Carol Reed (1) (1906–1976)

It’s very well done. The young Mark Lester makes a very believable Oliver with an amazing singing voice, and Jack Wild was perfectly cast as the Artful Dodger, Oliver’s new friend and lead amongst the young pickpockets. The songs go on, perhaps, a bit too long for today’s youngsters, and some of the general shots of scenes in London were rather slow; an editor today would, I’m sure, reduce the length by at least half an hour with no loss of plot or dialogue. But those are minor show more quibbles; it’s a classic film, and this kind of thing is to be expected.

What surprised me more was the level of violence in the film, something which, I feel, should have lifted the rating to at least PG, preferably 12. show less

An American in post-war Vienna tries to clear the name of his recently deceased friend.

An all-around damn good movie. Visually, it's as good as it gets.

It's my second time watching the movie, and I've had a complete reversal on my reaction to the music. It had seemed so completely wrong. It is wrong, for the first half of the movie - and by the time it starts to fit, I had already rejected it. But on the second viewing, the effect has changed so much it's like a different score. Watching show more that first half of the movie knowing that the title character is on his way - knowing the character and how Welles plays him - the score is absolutely perfect. It's hard to imagine the movie with a traditional mystery/crime score. It would still be a great movie that way, but... I don't know. Maybe Welles' performance wouldn't seem so great without that music to prepare you for him.

Concept: B
Story: B
Characters: A
Dialog: A
Pacing: A
Cinematography: A
Special effects/design: A
Acting: A
Music: A

Enjoyment: A

GPA: 3.8/4 show less

British Everyman vacuum cleaner salesman is enticed to become a spy in Cuba. He needs money you see to create a secure future for his head strong beautiful daughter. The more reports & agents the more money and so he begins to invent them, which is fine until these things start becoming true.

This is exactly the kind of English novel I dislike.. whereas Eric Ambler had the every-man spy thriller down pat, this is almost a farce. The Kafkaesque nature of spying is writ large but the plot is a show more tad obvious these days and there isn't anything else there. The characters fulfil their allotted rolls and no more, the Havana setting seems tame and banal compared to what I imagine it should be like at the time period (maybe because I read it in Cuba, I demanded more).

Not sure if I want to try anther Greene, this one just falls flat. show less

A film starring Ron Moody and Mark Lester (Columbia, 1968).

An orphan meets a gang of pickpocket children.

C (Indifferent).

I guess it's a well-made movie for what it is. Most of my complaints (and there are many) are with the stage musical they're filming.

(Mar. 2023)