Oliver Twist (1948 film)

Oliver Twist (1948) is the second of David Lean's two film adaptations of Charles Dickens novels. Following the success of his 1946 version of Great Expectations, Lean re-assembled much of the same team for his adaptation of Dickens' 1838 novel, including producers Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan, cinematographer Guy Green, designer John Bryan and editor Jack Harris. Lean's then-wife, Kay Walsh, who had collaborated on the screenplay for Great Expectations, played the role of Nancy. John Howard Davies was cast as Oliver, while Alec Guinness portrayed Fagin.

In 1999, the British Film Institute placed it at 46th in its list of the top 100 British films.

Plot

A young woman in labour makes her way to a parish workhouse and dies after giving birth to a boy, who is systematically named Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies) by the workhouse authorities. As the years go by, Oliver and the rest of the child inmates suffer from the callous indifference of the officials in charge: beadle Mr. Bumble (Francis L. Sullivan) and matron Mrs. Corney (Mary Clare). At the age of nine, the hungry children draw straws; Oliver loses and has to ask for a second helping of gruel ("Please sir, I want some more").

Oliver Twist (2005 film)

Oliver Twist is a 2005 drama film directed by Roman Polanski. The screenplay by Ronald Harwood is based on the 1838 novel of the same title by Charles Dickens.

The film was preceded by numerous adaptations of the Dickens book, including several feature films, three television movies, two miniseries, and a stage musical that became an Academy Award-winning film.

The film premiered at the 2005 Toronto International Film Festival on 11 September 2005 before going into limited release in the United States on 23 September.

Plot

In the 1800s, young orphan Oliver Twist is forcibly brought to a workhouse in an unidentified town In England on his ninth birthday. He and the other resident children are treated poorly and given very little food. Facing starvation, the boys select Oliver (through a lottery) to ask for more food at the next meal, which he tentatively does. This results in Oliver being chastised, and the workhouse officials, who are wealthy, well-fed, hypocritical men, decide to get rid of him. After nearly being sold as an apprentice to a cruel chimney sweep, Oliver is sent to Mr. Sowerberry, a coffin-maker, whose wife and senior apprentice take an instant dislike to the newcomer. After more poor treatment, Oliver snaps and attacks Noah, the snotty older apprentice, for having insulted his mother. Noah howled instantly and brought Mrs. Sowerberry and Charlotte rushing in to drag Oliver away and lock him in the cold dark cellar. The Violent behavior of the orphan was duly brought to the notice of Mr. Sowerberry and also Mr. Bumble. Oliver was beaten, and knowing his life with the Sowerberrys will only get worse, he escapes on foot early the next morning.

Oliver Twist

Oliver Twist, or The Parish Boy's Progress, is the second novel by Charles Dickens, and was first published as a serial 1837–9. The story is of the orphan Oliver Twist, who starts his life in a workhouse and is then sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker. He escapes from there and travels to London where he meets the Artful Dodger, a member of a gang of juvenile pickpockets, which is led by the elderly criminal Fagin.

Oliver Twist is notable for Dickens's unromantic portrayal of criminals and their sordid lives, as well as exposing the cruel treatment of the many orphans in London in the mid–nineteenth century. The alternate title, The Parish Boy's Progress, alludes to Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress, as well as the 18th-century caricature series by William Hogarth, A Rake's Progress and A Harlot's Progress.

An early example of the social novel, Dickens satirizes the hypocrisies of his time, including child labour, the recruitment of children as criminals, and the presence of street children. The novel may have been inspired by the story of Robert Blincoe, an orphan whose account of working as a child labourer in a cotton mill was widely read in the 1830s. It is likely that Dickens's own youthful experiences contributed as well.

Oliver Twist (1982 TV film)

Oliver Twist is a 1982 made-for-TV adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic of the same name, premiering on the CBS television network as part of the Hallmark Hall of Fame. Stars include George C. Scott, Tim Curry, Cherie Lunghi, and introducing Richard Charles as Oliver, in his first major film role.

Plot

The film opens with a young, blonde-haired woman outdoors during a rainstorm. She is seen struggling on her knees, and she manages to stumble into a home. The occupants, learning that the pregnant woman is about to go into labour, make preparations for her birth.

With some difficulty, the unnamed woman gives birth to a baby boy (played by Joseph Shiner), with the assistance of a midwife, known as Mrs. Corney (Anne Tirard). The woman, barely able to speak, asks to see her son. When he is given to her, she smiles weakly at him and kisses the baby's forehead before she collapses and dies. Witnessing the woman's birth is Mr. Bumble (Timothy West), a hard-nosed man in charge of the local orphans workhouse. With no information on the mother's identity, he gives the boy the name Oliver Twist.