Oliver!

And this week's Friday night movie has been... Oliver!

Original image located here. Accessed 14th June 2024

Best Picture Oscar winner no.: 41 (1968)

When I was planning this year-long operation out, I was tossing up whether to include this movie in the schedule. But in the end, I remembered I have a resonance with Oliver as I have performed in the original musical on stage. So we're watching this then.
It's also worthy of note that this movie came out at the beginning of the New Hollywood era (1968-1980) which would make it the last of the old guard. With this in mind, it's strangely fitting that this movie won Best Picture over Bonnie and Clyde - the movie that is largely credited as being the starting point of the New Hollywood.

Given the source material, as in both the musical and Dickens' original text, it would be easy to dismiss this as an adaption and nothing more. And yet, there is much to admire here. The cast is fantastic with both the children and adults doing a top notch job. In particular, Oliver Reed is chilling as Bill Sykes and Ron Moody is fantastic as Fagin to the point of becoming the model for all to follow (why didn't he win the Oscar for Best Actor?). The musical sequences are all well done, the use of colour is superb and there is a solid balance of bright and dark to make this an ideal family movie. 

But in the end, as mentioned above, this is the last of the old guard. Watching this I can't help but feel this is a product of an engine running out of steam. Seems a change was needed.....