Written by Vernon Harris
Based upon the stage show by Lionel Bart
Taken from the novel by Charles Dickens
Starring Ron Moody, Oliver Reed, Mark Lester, Shani Wallis and Jack Wild
Oliver! is a movie musical made in the tradition of the great movie musicals of the 1950s, but coming out in 1968, when the world had just about turned its back on them – at least the traditional musicals – it was instantly a curiosity, the last gasp of the studio system trying to stay alive before more independent based producers and stars really upended the system in favor of smaller and more personal films – see TCM’s Moguls and Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood for more. Continue reading