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Oliver!

Oscar™ Best Picture - Winning Movies

Oliver!

1968

Carol Reed

Mark Lester, Ron Moody, Shani Wallis, Oliver Reed ...

7.2

5,540

Musical. Drama Adaptation of Lionel Bart's musical version of the Dickens classic. Oliver (Mark Lester) is a nine-year-old orphan who's sold to an undertaker by workhouse officials for objecting to his scant rations; he soon manages to escape from bondage and make his way to London. There he's befriended by the precocious Artful Dodger (Jack Wild), a pickpocket who belongs to a gang of youthful thieves run by Fagin (Ron Moody), a veteran cutpurse. ... [+]

	Author	Review
United States	Rich Gold Variety	"Its color, humor, familiar but castiron storyline sentimentality and w.k. central characters, plus Bart’s catchy ditties, provided sparkling standout family entertainment-plus."	POS
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"An elaborate and faithful movie enlargement of the Lionel Bart operetta."	POS
United States	Roger Ebert rogerebert.com	"A treasure of a movie. It is very nearly universal entertainment (...) It is as well-made as a film can be (...) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 4)"	POS
United States	Wanda Hale New York Daily News	"A glorious musical (...) A timeless classic that will be as lovable in 10 or 20 years as it is today."	POS
United Kingdom	Ian Nathan Empire	"Even if you're not a 'fan' of the musicals, 'Oliver' is so witty, so bright and so endearing that even the iciest viewer should start melting in it's corona (...) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"Careful if passionless (...) In retrospect, it seems emblematic of the triviality Reed descended to in the last years of his career."	NEU
United Kingdom	Stella Papamichael BBC	"A rousing musical spin on Charles Dickens' dark tale (…) Rating: ★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United Kingdom	Tony Sloman Radio Times	"[Moody brings] wit and wisdom, and a certain magnificence (...) The Academy recognition for sound and art direction is well and truly justified (…) Rating: ★★★★ (out of 5)"	POS
United States	Jessica Kiang IndieWire	"Despite the huge ensemble and complex choreography, the filmmaking never gets in the way of the story and the characters"	POS
United Kingdom	Stephen Gilbert Time Out	"Reed is craftsman enough to make an efficient family entertainment out of Lionel Bart's musical, but not artist enough to put back any of Dickens' teeth"	NEU

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