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The film is divided into 2 parts, with an intermission separating them. Part One begins with an overture, and then the title credits as we open at a workhouse in Dunstable, England. The workhouse is visited by wealthy governors while the orphan boys work in dingy conditions. A huge banquet is being held for the governors just as the boys are called to dinner and served their daily gruel. This leads us to the first, and possibly most recognizable, song as the boys sing about their longing for "Food, Glorious Food". After eating, the boys draw straws to see who will ask for a second helping. The long straw is drawn by Oliver Twist (Mark Lester), who goes up to the duo that run the workhouse, Mr. and Mrs. Bumble (Harry Secombe, Peggy Mount), and asks for more. Bumble is enraged and takes Oliver to the governors to determine what to do with him. It's decided Oliver will be sold off.
Bumble parades Oliver through the snowy streets offering to sell him to the highest bidder. Ultimately, an undertaker named Mr. Sowerberry (Leonard Rossiter) makes an offer, but will pay Bumble after a trial period to make sure it works out. Sowerberry plans on using Oliver to help march in funerals. The first test march is successful, even though when they march by the orphanage, Oliver is teased by the other children still there. Oliver remains focused and does an excellent job in the march.
Back at the office, apprentice Noah Claypole (Kenneth Cranham) makes derogatory remarks about Oliver's mother. Oliver attacks Noah with a broom and pounds the snot out of him. Mrs. Sowerberry (Hylda Baker) tries to break it up, and Noah claims that Oliver started it. Oliver's placed in a coffin to keep him at bay, and Noah goes off to find Bumble. When Bumble arrives, he expects Oliver to tremble in fear at him, but Oliver is not intimidated in the least. Bumble claims this behavior is because the child isn't eating gruel anymore. The Sowerberrys lock Oliver in the cellar overnight. Oliver sings "Where is Love" while in the cellar, and holds onto a grate window looking up at the sidewalk. The grate actually comes loose in his grip, so Oliver pushes it fully open and escapes, deciding to head to London.
Oliver walks and hitchhikes his way to London, finally stowing away on a truck hiding in a barrel of cabbage. Shortly after arriving in London, Oliver takes in the hustle and bustle of the big city and meets a young man dressed a bit shabbily, but fancily. This man is Jack Dawkins, who calls himself The Artful Dodger (Jack Wild). They hit it off and we get the tune "Consider Yourself" as they go through the city. Dodger leads Oliver to his home, a hideout for a group of young pickpockets run by a man named Fagin (Ron Moody). Oliver, led to believe this is an orphanage, thinks the items that Fagin is given by the boys are actually made by them all. Fagin and all the boys play along as if that's true. After dinner, the boys all go to sleep and Fagin sneaks out to meet with Bill Sikes (Oliver Reed), a dangerous thief. Fagin is given a bunch of items by Sikes and tells him he will price the items and pay him in the near future. Meanwhile, Sikes's girlfriend Nancy (Shani Wallis) waits for him at the pub, which is full of singing and dancing and boozing.
Fagin returns to the hideout and counts up all his new treasures, placing them in a hidden box full of stuff. Oliver sees him doing this, and Fagin is initially furious that he was seen, but calms down once Oliver truthfully says that he didn't see where the box was hidden. The next morning, Bill sends Nancy to Fagin to collect for the items. Nancy meets Oliver in the process and is impressed with his politeness. After Nancy leaves, Fagin sends the boys out for the day. Oliver asks to go with Dodger and is allowed to do so. However, while they're out Oliver sees what this job really is as he witnesses Dodger steal a man's wallet. This man, Mr. Brownlow (Joseph O'Conor), turns around as the theft happens. Dodger runs off and Oliver is left standing there, so Brownlow tells Oliver to return the wallet. Oliver says he doesn't have it. Brownlow has a policeman chase and catch Oliver after a near miss from an oncoming train.
Back at the hideout, Fagin is angry with Dodger for allowing Oliver to be caught. Sikes is there as well and he's even angrier. Afraid that Oliver will tell the police all about them, Fagin and Sikes send Nancy to court to see what Oliver says while on the stand. As it turns out, Oliver is too scared to say anything and it has nothing to do with Fagin and Sikes, he's just scared. The judge is about to pass a guilty sentence when someone who witnessed the theft comes forward and proclaims Oliver's innocence. Brownlow decides to take Oliver into his home, which does not please Fagin and Sikes as they continue to fear being discovered. Nancy wishes they would just let the boy alone. Dodger is sent to spy on Brownlow and Oliver.
This ends Part One, and we get an intermission before Part Two. Oliver is now living with the wealthy Mr. Brownlow. He awakens in the morning and watches merchants sell their goods outside to the tune of "Who Will Buy?". Sikes is watching Oliver from a distance. He and Fagin come up with a plan to get Oliver back, but Nancy protests being part of it. Sikes shoves her down and orders her to do it since Oliver trusts her. Nancy feels she has no choice.
Oliver offers to run an errand for Brownlow, bringing books and money to the bookstore. As Oliver leaves, Brownlow realizes that the boy greatly resembles a portrait of his long-lost niece Emily. While walking through London, Oliver runs into Nancy and is distracted, then kidnapped by Sikes back to the hideout. Oliver slaps Sikes but is protected by Nancy. Sikes gets more threatening and Nancy leaves. Fagin tries to calm Sikes down, but Sikes chokes Fagin and warns him to watch himself. Fagin briefly reconsiders his life as a thief.
