Oliver Twist

David Lean, 1948, bw (8.6*)
Before epic director David Lean turned out massive adventures like Lawrence of Arabia, Doctor Zhivago, and The Bridge On the River Kwai, he made his mark by filming two excellent adaptations of Charles Dickens novels in classic black-and-white (like the books), albeit slightly abbreviated to fit the two-hour format. (Great Expectations is the other).

Using autobiographical information, Dickens made his third novel one of serious tragedy for an orphan boy, named Oliver Twist (John Howard Davies), who goes from an orphanage to being sold, to running away and joining a gang of street thieves. In the liveliest part of his story, the street urchins who pick pockets work for a man named Fagin, made famous here by Alec Guinness. The Artful Dodger (Anthony Newley) becomes his mentor. They actually treat young Oliver more like an equal, something he'd never had. He is befriended by Nancy (Kay Walsh), who has a domineering and vicious boyfriend in Billy Sykes (Robert Newton). That's the basic story, but there's obviously a lot more, especially in the Dickens novel, one of his best.

This was also successfully remade as a musical in 1967, as Oliver!, which won the best picture Oscar® and 4 others. If you want Hollywood entertainment, check out that version; if you want a faithful adaptation of Dickens, stick with David Lean.

Read more...

Summertime

David Lean, 1955 (8.6*)
Beautifully shot soap opera as American spinster Katharine Hepburn (at her most beautiful), while traveling in Venice, strikes up a romance with married Rossano Brazzi. There's nothing deep here, but Lean's direction makes eye candy of both the city and both stars. This is one of the best and most palatable romances ever put on film. Lean never allows the melodrama to go beyond credibility; I'm sure most viewers have had a travel romance similar to this one.

David Lean, who would later helm best picture (and director) winners Bridge On the River Kwai and
Lawrence of Arabia, was nominated for a best director Oscar®, and he won the NY Film Critics award for director. Hepburn was deservedly nominated for a best actress Oscar® in one of her most credible and touching performances. This is a romance that I can watch over and over, which is rare for this type of film.

Read more...

Lawrence of Arabia

David Lean, 1962 (10*)

Best Picture (AA, BAA, GG)

AFI and Time Mag Top 100

This lengthy and epic biopic of T.E. Lawrence, the man who liberated Arabia, inspired many modern filmmakers to become directors, notably Martin Scorsese, who said "it was the first film in which the hero was not a role model to be emulated." Indeed, it presents a complex and non-judgmental portrait of one of the most important figures in history, largely due to the intense performance of Peter O'Toole in his first starring role, at age 26.

The story and pace may start a little slow, but it expertly reveals a personal side to a major part of 20th century history. The panoramic cinematography and music are among the best in film, the entire project defines the word epic. It's easy to get lost in the vast landscape here, just as the desert swallows up individual lives.

If you want a man's film, this one has not a single woman in it! Some of the film may have some excessive masochistic violence, yet I'm sure it's even toned down relative to real war; much of the combat at that time was hand to hand.

The film deservedly won 7 Oscars® overall, including picture, director, screenplay, cinematography, editing, sound, music. Unfortunately, Peter O'Toole, in the role of a lifetime, lost to Gregory Peck in To Kill a Mockingbird.

O'toole, who spent two years in the desert making this film, said that he hoped he never saw the desert again in his lifetime. Ironically, after leaving after the war, neither did T.E. Lawrence.

Quote: Thank Allah that when he made you a fool he gave you a fool's face. (Anthony Quinn)
Quote: I have nothing; I am a river to my people. (Anthony Quinn)
Quote: War is for young men of courage and valor; keeping the peace is for old men with nothing else to do. (Alec Guinness)

Read more...

Doctor Zhivago

Dir: David Lean, 1965 (9.0*)

Best Picture (GG)

The same David Lean film crew that made The Bridge On the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia then filmed the Boris Pasternak novel of the era of the Russian Revolution. Omar Sharif plays the title role, a poetry writing doctor whose life takes two left turns during World War I, then the revolution, each time bringing him closer to nurse Julie Christie, while his faithful wife, Geraldine Chaplin (daughter of Charlie) remains at home in Moscow, with father Ralph Richardson. Christie's revolutionary boyfriend, Tom Courtenay, is also an intregral part of the love story, as is older suitor Rod Steiger.

Maurice Jarre's Oscar-winning music is haunting, the cinematography (Oscar®) artistic without being distracting. Perhaps a little soapy, but one of the world's great love stories. And it's still another archetypal epic from master director David Lean. This lost the best picture Oscar® to the sentimental and shallow crowd-pleasing The Sound of Music.

Read more...

The Bridge on the River Kwai

Dir: David Lean, 1957 (9.1*)
Best Picture (AA,BAA,GG)
AFI Top 100
One of the giant David Lean epics, and based on a true story, this one features a Japanese POW camp in Burma forcing British prisoners, brilliantly led by Alec Guinness in his Oscar winning role as Colonel Bogey, to build a bridge across a jungle river for Japanese troop trains. Sessue Hayakawa is also terrific as the Japanese camp commander, butting wills with Bogey throughout. William Holden leads a commando team back to the bridge for the film’s plot action. Giant in conception and execution as only Lean could pull off. 7 Oscars
Quote: Madness… madness…

Read more...