Oliver Twist (1948) Movie Review

The canonical movie version of Dickens's Oliver Twist, this is as straight-up and authentic as it gets. Oliver asks for "more," ends up adopted, joins a street gang, and pretty much comes full circle, without surprise and with apt attention to period detail. The movie, however, remains mired in controversy due to Alec Guinness's Fagin, which drew such rabid charges of anti-Semitism (check out his nose) that it was banned in Israel. Definitely the version to see before you subject yourself, say, to Polanski's bloated 2005 version.