Oliver Twist
A Screen Event To Be Remembered For All Time !
1948 | 116m | English
Popularity: 2 (history)
| Director: | David Lean |
|---|---|
| Writer: | David Lean, Charles Dickens, Stanley Haynes |
| Staring: |
| When 9-year-old orphan Oliver Twist dares to ask his cruel taskmaster, Mr. Bumble, for a second serving of gruel, he's hired out as an apprentice. Escaping that dismal fate, young Oliver falls in with the street urchin known as the Artful Dodger and his criminal mentor, Fagin. When kindly Mr. Brownlow takes Oliver in, Fagin's evil henchman Bill Sikes plots to kidnap the boy. | |
| Release Date: | Jun 28, 1948 |
|---|---|
| Director: | David Lean |
| Writer: | David Lean, Charles Dickens, Stanley Haynes |
| Genres: | Comedy, Adventure, Drama, Crime |
| Keywords | child abuse, based on novel or book, pickpocket, victorian england, orphan |
| Production Companies | Cineguild, J. Arthur Rank Organisation |
| Box Office |
Revenue: $0
Budget: $0 |
| Updates |
Updated: Aug 10, 2025 Entered: Apr 13, 2024 |
| Name | Character |
|---|---|
| John Howard Davies | Oliver Twist |
| Robert Newton | Bill Sykes |
| Alec Guinness | Fagin |
| Kay Walsh | Nancy |
| Francis L. Sullivan | Mr. Bumble |
| Henry Stephenson | Mr. Brownlow |
| Mary Clare | Mrs. Corney |
| Anthony Newley | Artful Dodger |
| Ralph Truman | Monks |
| Michael Dear | Noah Claypole |
| Diana Dors | Charlotte |
| Josephine Stuart | Oliver's Mother |
| Kathleen Harrison | Mrs Sowerberry |
| Gibb McLaughlin | Mr. Sowerberry |
| Amy Veness | Mrs. Bedwin |
| Frederick Lloyd | Mr. Grimwig |
| Henry Edwards | Police Official |
| Ivor Barnard | Chairman of the Board |
| Maurice Denham | Chief of Police |
| Michael Ripper | Barney |
| Peter Bull | Landlord of 'Three Cripples' |
| Deidre Doyle | Mrs. Thingummy |
| Kenneth Downey | Workhouse Master (as Kenneth Downy) |
| W.G. Fay | Bookseller |
| Edie Martin | Annie |
| Fay Middleton | Martha |
| Graveley Edwards | Mr. Fang |
| John Potter | Charlie Bates |
| Maurice Jones | Workhouse Doctor |
| Hattie Jacques | Singer at 'Three Cripples' |
| Betty Paul | Singer at 'Three Cripples' |
| Johnny Briggs | Undetermined Minor Role (Uncredited) |
| Albert Chevalier | Courtroom Policeman (Uncredited) |
| Erik Chitty | Workhouse Board Member (Uncredited) |
| Arthur Mullard | Undetermined Minor Role (Uncredited) |
| Nosher Powell | Undetermined Minor Role (Uncredited) |
| Dennis Wyndham | Man In Street Who Punches Oliver (Uncredited) |
| Name | Job |
|---|---|
| David Lean | Screenplay, Director |
| Charles Dickens | Novel |
| Guy Green | Director of Photography |
| George Pollock | Assistant Director |
| Stanley Haynes | Screenplay |
| Jack Harris | Editor |
| Claude Momsay | Set Decoration |
| T. Hopewell Ash | Set Decoration |
| Stuart Freeborn | Makeup Artist |
| Biddy Chrystal | Hairstylist |
| Norman Spencer | Production Manager |
| Jim Body | Focus Puller |
| Arnold Bax | Original Music Composer |
| Dennis Van Thal | Casting |
| Gordon K. McCallum | Sound |
| Margaret Furse | Costume Design |
| Winston Ryder | Sound Editor |
| Stanley Lambourne | Sound |
| J. Arthur Rank | Presenter |
| George Paternoster | Boom Operator |
| Name | Title |
|---|---|
| Ronald Neame | Producer |
| Organization | Category | Person |
|---|
Popularity History
| Year | Month | Avg | Max | Min |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 4 | 19 | 38 | 11 |
| 2024 | 5 | 21 | 29 | 11 |
| 2024 | 6 | 20 | 28 | 12 |
| 2024 | 7 | 17 | 26 | 10 |
| 2024 | 8 | 18 | 28 | 11 |
| 2024 | 9 | 13 | 21 | 9 |
| 2024 | 10 | 14 | 35 | 6 |
| 2024 | 11 | 12 | 22 | 6 |
| 2024 | 12 | 13 | 22 | 8 |
| 2025 | 1 | 15 | 34 | 9 |
| 2025 | 2 | 11 | 20 | 3 |
| 2025 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 1 |
| 2025 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 5 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 1 |
| 2025 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 2025 | 8 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025 | 9 | 3 | 4 | 2 |
| 2025 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 |
Trending Position
You only have to watch the opening few sequences of David Lean's striking adaptation of this, probably the most famous of Dickens' stories, to know that you are in for a treat. The dark clouds chase the poor, wretched, mother as she seeks any shelter she can from the impending storm and so, Oliver i ... s born in the workhouse and the story begins. Francis L. Sullivan and Mary Clare are super as the exploitative and cruel face of the workhouse from which he is eventually sold and after a brief spell leading funeral cortèges for children, Oliver ends up befriending the Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) and falling into truly bad company. Alec Guinness and Robert Newton epitomise evil and avarice, violence and brutality and are outstanding as Fagin and Skyes - and with Kay Walsh and Henry Stephenson (and also, a slightly under-rated Frederick Lloyd, too) you just could not leave the story in any better hands. A truly captivating film that belongs in anyone's library.