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Oliver Twist (1948)
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This masterly adaptation of the Dickens novel by director David Lean brims with unforgettable scenes and performances, especially Alec Guinness's Fagin and Robert Newton's genuinely frightening Bill Sikes. From the opening, with Oliver's mother struggling to the workhouse to give birth, to the climax on the roofs of Docklands, the picture brings the novel vividly to life. But here are a few things you may not know: Robert Donat was desperate to play Sikes and did a screen test; when Nancy is bludgeoned to death, Sikes's dog was tricked into scratching at the door by a stuffed cat placed on the other side; the boy who played Oliver, John Howard Davies, became a producer of TV comedies such as Fawlty Towers; and the movie caused riots in Germany and was initially banned and then heavily cut in America for its alleged anti-Semitism. AT
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Running time
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110min
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Country of origin
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UK
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Genre
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Classic Drama
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Original language
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English
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Screenplay
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David Lean, Stanley Haynes, from the novel by Charles Dickens
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Award |
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Nominee/Winner |
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| BFAA 1948 |
Best British Film |
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Nominee |
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Film certification logos reproduced by kind permission of BBFC |
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