Amazon.co.uk Review
Film buffs and critics can argue until their faces turn blue about whether this lavish Dickensian musical deserved the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1968, but the movie speaks for itself on grandly entertaining terms. Adapted from Dickens's classic novel, it's one of the most dramatically involving and artistically impressive musicals of the 1960s, directed by Carol Reed with a delightful enthusiasm that would surely have impressed Dickens himself. Mark Lester plays the waifish orphan Oliver Twist, who is befriended by the pickpocketing Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and recruited into the gang of boy thieves led by Fagin (played to perfection by Ron Moody). The villainous Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) casts his long shadow over Oliver and his friends, but the young orphan is still able to find loving care in the most desperate of circumstances. Full of memorable melodies and splendid lyrics, Oliver! is a timeless film, prompting even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael to call it "a superb demonstration of intelligent craftsmanship", and to further observe that "it's as if the movie set out to be a tribute to Dickens and his melodramatic art as well as to tell the story of Oliver Twist." --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.co.uk Review
Film buffs and critics can argue until their faces turn blue about whether this lavish Dickensian musical deserved the Academy Award for Best Picture of 1968, but the movie speaks for itself on grandly entertaining terms. Adapted from Dickens's classic novel, it's one of the most dramatically involving and artistically impressive musicals of the 1960s, directed by Carol Reed with a delightful enthusiasm that would surely have impressed Dickens himself. Mark Lester plays the waifish orphan Oliver Twist, who is befriended by the pick-pocketing Artful Dodger (Jack Wild) and recruited into the gang of boy thieves led by Fagin (played to perfection by Ron Moody). The villainous Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed) casts his long shadow over Oliver and his friends, but the young orphan is still able to find loving care in the most desperate of circumstances. Full of memorable melodies and splendid lyrics, Oliver! is a timeless film, prompting even hard-to-please critic Pauline Kael to call it "a superb demonstration of intelligent craftsmanship," and to further observe that "it's as if the movie set out to be a tribute to Dickens and his melodramatic art as well as to tell the story of Oliver Twist". --Jeff Shannon, Amazon.com
Customer Reviews:
One of the Best Musicals Ever Made.......2008-02-18
Simply put, Oliver! is one of the greatest musicals of all time. It is filled with memorable songs - "Food Glorious Food", "Oliver!", "Consider Yourself" and "Oom-Pah-Pah" to name just a few - and equally memorable characters.
The film is a musical adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic novel and much like the story of Oliver Twist itself, it is a perfect family film. There are some frightening moments - the villain Bill Sykes played by Oliver Reed is scary enough on his own - but overall, the film will appeal to children of all ages as well as adults.
The story - which almost everyone is surely familiar with by now - revolves around a little orphan boy named Oliver and his life growing up in London. At first he lives in the workhouse with the rest of his fellow orphans but after daring to question Mr. Bumble, the overseer, he is sold to a family as a servant.
After a series of mishaps and close shaves, he meets the Artful Dodger - superbly played by a young Jack Wild, who gives his all in the role - and through him, the greedy Fagin (Ron Moody), who trains young boys to pick pocket treasures which he keeps for himself.
The film was shot solely in studios and on soundstages at Shepperton Film Studios but this does not translate at all to film. The sets perfectly replicate Victorian London, as do the costumes worn by the characters. A multi-Oscar winner and a massive success on its release, Oliver! is a worthy contender for the best musical all of time and will delight anyone who loves film.
wonderful.......2007-08-02
Remembered from my own childhood, bought recently to watch with my 7 year old daughter. Fantastic film, great music, good story, a real classic. Daughter loves it and can sing all the songs. Prepare to watch it many times over and over.
One note of caution - the ending is quite scary and unpleasant for young children - Bill Sykes is chased through a dark London and shot dead - I would save this until a child was 6-7 years old.
A CLASSIC AMONG CLASSICS.......2007-07-28
This is without doubt one of the all time greats. A world class cast with an adaptation of Dickens` story that hasn`t had a total Hollywood rewrite and everybody knows the story so no need to repeat it here. Fabulous sets and backdrops make you feel that you are in Victorian London and as usual the music from Lionel Bart will leave you singing (or humming) the tunes for days after. It is a Sunday afternoon movie tucked up on the couch with the kids (if you havn`t got, borrow some)and a box of chocolates.
