I have been accused of being a bit "wordy" in my writing. To that I commend the following quote:
"Your tale is of the longest," observed Monks, moving restlessly in his chair.
"It is a true tale of grief and trial, and sorrow, young man," returned Mr. Brownlow," as such tales usually are; if it were one of unmixed joy and happiness, it would be very brief."
A couple of weeks ago, Turner Classic Movies aired the 1968 production, "Oliver!" I'm not big on musicals, but this classic tale of young street roughs plying their trade of pocketpicking in Merry Olde Londontown, has always been a favorite.
How could it not be with the likes of characters such as The Artful Dodger; the capering Jew, Fagin; Nancy, the fallen angel with a heart of gold; the dastardly Bill Sikes; and his irascible bull terrier, Bull's Eye.
I had not seen the movie in years, but being shown uncut and commercial free, the time was ripe to watch it again. After thoroughly enjoying the talents of Ron Moody (Fagin), Mark Lester (Oliver), Jack Wild (Dodger), and Oliver Reed (Sikes), I was reminded of the crush, as a ten year old boy, I had on Shani Wallis as Nancy.
The movie, which garnered eleven nominations at the 41st Academy Awards in 1969, went on to win six, including Best Picture, and Best Director, and an Honorary Academy Award for Onna White "for her brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film."
The movie was based on the stage play, which, of course, was based on the book, Oliver Twist (1838), by Charles Dickens. The thought occurred to me that as much as I liked the movie, I had never read the original text, and vowed to remedy that omission by checking out the tome from my local library.
Dickens, as it turns out, was a very good writer. Considering it was penned in Victorian English prose, it was remarkably easy to read, charming and engaging, and very witty throughout. And as is usually the case, the book contained depth and detail not possible within the confines of a film.
Some of my favorite quotes are from "Oliver!," and it was interesting to note the comparisons of these quotes between movie and written word.
The quote that I opened this piece with was taken from the book, and did not appear in the movie at all (in fact, the character of Monks, who figured prominently in the plot of the book, was eliminated completely from the film).
Another favorite quote, is when Oliver is first brought to Fagin's den by the Dodger and is invited to join at table with the other boys under Fagin's gentle remonstrances. One of the boys remarks, "Fagin, this sausage is moldy," to which Fagin snaps back, "Shut up and drink your gin!" We never miss the opportunity to inject this into the conversation whenever we have brats, Italian, or Polish. Unfortunately, this quote cannot be attributed to Dickens.
One of my personal favorites is whenever my wife is about to leave the house for work, or to go shopping and run errands, I break into song:
"You can go, but be back soon. You can go, but while you're working, this place, I'm pacing round...until you're home, safe and sound. Cheerio, but be back soon. I dunno, somehow I'll miss you. I love you, that why I say, "Cheerio," not goodbye. Don't be gone long, but be back soon. Give me one long, last look and bless you. Remember our old tune - be back soon!"
Fortunately, I have the best singing voice in my family.
A brief line from the movie has always intrigued me. Oliver has been "bought" by the undertaker to do menial chores and walk behind the hearse of children's funerals. The older boy at the undertaker's delights in tormenting Oliver, and intentionally baits him by making disparaging comments about Oliver's deceased mother.
One of these remarks is, "What did she die of - shortage of breath?" This is what sets Oliver off as he pummels the bully, who although twice Oliver's size, has to call for help. I could find no online reference to the exact meaning or etymology of this phrase, but I always took it as a sexual reference since Oliver was born out of wedlock. This phrase again, is not in the book.
The final quote that I want to mention and that I always found very humorous, especially coming from a family of lawyers, was the exchange between Mr. Brownlow, Oliver's benefactor and Mr. Bumble, the parish beadle. Mr. Brownlow is chastising the beadle for having made no attempt to seek out any relations of Oliver's when his mother died giving him birth in the parish workhouse. Mr. Bumble tries to lay the blame upon his wife.
"That is no excuse," replied Mr. Brownlow. "You...indeed are the more guilty of the two, in the eye of the law; for the law supposes that your wife acts under your direction."
"If the law supposes that," said Mr. Bumble, squeezing his hat emphatically in both hands, "the law is a ass - a idiot. If that's the eye of the law, the law is a bachelor; and the worst I wish the law is, that his eye may be opened by experience - by experience," laying great stress on the repetition of these two words.
This quote, quite rightly, graces both page and screen.
This says more about me than Dickens, but I always wondered if there was an undercurrent of homosexuality between Fagin and his young charges, who he calls his "loves" and "dears." There is absolutely no substantiation to this effect in the text or in any scholarly review of the work.
Oliver Twist was written very early in Dickens' literary career, and his youthful exuberance clearly shines through. He takes delight in his emerging talent, and like all young cocks-of-the-walk, flexes his artistic muscles for all the world to see. Oliver Twist foreshadows the masterpieces he would conceive later in life, such as The Personal History of David Copperfield, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations.
That being said, however, Dickens falls into the trap of all young writers, one-dimensional characterization.
Fagin is a miser, Sikes is a villain, the Dodger is a miscreant, Nancy is a slave to her own heart, and the personality of the title character, Oliver, is almost non-existent. He is too good to be true, an innocent and unwitting victim of circumstances beyond his understanding.
The one truly developed character, if it can be called such, is London. Dickens takes great pains to paint us a portrait of the Great City from its luxurious townhouses to its festering slums, from its raucous marketplaces, to its most squalid dens of iniquity.
This dovetails nicely with the purpose of the book, to wit: to expose the injustice of English society's class system. We are introduced to the gentry, the men of means who carry out the business of the realm, those gainfully employed who serve them, the debased denizens of dark passages, and the wretched destitute who do not even have the ill-gotten gains of petty larceny to sustain them.
You will note that I used the term "purpose" of the book, not "theme." A theme is woven between the lines, and peeks out from behind the marks on the page. It is developed through plot and characterization. Here, Dickens clubs us over the head with it as surely as the club with which Sikes strikes Nancy down.
There are many similarities between the book and the movie, and also some major discrepancies. Both book and movie do an admirable job of showcasing the haves and the have-nots, although in this case, I tip my hat to the movie in the breathtaking "Consider Yourself" and "Who Will Buy" production numbers. The movie also portrays the lead roles as far more sympathetic than in the book.
For better or worse, the film version also cleans up the book's ending quite a bit. In the movie, Sikes is shot by a police officer as he attempts to swing by a rope from one rooftop to another, and his body hangs by the rope about his waist. In the book, Sikes slips of his own volition, and he is left hanging by the neck in ghastly detail.
The movie depicts Fagin and the Dodger, down but not out, walking together into the sunset. In the novel, the Artful Dodger is shipped off to a penal colony, and Fagin is led to the gallows, broken in mind and body.
After rediscovering the movie, and discovering the book for the first time, I was left with one thought: to humbly approach Mr. Dickens, arms outstretched, and say, "Please, sir, I want some more."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a6K9J4G6pgM (Be Back Soon)
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