Oliver Twist (1933)

★★★★ · Short Summary · Rybak · 2008-05-03

This film is a short summary of the novel. For everybody who doesn't want to read the book, but wants to know what is in there. The acting is better than I thought before. Only Dickie Moore is not that Oliver Twist I wanted to see. Irving Pichels Fagin is as good as every Fagin I saw.

★★★ · Literal Translation · jimelena · 2006-04-19

Normally I like movies that keep to the book. But this sticks so close to the book that it makes it somewhat stiff, like following the manuscript is the only objective. If you have a book report due on this particular story, then this is the movie to watch.

★★ · Major shredding of plot; not for me; but may appeal to some · cjfsyntropy · 2012-02-17

After just listening to the excellent T. Hynes Librivox recording of Oliver Twist, I was unprepared for the major garbling of the plot which this film involves. However, some scenes and lines are direct from the text: a very weird mix of authentic and fabricated to me. My girlfriend liked it. It has 1930s style acting & styling, so it may not appeal to critical modern viewers. If you enjoy old films and can tolerate the major changes from Dickens' original, it is not a bad film. It wasn't for me.

★★ · Dickens Lite · Rainy Tuesday at the Movies · 2011-11-11

David Lean this isn't. Still, poverty-row Monogram should be commended for taking on such an ambitious project. How well they pull it off is another matter altogether. Dickie Moore was a ‘cute’ child actor of limited thespic abilities. Irving Pichel on the other hand is perfectly cast as Fagin. Unfortunately, the lackluster script which pares Dickens’ great novel down to the barest of bare essentials, pretty much sinks the whole endeavor. One effective scene involves young Dickie/Oliver doing somersaults in hope of a few coins which are meanly withheld by an arrogant coach passenger. Sum up…

★ · Major Plot Elements Missing + Terrible Casting = Worst 'Oliver' Adaptation Ever · Ella_Greggs · 2009-01-16

This film has nothing to recommend it. First, it is a dreadful adaptation of the novel. It leaves out several major characters and episodes. Virtually gone are Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, who know the truth of Oliver's parentage. Gone is undertaker Sowerberry and his sadistic family, who do their best to break Oliver's spirit. But most important of all, gone is Oliver's nemesis Monks, the man whose whole future rests on ruining Oliver's life. Scenes where Brownlow witnesses, and then rescues, Oliver from the abusive police and courts are eliminated, so we don't understand why Brownlow takes an…