tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post1223724690400989632..comments2024-03-26T05:01:57.793-07:00Comments on DREAMS ARE WHAT LE CINEMA IS FOR...: OLIVER! 1968Ken Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comBlogger86125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-46022709435856625712023-11-26T02:41:39.304-08:002023-11-26T02:41:39.304-08:00I completely agree. Time has turned such widely pa...I completely agree. Time has turned such widely panned flops as "Hello, Dolly!" and "Camelot" into revisionist classics. <br />And that's a perceptive take; noting the lack of fantasy as a possible hindrance to it's wider embracement as a "fun" family film. And, yes, I'd count "Scrooge" as a fantasy!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-39340071837462048762023-11-25T14:34:30.077-08:002023-11-25T14:34:30.077-08:00I meant four (do we count Scrooge as fantasy?).I meant four (do we count Scrooge as fantasy?).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-83161686905597501252023-11-25T02:01:22.967-08:002023-11-25T02:01:22.967-08:00I genuinely think Oliver! has actually been embrac...I genuinely think Oliver! has actually been embraced by the same cloak of nostalgia that redeemed Wonka, Bedknobs, Chitty and Scrooge in so much as its one of those movies that seems to be shown around Christmas time (despite not being set around Christmas). Its just that Oliver! is possibly a harder sell due to the lack of fantasy elements that the other three have (it has no flying cars, no oompa loompas, no ghosts, no crazy animal football matches). Fiddler on the Roof is another of these serious musicals.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-55581549326332519502023-08-06T17:21:35.799-07:002023-08-06T17:21:35.799-07:00Hello John – Your comments have me thinking I need...Hello John – Your comments have me thinking I need to revisit OLIVER! soon. It’s been quite some time. Your citing of the things you enjoy and other things somewhat less so reminds me of how musicals have a way of offering a la carte pleasures. Many a musical endures for me because I can enjoy specific stand-alone musical sequences and songs, independent of what I might otherwise feel about the whole.<br /><br />I confess to never having seen David Lean’s OLIVER TWIST, at least not all the way through. From what I saw I’ve no doubt it’s perhaps the definitive translation of Dickens’ story, but try as I might, I found Guiness’ Fagin makeup too grotesque to make it past the first half hour. I’m sure I’m missing a great deal, but every time he appeared, I just kept wanting to avert my eyes.<br /><br />The Polanski version is competent and professional, and that’s about all that can be said of it. <br /><br />It’s curious there hasn’t been a major revival of OLIVER! on Broadway. As you say, it’s probably the expense. Or worse, NEWSIES has replaced it!<br />Thanks so much for contributing and visiting this post, John!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-40076755016678694572023-08-03T10:54:19.326-07:002023-08-03T10:54:19.326-07:00Though not big on musicals, I've always enjoye...Though not big on musicals, I've always enjoyed this film. "Who Will Buy" is just an eye-boggling spectacle, and Shani Wallis (otherwise unknown to me, as was her big song) is very affecting. Only the ending, with Fagin dancing into the sunrise, struck me as excessively cute.<br /><br />But I'm surprised to find no love here for the David Lean version. It has more Dickensian grit, more of Lean's brilliant editing (More? More! More!!), and a comparably dangerous Bill Sikes. The murder, shown to us effectively through the eyes of Bill's terrified dog, is peerless cinema. <br /> I've not seen the Polanski version, which seemed unnecessary at the time and evidently has attracted no admiration here. <br /><br />I don't think "Oliver!!" has ever been revived on Broadway. Too expensive, for one thing. John Fitzpatrickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10543705787191424954noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-30546340828435881752021-06-23T22:20:29.221-07:002021-06-23T22:20:29.221-07:00Hi Kip
That is such a fascinating and TRUE observa...Hi Kip<br />That is such a fascinating and TRUE observation. My partner and I used to go to a lot of Equity-waiver and community theater, especially musicals. And one of the things (among many) that always stood out with these shows is how you could tell that performers learned how to interpret a show's song from listening to the cast album. Down to inflections, pauses, and cadences. This was always made doubly evident when we'd see professional companies and find the song interpretation and delivery to be unique (sometimes startlingly so) from the records I was familiar with.<br />But the curse of the "definitive" performance extends to choreography as well. Many's the time I was tasked with doing a number from West Side Story, Sweet Charity, or Bye Bye Birdie, and I found myself unintentionally recreating the iconic moves I grew up seeing.