Music=5 fun=5 Overall=5.......2007-04-07
It is a great film about an orphan named Oliver (Mark Lester) who asks for more disgusting gruel after picking the long straw.He is then sold to the funeral directors but is thrown down the celler after attacking someone who calls him mum names.He ACCIDENTALLY finds a way out and travels for 7 days until reaching London.There he meets Dodger and he gets introduced to Fagin who welcomes Oliver in.Fagins den are a bunch of pick-pockets and Oliver gets accused of doing this when he didn't really do it,but he gets out.
A man called Bill Sikes uses Oliver to help him steal things because he is thin and small.Oliver gets new owners soon but Bill and his wife Nancy get him back.
Nancy dosen't really want to do this and one day secretly helps Oliver go back to the other guardians,Bill realises and chases them although they don't know he is.
Oliver hugs Nancy goodbye but Bill grabs Nancy and eventually kills her.He grabs Oliver and takes him high onto a platform because a mob of angry people are chasing him.Bill gets Oliver to tie a rope round the end of the platform and Bill tries to get to the other building but the people in the mob shoot him and he dies.
Oliver goes back to the newer guardians!
It's a great movie,why don't you see it?
OUTSTANDING.......2007-04-07
Must have been the greatest musical every made. The score and sets are outstanding and there is an all star cast. Ron Moody shines as Fagin, and Jack Wilde as Dodger. Oliver Reed is at his youthful and sensuous best as the brooding Bill Sykes.
This is truly a must-see.
Amazon.co.uk review
Another costume drama, another classic literary adaptation, and another stellar cast. You can't help thinking that it all becomes a matter of routine for commissioning editors at the BBC. But panic not: Oliver Twist is, yet again, a strong piece of work, and well worth adding to the corporation's impressive collection.
Based, as you'd expect, on the Dickens text, and adapted with real skill by Sarah Phelps, Oliver Twist is a strong three hours of drama. The script isn't ideal for the Dickens purist, as Phelps has brought some new ideas to her work, but it's hard to quibble with the quality of the drama that results.
Oliver Twist's outstanding cast is led by Timothy Spall, and also brings together Tom Hardy, Sophie Okenedo, Edward Fox, Sarah Lancashire and Gregor Fisher among others. They inherit and inhabit Dickens' varied collection of characters with exceptional skill, and they help to vividly bring the tale of the artful dodger to the small screen.
It should be noted that Oliver Twist isn't a perfect production, with the deviations from the source material presenting a couple of talking points. But it conforms ably to the high standards we've come to expect from BBC costume productions, and while it's not their finest work, it's a very good piece of television drama that's well worth investing your time in. --Jon Foster
Customer Reviews:
What are the bad reviews on about?.......2008-02-03
I was so suprised to see the bad reviews that this has got.
I think that this adaptation is by far the best Oliver Twist ever.
The acting is brilliant, and the story is fascinating.
Buy this, you wont be disappointed. Seriously, I was gutted when it finished!
Very Disappointing.......2008-01-16
I gave up watching in disappointment. The acting was poor and shallow and as for the plot - well, it certainly didn't stick to the book. This was the worst adaptation I have yet seen of one of my favourite books.
Messy.......2008-01-05
Despite some good acting, this adaptation is best ignored. The script is so full of inaccuracies and anachronisms (particularly the court scenes) that I wonder if the producers bothered reading the novel at all or just jumbled it together from previous film adaptations. This is certainly an example of how not to do period drama.
best one yet.......2007-12-29
i watched it and i was amazed, it was brilliant and great acting especually i thought that the actor of oliver was a very good chose. over all i would recomend it to all!!!
Better than the book?.......2007-12-29
No. I think this production is fine as far as it goes, but is almost as untrue to the original novel as you can get without having to call it something else entirely! And I cringe at the unsubtle persecution of Fagin when he comes before Judge Fang, and also the sanitised portrayals of both him and Nancy (who is utterly complicit in Oliver's kidnap and subsequent misery in Dickens' original work). Reading the book is far more enjoyable and rewarding...
