Panning for Movie Gold

Eureka! I found a nugget! On TCM tonight was a 1948 production of Oliver Twist directed by David Lean. (Does that name produce a ring of your chimes? Well, it should.) This was , of course, a pre-musical production, and it had all the elements of film noire being a B& W production and exceptionally good actors. And if you've seen the musical version you can envision the conception of that production. It is a masterpiece, and it had never been seen in this country in its entirety. Apparently some felt its portrayal of Fagin was anti-Semitic. Not really; just following the C. Dickens book. Make-up will be discussed later.

So who was in this flick, you ask.

Artful Dodger---Anthony Newley---remember him? Later wrote "Candyman", a big Sammy Davis, Jr. hit, and other songs almost as big which he performed as well.

Bill Sikes---Robert Newton---probably better remembered as Long John Silver in Treasure Island, and often a villain.

Fagin---Alec Guiness---you wouldn't recognize him in a million years, and that's because his make-up makes him resemble a long-haired toucan (probably the reason for the anti-Semitic objection); but his movement, and the cadence of his speech shows you where the musical was conceived. It's so different from anything else he did as an actor. What a talent!!!

And who was Oliver?

Oliver---John Howard Davies (at age nine)---and who the heck is that, you ask.

He made approximately three more movies, but as a grown-up he was a producer (and sometimes director) of The Good Life (Remember Richard Brier & Penelope Keith, the city dwellers who were going to become self-sufficient?), Monty Python's Flying Circus, and Fawlty Towers, and other comedies. A long move away from Dickens.

If you get a chance to see this movie: Don't miss it if you can.