<br /><br />Nothing wrong with that, ask I'm sure you found from your performances and how they were received, but you thoughtful observation does point to the indelible imprint some performances can make. Ron Moody's Fagin is locked down.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-10832698199578467532021-06-22T21:14:48.086-07:002021-06-22T21:14:48.086-07:00In my long, mostly unremarkable career as an actor...In my long, mostly unremarkable career as an actor in high school, college and community theatre, I had two big successes. As a sophomore in high school, I beat out all the seniors for the role of Henry Higgins in MY FAIR LADY, and in my late thirties, I played Fagin in the Ivoryton Playhouse Production of OLIVER!<br /><br />When I played Higgins, I spent literally months before the audition listening to Rex Harrison on the original Broadway Cast Album and read and re-read the play a dozen times. The senior who was expected to get the role never knew what hit him. (I actually got a standing ovation. At the audition.) Hilariously, in her review of the show for our town newspaper, the local critic said one of the things she really loved about my performance was that I wasn't trying to imitate Rex Harrison!<br /><br />When I played Fagin I did the opposite. I didn't listen to the cast album or watch the movie, even though I loved it as a kid. And yet when I watched it a few weeks after our show ended, it seemed as if I had mimicked all of Ron Moody's songs and line readings! Had his performance stayed with me all those years?<br /><br />I think that's the power of movies. You can't unsee a "definitive" performance. Which is why no Blanche DuBois totally escapes Vivien Leigh. Ditto Elizabeth Taylor as Martha or Yul Brynner as the King of Siam (even if the movie itself sucks.)Kipnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-84511473692724005842020-06-27T06:19:30.690-07:002020-06-27T06:19:30.690-07:00I have that book, and its a wealth of fascinating ...I have that book, and its a wealth of fascinating information for anyone interested not only in musicals, but Hollywood during a major period of transition. Glad you made reference to it for readers unfamiliar with the title.Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-53328947455782136052020-06-26T13:42:59.755-07:002020-06-26T13:42:59.755-07:00There is an interesting story that goes with that,...There is an interesting story that goes with that, Oliver! and Chitty were both filmed next door to one another at Shepperton studios. <br /><br />Apparently according to one of the backing dancers working on Chitty, Oliver! was designed to be a financial and critical flop ala The Producers. Rehearsals overran which caused the budget to inflate big time (the Consider Yourself number alone was rehearsed for nearly an entire month). By contrast the people working on Chitty were expected to be the big winners as both a money maker and Oscar darling. History tells us of course that the opposite happened.<br /><br />There a book written by Mathew Kennedy called Roadshow! The Fall of Musicals in the 1960s that you may be interested in.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-19150083387886741272020-06-23T11:48:05.607-07:002020-06-23T11:48:05.607-07:00So true. The times were so tumultuous and fast-mov...So true. The times were so tumultuous and fast-moving that a film that went into development in 1966 could come off as hopelessly out-of-touch by the time it was released. <br />The late '60s saw the release of many films reflective of a public taste that was no longer relevant (case in point: the Sea-Star Island scenes in the monumentally expensive DOCTOR DOLITTLE were offensively cringe-worthy and tone-deaf in the Black Power late-'60s). <br />Yet, as still remains the case, there are at least two different America's in existence at any given time, thus, an old-fashioned movie like OLIVER was able to find success amongst a demographic hungry for escapism and weary of the cynicism of "New Hollywood" reality.<br />Excellent point and contextual perspective you introduced. Thanks very much for commenting!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-88441382887243585612020-06-23T05:31:16.144-07:002020-06-23T05:31:16.144-07:00T think Oliver! was considered problematic at the ...T think Oliver! was considered problematic at the time because it came out a year after "New Hollywood" broke into mainstream. During this period movies got more cynical and daring as a result of the collapse of the Hays Code, it got to the point that by 1967 musicals and historical dramas that were given the "Roadshow" treatment started to look antiquated. In other words while the likes of Oliver! and Funny Girl were in production, movies like The Graduate (which won the Best Film BAFTA over Oliver!), Bonnie & Clyde, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf and Easy Rider were revolutionising cinema. <br /><br />There were two other reasons why the cheery happy family musicals were considered irrelevent to the times; The Vietnam War was spiralling out of control and the nation was flooded by race riots. <br /><br />An example would be Doctor Dolittle, a musical hoping to be the next My Fair Lady, which came out the same year as The Graduate. Old Hollywood vs New Hollywood at the Academy Awards, both lose to a drama with a race relations angle, In the Heat of the Night.