Oliver! (1968) Romulus Films/Columbia Pictures 📢 Director: Carol Reed 💰 Producer: John Woolf 👫 Cast: Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Harry Secombe, Shani Wallis, Mark Lester, Jack Wild. 🏆 Awards ceremony: -41st Academy Awards: April 14, 1969. Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Los Angeles, California. 🎭 Other films nominated for Best Picture this year: -Funny Girl. -The Lion In Winter. -Rachel, Rachel. -Romeo And Juliet. 📕 Plot summary: London 1838; Charles Dickens' period musical tale of Oliver Twist, a 9 year-old boy who escapes the Dunstable Workhouse orphanage and heads for London where he meets a similar-aged boy named the Artful Dodger. The two boys become friends when the Dodger introduces Oliver to Fagin, a dodgy and scruffy-looking gentleman who has a whole attic hideout full of urchins who have been trained to be pickpockets and thieves. 💥 Standout scene: That greedy little pig Oliver having the audacity to ask for more food after drawing the short straw. The cheek of him! 🔑 Facts: -The 41st Academy Awards. -Nominated for 11 Academy Awards, it won 5: Best Picture, Director, Art Direction, Music, Sound. In addition, an Honorary award was given to Onna White. 🙂 Personal opinion: Not going to lie but when this film came up in this project I hadn't yet seen it and I really wasn't too enthusiastic about watching it. My fears were confirmed after 153 minutes of enduring it. To be fair the initial first 20 minutes were fine, it was interesting and showed promise with the opening few scenes particularly with the orphanage but my god it went downhill and just kept getting worse! It was as though they scripted the first 30 minutes and then made the rest up as they went. By the time we reach the 90 minutes mark the film is already up its own arse and has lost all purpose, with some scenes being questionable in terms of plot logic and relevance. This film had all the ingredients I really don't like: it was a musical AND a period drama! There was one song that was okay, "Consider Yourself". Harry Secombe's singing was quite decent though. The ending was stupid but by the time it came I had already long given up caring anyway. A huge disappointment and pointless. Did it deserve the Oscar? ❌NO. I can't think of a film from 1968 that did deserve the Best Picture (and that includes you, Kubrick!) but this was NOT the film I would have chosen. ⭐️4/10

Review date: 16 March 2025