although the boy that played Oliver was hard to take. Then, of course, there's Ron Moody in the musical. What this one has is a period reality to Victorian England. So many of these previous efforts are so sanitized. Let's remember that this little boy was in a workhouse, probably infected with whatever was around, and at the mercy of people who had no love for him. Enter a passel of boys who are pickpockets, working for a thief who uses them. But what else does society offer them? Of course, they are going to be led by someone who can put a modicum of food in their stomachs and a roof over their heads. The bleakness of the times and the randomness of the world is at the center of this one. Not to mention stylings of David Lean, one of the greatest directors in history. It's hard to match this version of the Dickens classic.

GManfred Really enjoyed the 1948 film of "Oliver Twist", and to my mind the definitive version of the story. I saw the 1968 musical which was good, but was inflated to 150 minutes with musical numbers and almost came to a stop in some parts. It won an Oscar for Best Picture, but the '48 film was better in several respects.First off, the acting was superior in the Lean picture. Clive Revill was a pale imitation Alec Guinness as Fagin, and Francis L. Sullivan, while not a singer, was a much better actor than Harry Secombe. And, last but not least, Robert Newton's interpretation of Bill Sykes was far superior to Oliver Reed's. Reed's Sykes was a bully while Newton imbued the character with a psychopathic element missing from Reed's. It was also remarkable to note the resemblance between John Howard Davies and Mark Lester, the two child actors who seemed like twins.The earlier version also conveyed the overarching feeling of hopelessness and the grinding poverty of the lower classes, as much a tribute to the art director as to the intelligent script, written by Lean himself. Musical director on that version was Muir Mathieson, and it doesn't get better than Mathieson. "Oliver Twist" is one of the best adaptations of literature to the screen as has ever been done.

Atreyu_II As already said, this version of 'Oliver Twist' is more loyal to the time when it took place, being more authentic than other versions (many versions exist). I don't know what the other versions are like, but they can't be as bad as 'Oliver & Company' by Disney, which is a completely modified concept of this story with artwork that can only be classified as a disgrace.This is one of the great-looking B & W films and it has great sceneries too. The film is generally well-made and directed. John Howard Davies alone takes the whole thing. This charismatic English child-actor is so overlooked. Even if he did very few movie roles, he deserved more popularity thanks to his natural-born talent and charm. Here he has a very moving acting as the lead character, Oliver Twist. You really care about Oliver, he's such a good kid and goes through so many bad things that you can say he practically loses his childhood - that is, he isn't given the happy childhood he should have had and deserved. But at least there is a happy ending waiting for this sweetie.Robert Newton's acting as Bill Sikes is great, although his best performance is probably as Long John Silver in Disney's "Treasure Island". Here he obviously's got his two legs. Robert Newton was a charismatic but ill-fated actor due to his lack of reliability and problems with the booze.

bebop63-1 Having read the original novel by Charles Dickens, I would term this film a fairly good adaptation, portraying the main characters as they we would imagine them to be in real life. Casting was excellent, the actors playing Mr Bumble, Fagin and Sykes especially well-selected for their roles. Kudos to the camera job, depicting the depressing conditions of the workhouse and the deplorable streets of London in the Victorian era, and the fact that it was done in black and white emphasizes the gloomy atmosphere pervading the situations at the time. I only rate this movie a 6 due to the fact that there are a great deal of unresolved issues in the storyline, Example, how Nancy and Bill Sykes recognized Oliver in the street when he was sent on an errand by Brownlow when clearly they hadn't met him before? Also, how Edward Leeford aka Monks knew which workhouse Oliver had grown up in, as well as discover his whereabouts in London? As I am familiar with Dickens, I know how exactly the storyline went, but for those who haven't read the movel before, it could cause a bit of confusion.