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-36031607002129063632014-12-07T13:31:59.387-08:002014-12-07T13:31:59.387-08:00It will be interesting to see what happens in 2018...It will be interesting to see what happens in 2018. That will be the 50th anniversary of Oliver!<br /><br />When Oliver! had it's 40th anniversary hardly anyone commemorated it because we all spent too much time going crazy over Mamma Mia! especially with Pierce Brosnan's awful singing. Maybe the executives should have dubbed him.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-30434152567300419682014-10-29T12:44:31.652-07:002014-10-29T12:44:31.652-07:00It's a shame that musicals often get the preju...It's a shame that musicals often get the prejudice that happens when they get Best Picture nominations and wins. Thanks to that prejudice there was a long gap between Oliver!'s win and that of Chicago. <br /><br />If i was to predict the next possible musical Best Picture winner it would be an odd choice but if Harvey Weinstein buys the rights to the US release and distribution of Sunshine on Leith (he was the man who got Chicago toppeling The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers), that might be a wildcard contender. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-72492985456679725962014-10-18T14:06:11.861-07:002014-10-18T14:06:11.861-07:00Kath Green dubbing Mark Lester actually isn't ...Kath Green dubbing Mark Lester actually isn't out of the ordinary for musical movies. <br /><br />Back in the 60s it was done all the time usually for male leads. More recently, in the early 90s, Danny Elfman provided the singing voice for Jack Skellington in The Nightmare Before Christmas while his normal dialogue was spoken by Chris Sarandon of Princess Bride fame.<br /><br />The problem we have now of course is that people are cast in musicals despite the fact they can't sing to save their voices. Richard Gere from Chicago, Colin Firth, Stellan Skarsgard and Pierce Brosnan from Mamma Mia (Pierce of course sounding like a dying buffalo when murdering SOS), Russell Crowe from Les Miserables and to a lesser extent the grizzly sounding Peter Mullan from Sunshine on Leith (singing like Tom Waits with a cold). <br /><br />I guess the crew behind Oliver! decided not to let Oliver Reed sing in case he did what we now know as doing a Pierce Brosnan.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-57674061222617079852014-10-17T09:59:24.873-07:002014-10-17T09:59:24.873-07:00I rekon that some people find Oliver! a turn off i...I rekon that some people find Oliver! a turn off is that the plot is a little more complex than your average musical film as opposed to for example Mamma Mia! which has the wafer thin daft plot of a bride-to-be trying to find her father before the wedding. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-589681979797966272014-10-05T11:28:16.546-07:002014-10-05T11:28:16.546-07:00So you get emotional during I'd Do Anything. ...So you get emotional during I'd Do Anything. That's a new one I remember all this talk about people shedding tears during the Slipping Through my Fingers number in Mamma Mia! <br /><br />More recently we Brits had Sunshine on Leith in which Jane Horracks does a heartfelt rendition of the title song. Also the way that I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles) is played out people started getting tears of joy. Look it up on Youtube and you'll see the simmilarities between the way 500 Miles is executed to I'd Do Anything.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-70012962092091553962014-10-05T11:05:38.785-07:002014-10-05T11:05:38.785-07:00I have a theory that if Oliver! did't win Best...I have a theory that if Oliver! did't win Best Picture during it's year (which back then was expected to be a 2 way duel between The Lion in Winter and Funny Girl), it may have ended up in that cloak of nostalgia that redeemed Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Bedknobs & Broomsticks, Scrooge, Cabaret and Grease among others.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-57582853772850528402014-09-30T11:21:48.288-07:002014-09-30T11:21:48.288-07:00Of course Chicago then gave birth to various movie...Of course Chicago then gave birth to various movie adaptations of stage shows, including Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (Johnny Depp as the revenge seeking barber) , Dreamgirls, Hairspray, Les Miserables (aka the Anne Hathaway show), Sunshine on Leith (giving The Proclaimers' songs a Mamma Mia makeover) and the biggest of them all Mamma Mia! (Meryl Streep being a Chiquitita/Dancing Queen alongside 3 potential Men After Midnight) In addition to those adaptations we also had Enchanted (Amy Adams as a Cinderella-esque princess).