Brownlow is visited by Mr. and Mrs. Bumble, as Brownlow is trying to learn more about where Oliver came from. The Bumbles give Brownlow a locket that belonged to Oliver's mother, who arrived at the workhouse broke, and died after giving birth. Brownlow recognizes the locket as his niece's. He angrily gives a reward to the Bumbles and throws them out, calling them heartless and greedy for keeping this hidden for so long.
Sikes brings Oliver along on a house robbery, telling him not to mess it up. Sikes pushes Oliver through an open window and tells him to open the front door. The door latch requires Oliver to climb on a chair, and unfortunately the chair topples as he unlocks the door, waking up the house residents. Sikes and Oliver escape. While this is going on, Nancy goes to Brownlow and confesses her part in the kidnapping, but she promises to return Oliver to him at midnight atop London Bridge. Brownlow says he'll be there. She then goes to the tavern to wait for Sikes and Oliver, who arrive from the foiled robbery. Nancy offers to bring Oliver to bed, but Sikes orders his dog to guard the boy. Nancy starts up a drinking song, hoping the noise will distract Sikes. It almost works, but the dog barks and Sikes notices Nancy running off with Oliver. He chases after them.
Nancy reaches London Bridge and points out Brownlow above to Oliver. They embrace and Oliver starts to run up, but Sikes arrives and grabs them both, throwing Oliver aside and then dragging Nancy behind a staircase where he savagely beats her. He takes off with Oliver, but the dog stops running after awhile and returns to where Nancy was beaten. The police are now there along with Brownlow. Nancy is dead. The dog alerts the police to follow him, and allows himself to be leashed so he can lead them back to Sikes.
Sikes arrives back at the hideout and demands money to run and hide, saying he's killed Nancy and the police are on their way. Sure enough, Sikes and Fagin see not only police arriving, but an angry mob as well. Fagin and the boys all flee, with Fagin getting his hidden treasure box first. Sikes runs off with Oliver. Fagin, going over a bridge, drops his treasures into the mud, where everything sinks to the bottom. Sikes threatens the mob with Oliver's life as he tries to escape. As he attempts to swing on a rope from one roof to another, Sikes is shot dead by the police. Fagin, meanwhile, decides he wants to change his ways and is about to leave the area reformed. Then the Dodger shows up with a wallet he stole earlier during the Sikes/mob situation. Fagin and the Dodger dance off together, happily determined to continue living their lives as thieves. Meanwhile, Oliver returns to the Brownlow home, now officially confirmed as a true member of the family.
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Oliver! had a cast with many names we're familiar with today, but at the time, most of them were up-and-comers relatively unknown to most. Ron Moody continues to make occasional television appearances and has had a great career, but he has one regret. He was offered, and turned down, the role as the Third Doctor in the Doctor Who television series. Mark Lester gained some recent fame due to his close friendship with singer Michael Jackson as he actually claimed that he could possibly have been the biological father of one of Michael's children, claims that were quickly disproved. Jack Wild continued to work as a child actor, most notably in the H.R. Pufnstuf series by Sid and Marty Krofft. Oliver Reed had just begun to make a big name for himself. Imagine this film with Dick Van Dyke or Peter Sellers or Peter O'Toole playing Fagin, and Elizabeth Taylor as Nancy. It could have happened if those actors all didn't turn down the roles, because they were all offered them. Director Carol Reed actually wanted to cast Shirley Bassey as Nancy, but the studios rejected that choice because they didn't think the public was ready in 1968 for Nancy, a white character in the novel and play, to be portrayed by an African-American.
The movie does not use every song from the Broadway play, but despite this, many critics felt the movie actually was superior to the play, which they already liked as it is. The singing throughout the film is very good, although I personally wasn't fond of Oliver's singing. We can't blame Mark for that though, because his voice was not liked by the producers, so all of his singing was dubbed over by Kathe Green, the daughter of the film's musical director John Green. Musicals were starting to die off in the 1960's, but several still were very successful, and Oliver! was surely one of them. Critics and audiences loved the film, and so did the Academy, bestowing upon it a huge 11 nominations. The film didn't win Lead Actor (Moody), Supporting Actor (Wild), Adapted Screenplay, Cinematography, Costume Design or Film Editing. However, it did score wins for Sound, Art/Set Direction, Musical Adaptation Score, Director (Carol Reed) and Best Picture. The latter win came over Funny Girl, The Lion in Winter, Romeo and Juliet and Rachel, Rachel. Oliver! also received a sixth Oscar, a special Honorary award for Onna White for her achievements in choreography in the film, which truly were very impressive.
In fact, Oliver! was pretty damn impressive overall. I really enjoyed it, and I wasn't sure that I would. The performances were all very well done and a lot of fun, especially those by Moody and Wallis, and Jack Wild seemed to really have his craft down at such a young age. The film didn't seem long, the songs were enjoyable, and I think the original Charles Dickens story was done a great justice by the adaptation into this musical version. After watching this, you may actually want to watch it again and sing along, but you won't have to say "Please, sir, I want some more" beforehand if you don't want to. Although it would be kinda funny.
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