Customer Reviews:
Incomplete!.......2008-01-29
Although I have only just bought this and haven't even seen one programme yet I can remember some of the adaptations.
Martin Cuzzzlewit and Our Mutual Friend were good but the David Copperfield is far too short. I can remember the version from the 1970's featuring the brilliant Arthur Lowe as a memorable Micawber - a part he was born to play. Surely this more comprehensively faithful version should have been featured rather than the abridged more recent one? Also why not include Nicholas Nickleby and Bleak House, two of Dicken's major novels which are unaccountably omitted. I realise this collection came out too early to feature the recent excellent adaptation of Bleak House, but surely they could have included the fine version from the 1980's. It would have also have been nice to have The Old Curiosity Shop; there was another excellent 70's versions featuring Trevor Peacock as a superb Quilp.
To reduce the collection slightly they could actually have left out Christmas Carol, which after all isn't actually a novel, and has been adapted to death!
Great Expectations Satisfied........2007-06-15
This collection features eight complete editions of various Dickens interpretations from the BBC stable, from 1977's "Christmas Carol" through to 1999's "David Copperfield". The total mileage is 1977 minutes, not including various extras. Divide that by the price offered and, however much the price is, it'll still be a bargain.
There are some big stars here, and some who should be or should have been: there are some fine performances in some of the smallest of parts. With eight different directors, the production is uneven, and some series suffered from smaller budgets than others, but there is not a duff series among them. If I had to choose a worst, then "David Copperfield" over-eggs an already mawkish pie (and is top-heavy in big names). The best? Well, "Great Expectations" has a wonderful atmosphere, especially out on the marshes. But top of the tree for me is "Martin Chuzzlewit" with fantastic humour in every nuance.
Amazon.co.uk Review
If Charles Dickens were alive to see Roman Polanski's faithful adaptation of Oliver Twist, he'd probably give it his stamp of approval. David Lean's celebrated 1948 version of the Dickens classic and Carol Reed's Oscar-winning 1968 musical are more entertaining in some ways, but Polanski's rendition is both painstakingly authentic (with superb cinematography and production design) and deeply rooted in the emotional context of the story. Both Polanski and Dickens had personal experiences similar to those of young Oliver (played here by Barney Clark)--Polanski in the Nazi-occupied ghettos of Poland during World War II, and Dickens during his hard-scrabble youth in Victorian London--and this spiritual kinship lends a certain gravitas to the tale of a tenacious orphan who escaped from indentured servitude in London society and is taken in by Fagin (Ben Kingsley) and his streetwise gang of pickpockets.
As the evil Bill Sykes, who exploits Oliver for his own nefarious needs, Jamie Foreman is no match for Oliver Reed (in the '68 musical) in terms of frightening menace, but even here, Polanski's direction hews closer to Dickens, while the screenplay by Ronald Harwood (who also wrote Polanski's The Pianist) necessarily trims away subplots and characters for the sake of narrative economy. All in all, this Oliver Twist rises above most previous versions, and with the benefit of Kingsley's nuanced performance, Polanski arrives at a compassionate conclusion that captures the essence of Dickens' novel in a way that viewers of all ages will appreciate for many years to come.-- Jeff Shannon
Customer Reviews:
More beautiful and human than heartbreaking.......2007-10-24
This recent adaptation of Dickens' Oliver Twist is just one more in a long, long series, would you say. And you would be wrong. But what can it bring that could be new on a subject we all know since this book and this story are classics that everyone knows and that are even at times kind of over-repeated. Roman Polanski decides to renew the treatment of the theme by using the fact that we know all major events and episodes by going as fast as possible on the core of the episodes and insisting on what is around, before or after. If the episode is hard, like Nancy's death, he uses an ellipse that shortens it. If the episode is over-known, like the begging for more porridge, he centers the scene on the drawing of who is going to volunteer, and then on what comes before and follows. That enables Polanski to avoid melodrama and a sentimentalese treatment and to concentrate on the human side of things. He is helped in his attempt by the admirable acting of Ben Kingsley as Fagan. Of course Polanski cannot bring anything new on the subject and he concentrates on the pictorial and plastic beauty of this color adaptation and on the extreme sincerity of the actors, good or evil. But is it able to erase the unforgettable post-war black and white adaptation in our memory? Probably not, but they are so different that they don't compete.
Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines
Polanski made this film for his children!.......2007-09-02
Polanski himself said that he had always wanted to make a film for his children and Oliver Twist is what he choose.
I thought this was a fantastic film which brought tears and laughter! This is certainly the best Twist we've had and i enjoy watching it again and again!
Brilliant!
STD
Simply amazing!.......2007-08-06
A truely stunning cinematic experience. The most faithful version committed to film - buy it, watch it, love it!
Superb!.......2007-07-19
We were learning about this film in English, and this has been the best film I have seen all year, beating Pirates and Harry Potter by a loooong way. And jusging by the rest of the classes silence and full attention, I say they'd agree.
The story is easy to follow, the acting is brilliant (Which is necessary judging the strong characters such as Sykes) scenery is great, some moments are very moving and make you gasp, and the soundtrack is brilliant which is needed in a film.
Well done to Roman Polanski. I would highly recommend seeing this, and it would make a good family film.
Lemon of Twist.......2007-05-05
Why did Roman Polanski decide to make this film? Maybe he was just trying to get the full range of movies on his CV. Maybe he thought he could give the story that extra something it never had before. This version is workmanlike, but it doesn't break new ground and it doesn't have any wow factor. It tries to remain faithful to the book, but inevitably it truncates and conflates. It tries to show the gloom and filth of those early industrial days, but the muddy, ratty streets can't make up for the painted backdrops and chocolate-box urchins of ye olde London town.
Meanwhile Mr Bumble, one of the great Dickens characters, hardly gets a look in, while Mr Brownlow forms such a strong liking for Oliver so quickly that one feels a little suspicious of his motives, especially given the director's own legal history. (Actually, now I think about it, is Polanski trying to highlight the tug of love for 10-year-old Oliver between bent and scabby old Fagin and the upright, perfumed Mr Brownlow...? Ugh.)
Anyway, back to the film. Oliver's mother's backstory is left out, along with Rose Maylie and the villainous and potentially excellent Mr Monks, which deprives us of the happy twist of familial fate in the denouement.
Among those that made the final cut, the acting is patchy at best, not helped by every member of the cast reaching for a different accent. Ben Kingsley obviously has a great time playing Fagin, but who wouldn't?
On the upside, there are at least two really over-the-top hairpieces (one of them obscures most of Brownlow's face) which makes you wonder if the stylist wasn't having a bit of a laugh and trying to subvert Polanski's dark vision. If so, high five to the wig department!
Steer clear, unless you are a determined collector of Kingsley, Dickens, Polanski or comedy moustaches.
Customer Reviews:
Best Oliver Twist Story ever told!.......2007-12-28
May i just say that many people have critisized this drama for the 'telling of its own tale' story. I personally, think this version is the best version of Oliver Twist ever told. It captures every detail from Oliver's parents, Oliver's rough days. Alan Bleasdale captured this perfectly. Although many stories have/will be shown again, none can be as superb as this.
The DVD is horrid. I have the VHS version, and there is far more cut out than what i'd expect.
Oliver Twist. Amazing adaptiation!!.......2006-09-13
Alan Bleasdale's excellent adaptatation of Charles Dickens' classic story of a young boy who's life in Victorian England is far from perfect. His mother died in child birth, so he is brought up in an orphanage, then moved to a work house. Under nourished, he has the nerve to ask for more. From that moment on, the boy begins a journey that sees him fall in to the company of a gang of thieves led by Fagin, superbly played by Robert Lyndsay. He later meets a gentleman, Mr. Brownlow (Micheal Kitchen)who unknowingly holds the key to the boy's future as well as answers from his past. Sam Smith plays Oliver with a depth of character not seen before or since in any other dramatisation. With a stunning supporing cast including Julie Walters, Roger Lloyd Pack, Alun Armstrong, Sophia Myles and Lindsay Duncan. Andy Serkis is chilling as Bill Sykes and Marc Warren is just brilliant as Monks. Very high production values make this look stunning and in some ways better than the recent cinema release. Bleasdale expands a back story, only briefly touched on in the original work, to add intense complexity to the story. It is a brave move, as it makes the drama run to nearly six and a half hours! It pays off though, as so many loose ends get tied up to make the story make sense as it never has before. Originally made for and shown on ITV in 1999, it is proof that when they try, they can make superb dramas. I hope and believe this to be the unabridged version, as subsequent repeats on TV had major cuts made, so as to appeal to a younger audience. In my opinion, this is the best screen version of Dickens' Classic tale.
