Movie spotlight
When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy.
Orphaned at birth and raised in a cruel workhouse, young Oliver Twist endures a miserable existence under the oppressive Poor Law. After escaping to London, he falls in with a gang of pickpockets led by the nefarious Fagin, but a chance encounter with a kind gentleman offers him a glimmer of hope for a better life.
David Lean's adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel was initially controversial in the United States due to its depiction of Jewish characters, particularly Fagin. However, it is widely regarded today as a masterful and grimly realistic portrayal of Victorian poverty and social injustice, praised for its powerful performances and Lean's directorial vision.
A powerful and often brutal depiction of social inequality.
Alec Guinness's Fagin is a memorable, albeit controversial, performance.
David Lean's direction creates a grimly atmospheric and compelling narrative.
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Alec Guinness's portrayal of Fagin was controversial upon the film's initial release in the United States, leading to some scenes being cut and the film being banned in some areas due to anti-Semitic concerns, despite Guinness not being Jewish.
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You only have to watch the opening few sequences of David Lean's striking adaptation of this, probably the most famous of Dickens' stories, to know that you are in for a treat. The dark clouds chase the poor, wretched, mother as she seeks a...