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-63969069210423211922014-09-28T19:23:57.815-07:002014-09-28T19:23:57.815-07:00You're right in musicals never really being de...You're right in musicals never really being deemed "worthy" of Oscars unless they are huge prestige products for a studio (like My Fair Lady), and even then most people think drama trumps music. Your "Chicago" reference is a perfect correlative to "Oliver!" ...I don't think history is going to be kind to it, but it rejuvenated Hollywood interest in musicals, and for my taste, is one of the more successful stage-to-screen adaptations I've seen. (I never saw Lord of the Rings, so i'm allowing that I might be missing something special - although I kind of doubt it).<br />Thanks for your thoughtful comment!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-60465686482053532372014-09-26T15:12:48.814-07:002014-09-26T15:12:48.814-07:00I remember a lot of people dismissing Oliver! in t...I remember a lot of people dismissing Oliver! in terms of Best Picture winners. As far as I'm aware musicals have always had that prejudice. <br /><br />Even Chicago fell into that trap when it toppled (to parden the pun) The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (a possible allegory of 9/11 with Orthanc and Baradur representing the World Trade Centre). <br /><br />According to most fanboys "one contained one of the most epic battle scenes captured on film (the battle of Helm's Deep) and the other featured songs like The Cell Block Tango and All That Jazz"Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-60153676436949521102014-08-12T04:34:59.888-07:002014-08-12T04:34:59.888-07:00One thing i've noticed is that it seems that m...One thing i've noticed is that it seems that most of the heartfelt musicals seem to be set in Britain as opposed to the OTT splashiness of US set musicals like Grease and the blatent advertising of European holiday resorts like Mamma Mia. <br /><br />Wether it's set in London (Oliver!) or Edinburgh (Sunshine on Leith) UK set musicals seem to get individuals to, as you put it Ken, get waterworks.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-26728060586151250442014-07-23T01:53:06.865-07:002014-07-23T01:53:06.865-07:00So I'd Do Anything make you cry does it Tanya....So I'd Do Anything make you cry does it Tanya. <br /><br />Well the movie adaptation of Sunshine on Leith may give you those same waterworks during the first half of I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles). It's performed as an I'd Do Anythingesque ballad. <br /><br />Type in 500 miles Sunshine on Leith on Youtube and you'll see what I mean when I say the first half is like a ballad.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-65728700387747268072014-07-20T13:32:29.073-07:002014-07-20T13:32:29.073-07:00Don't worry Joel. Sunshine on Leith will brigh...Don't worry Joel. Sunshine on Leith will brighten you up (Think Mamma Mia but more heartwarming and without the A-Listers making asses of themselves). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-17792279680770439182014-07-20T03:37:11.138-07:002014-07-20T03:37:11.138-07:00You are indeed right about the easy-buck trend of ...You are indeed right about the easy-buck trend of jukebox musicals these days. Either that or seizing upon a film (Saturday Night Fever, Singing in the Rain, Mary Poppins) and clumsily converting it into a stage production.<br />As a rule I don't care for the lazy nostalgia of jukebox musicals, but since I'm very unfamiliar with the music of The Proclaimers (Ok, I know one song), perhaps "Sunshine on Leith" might be worth a look. I've never heard of it, but I just checked out the trailer and it looks promising. Thanks for the tip!Ken Andersonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04940648971296673233noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2627032459273165000.post-77713774935180468152014-07-18T09:27:42.090-07:002014-07-18T09:27:42.090-07:00It seems that the big musical trend at the moment ...It seems that the big musical trend at the moment is the rising number of jukebox musicals heading to the big screen. <br /><br />Started by the God-awful Mamma Mia there have been jukebox musicals here there and everywhere including Pitch Perfect, Sunshine on Leith (doing for The Proclaimers what Mamma Mia did for ABBA) and Walking on Sunshine (a compilation of 80s pop hits set in a summery Italian holiday resort). <br /><br />The only one of those that had the same heart as Oliver! was Sunshine on Leith (mainly bacause everyone in SOL could at least sing unlike Mamma Mia's Pierce Brosnan). Mamma Mia and Walking on Sunshine were just long adverts for sunny exotic holiday spots in Greece (Mamma Mia) and Italy (Walking on Sunshine), and Pitch Perfect just wanted to be Glee. <br /><br />I rekon you might like Sunshine on LeithAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com