Amazon.co.uk Review
There have been many film and TV adaptations of Oliver Twist but this 1948 production from director David Lean remains the definitive screen interpretation of the Charles Dickens classic. From the ominous symbolism of its opening storm sequence (in which Oliver's pregnant, ill-fated mother struggles to reach shelter before childbirth) to the mob-scene climax that provokes Bill Sikes's dreadful comeuppance, this breathtaking black-and-white film remains loyal to Dickens while distilling the story into its purest cinematic essence.
Every detail is perfect--Lean even includes a coffin-shaped snuffbox for the cruel Mr. Sowerberry--and as young Oliver, eight-year-old John Howard Davies (who would later produce Monty Python's Flying Circus for the BBC) perfectly expresses the orphan's boyish wonderment, stern determination and waifish vulnerability. Best of all is Alec Guinness as Fagin, so devious and yet so delightfully appealing under his beak-nosed (and, at the time, highly controversial) make-up. (Many complained that Fagin's huge nose and greedy demeanour presented an anti-Semitic stereotype, even though Lean never identifies Fagin as Jewish; for this reason, the film wasn't shown in the US until three years after its British release.) Likewise, young Anthony Newley is artfully dodgy as Fagin's loyal accomplice, the Artful Dodger.
Guinness's performance would later provide strong inspiration for Ron Moody's equally splendid portrayal of Fagin in the Oscar-winning Oliver! and while that 1968 musical remains wonderfully entertaining, it is Lean's film that hews closest to Dickens' vision. The authentic recreation of 19th-century London is marvellous to behold; Guy Green's cinematography is so shadowy and stylised that it almost qualifies as Dickensian film noir. Lean is surprisingly blunt in conveying Dickens's theme of cruelty but his film never loses sight of the warmth and humanity that Oliver embodies. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.co.uk Review
An astonishingly good David Lean double-bill featuring his two Dickensian adaptations, Great Expectations (1946) and Oliver Twist (1948), this is a reminder that cinema does not necessarily have to debase its literary sources, sometimes it can enhance them. Lean's painterly eye for evocative locations--be they windswept marshes or bustling London streets--provides the backdrop, but his focus on smaller details--the ominous tree in the graveyard with its almost human face, the reaction of Bill Sikes' dog to Nancy's murder--adds the vital ingredient that brings both place and character to life.
Starring a youthful John Mills as Pip, Lean's Great Expectations is an unadulterated delight, a serendipitous gelling of screenplay, direction, cinematography and acting that produces an almost perfect film. The cast is exemplary, with Alec Guinness in his first (official) role as Pip's loyal pal Herbert Pocket; Martita Hunt is a cadaverous Miss Havisham; Finlay Currie transforms himself from truly threatening to entirely sympathetic as Magwitch; while the young Jean Simmons makes more of an impact as the girl Estella than Valerie Hobson does as the older incarnation. Perhaps best of all, though, is Francis Sullivan as the pragmatic but kindly attorney Jaggers.
The cinematography alone (courtesy of Guy Green) would qualify Oliver Twist as a classic: the opening sequence of a lone woman struggling through the storm is an indelible cinematic image. Fortunately, Lean's film has many more aces up its sleeve thereafter, notably Alec Guinness' grotesque Fagin--a caricature certainly, but a three-dimensional one--and Robert Newton's utterly pitiless Bill Sikes. The skewed angles and unsettling chiaroscuro lighting transform London itself into another threatening character. --Mark Walker
Customer Reviews:
Best movie ever made of a Dickens Novel.......2007-10-07
As I said in the title, this is the best ever film-version of a Dickens novel. Oliver Twist expertly tells the story of this enormous novel in less than two hours' screen time. We start with baby Oliver left on the doorstep of an orphanage by his unwed mother. Proving a difficult charge to the wicked orphanage official, Oliver is sold into a job as an undertaker's apprentice. He then runs away and joins a gang of street urchins, led by master pickpocket Fagin . Oliver is rescued from this life; but, with the help of Bill Sikes, Fagin abducts Oliver. Sikes' girl friend Nancy does all she can to restores Oliver to his home. This leads to Oliver going home, but to her death.
David Lean's does Dickens again with more great results.......2002-04-06
David Lean returned to Dickens domain two years after the release of 'Great Expectations' with this, another classic adaption. Although it is perhaps not as spellbinding as his previous adaption it is still an excellent film with a superb cast. Alec Guinness (only 34 and at the beggining of his spectacular film career) makes the definitive screen Fagin, Robert Newton seems to have been born to play Bill Sykes, John Howard Davies (later a TV producer) makes an effective Oliver and Kay Walsh makes a fine Nancy. Another great aspect of the film are the sets (designed by John Bryan) which perfectly recapture the grimy buildings and streets of Victorian London. This is the definitive screen version of Dickens tale so far (although musicalising it in 'Oliver' was an effective move) and it seems quite dissappointing today that Lean never returned to Dickens territory.
An unforgetable story of love, cruelty and comedy........2001-06-03
Most definately the best adaptation of Dickens' novel. The opening sequence builds up a great sense of horror and drama which keeps you on the edge of your seat. Frances Sullivan is wonderful at playing the cruel but comical beadle. He and Mrs Mann are a great contrast to each other and make a great double act on screen. Perhaps the best and most memorable actor from this film is the wonderful Sir Alec Guiness who is so convincing as the roguish but kind Fagin - and who would guess that Sir Alec was only 22 at the time of playing the character! Robert Newton is also convincing as the horribly cruel Bill Sykes - he livens up the screen with his cruel ways and bad manners and scares the life out of the viewer with the horrifying murder of Nancy. Right up until he dies he holds the screen in the palm of his hands and never fails to frighten or shock the viewer. Of course I must credit John Howard Davies who played the orphan Oliver brilliantly and held you, the viewer in the palm of his hands. One thing that has made the film so successful is the ammount of research the director has put into the film, the sets are magnificent and very believable for its day. Even down to the coffin snuff box of Mr Sowerberry - every prop is true to the story and makes the film all the more believable.
19th Century Realism brought to life.......2000-10-02
The director David Lean made this genuine classic after the war, based on a book by Charles Dickens. This book shocked the Victorian public at the time because it was too 'real', and showed the degradation and poverty suffered by children who were too poor to be considered important. The acting was exemplary by all the cast; special mention must go to Kay Walsh as the kind hearted Nancy, who suffered at the hands of her brutal boyfriend Bill Sykes [Robert Newton]. Surely the scene of her murder at his psychotic hands ranks as one of the most violent scenes ever committed on screen. Also, a mention for the late Alec Guinness in a truly horrid portrayal of Fagin, and the youngster John Howard Davies as the young hero Oliver.
Customer Reviews:
Marvellous!.......2005-04-15
There is no other word to describe it. I am talking about both the unbelievebly bargain price and the magnificence of the films.
To get it out of the way, 'Tale of Two Cities' is only very good. It is not one of the best Dickens stories (but it is still Dickens), and it is not directed by David Lean, however Dirk Bogarde still does extremely well and it is enjoyable.
Right, now we come to the masterpieces: these are certainly two of the greatest top 100 movies ever made, in anyone's list, in mine both are top 20. As far as I am concerned, if you start off with a great story then you will have a good film. What these two films add is acting so brilliant that it could persuade you to alter your sexuality if it so desired, and direction so grainy amd wonderful, that sunny beaches and snow-capped mountains seem dull in its shadow.
In terms of quality for money, this is the best bargain you will ever get, and I am not just talking about DVDs.
An Excellent Trio.......2004-06-26
This excellent trio of Dickens' masterpieces reflect the genius of the master writer.
Tale of Two Cities captures the mood of the time. A minor criticism is that the crowd scenes lack the number of people used in the earlier film of the story starring Ronald Coleman. Dirk Bogarde's interpretation of the sad Sydney Carton is true to the character created by Dickens. The final guillotine scene with the famous quote "It is a far, far better thing........" is a highlight of the film.
Oliver Twist is one of David Lean's best films.His direction is faultless. The dark forboding atmosphere he creates draws the viewer hypnotically into the story of Oliver the waif who endures many hardships before a realistic happy ending. Look out for the excellent Alec Guinness as Fagin.
Great Expectations, another David Lean film. John Mills gives his usual convincing performance. Again David Lean's direction is beyond reproach. Not one of my favourite Dickens' tales but worth watching.
Product Description
European import. Plays on standard UK DVD players in English without subtitles.
This collection shows the BBC miniseries: Pickwick Papers, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist, Martin Chuzzlewit, Our Mutual Friend, A Christmas Carol, Hard Times and Black House.
Charles John Huffam Dickens, pen-name "Boz", was the foremost English novelist of the Victorian era, as well as a vigorous social campaigner. Considered one of the English language's greatest writers, he was acclaimed for his rich storytelling and memorable characters, and achieved massive worldwide popularity in his lifetime.
The characters are among the most memorable in English literature; certainly their names are. The likes of Ebenezer Scrooge, Fagin, Mrs Gamp, Charles Darnay, Oliver Twist, Micawber, Abel Magwitch, Samuel Pickwick, Miss Havisham, Wackford Squeers and many others are so well known and can be believed to be living a life outside the novels that their stories have been continued by other authors.
Dickens loved the style of 18th century gothic romance, though it had already become a target for parody Jane Austen's Northanger Abbey being a well known example and while some of his characters are grotesques, their eccentricities do not usually overshadow the stories. One 'character' most vividly drawn throughout his novels is London itself. From the coaching inns on the outskirts of the city to the lower reaches of the Thames, all aspects of the capital are described over the course of his corpus.
Product Description
Import from the Netherlands, which plays in English.
Jamie Oliver (The Naked Chef) knows the best places to buy food in London. In this DVD, Oliver's Twist, Jamie takes us to his favorite stores, and then it's back to his place to cook up fantastic food for family and friends. In Jamie's unique style he gives culinary advice and great tips as he grills, grinds, roasts and fries. And with food on the table, let the good times roll! This DVD contains 7 classic episodes from his Oliver's Twist TV series as seen on the Food Network.
"I think that the show's success is down to me being me - an ordinary bloke who's just passionate about good food - and people can relate to that. Even now, blokes who've never done more than open a packet come up to me and tell me that they've started cooking. That's the best result ever as all I ever wanted to do was to make food accessible to everyone; to show that you can make mistakes - I do all the time - but it doesn't matter." -Jamie Oliver
EPISODES
1) World Cup Breakfast: After a big night out what better way for Jamie and his mates to recover than a morning watching soccer with a full Oliver breakfast.
2) Scarlet Division: Jamie drums up some vegetarian tukka as he gets together with his band for a jamming session.
3) The Bill: When Jamie pays a visit to his mates on the set of The Bill, three cops are delighted to accept his invitation to dinner.
4) Wild City: Horseradish outside your house? Rocket by the roadside? Jamie and his mentor Gennaro show how, even in the middle of a city, Mother Nature does provide.
5) Tiger: Jamie's grandmother, Tiger, and her friends are in London for a day out, so Jamie invites them over for afternoon tea.
6) Bollywood: Jamie goes Indian as he hosts a Bollywood night with all the trimmings.
7) Chocolate: As a bribe for babysitting Poppy, Jamie offers the girls the one thing they can't resist chocolate, and lots of it.
DVD:
- Pinocchio [1940] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Pola X [1999] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Poldark - Series 1 - Part 1 [1975]
- Popeye the Sailor: 1933-1938, Vol. 1 (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Postman Pat's ABC And 123
- Rainbow Brite
- Redwall - The Movie [1999]
- Roald Dahl's The BFG: Big Friendly Giant [1989] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Rowing With the Wind [1987] (REGION 1) (NTSC)
- Saving Private Ryan [1998]
DVD List
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![Oliver! [1968]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/21AHFE1YB5L.jpg)
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![Oliver!: Original Film Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]](http://images-eu.amazon.com/images/P/B000026FAZ.01.THUMBZZZ.jpg)
Oliver!: Original Film Soundtrack [SOUNDTRACK]
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Annie [1981]
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