Silent Film Sources - Reviews

Photographed by Glen MacWilliams and Robert Martin. Lighting Effects by Louis Johnson. Settings by Stephen Goosson. Costumer Walter J. Israel. 

By Charles Dickens. Adapted by Frank Lloyd and Harry Well. A FIRST NATIONAL PICTURE. Jackie Coogan Production.  

WITH AN ALL-STAR CAST. Directed by Frank Lloyd. 
 
  

Credits. 

The famous 1837 story involves a orphaned runaway separated from his wealthy family. On the road, he meets a pickpocket who enrolls him in a family of juvenile thieves led by their "teacher," Fagin.  When the gang tries to take advantage of Oliver's family, it leads to murder and public exposure of the childrens' exploitation. 

Lloyd takes advantage of Jackie Coogan's energy by including more slapstick and roughhousing than in later versions -- even more than in the musical, "Oliver!"  This never feels out of place because of the realistic staging and because this is a silent movie. 

Tiny Coogan is a tremendously physical performer.  He has an agile and expressive little body that he doesn't hesitate to throw into the proceedings -- literally.  The boy and his handlers really knew how to make his size work for him.  "Diminutive" doesn't do justice to Coogan's stature -- he seems about the size of a large insect or a small bird.  That so much energy and life force could emerge from such a teeny source is consistently hilarious. 

Lon Chaney is the weakest link here.  He gives a busy but hollow performance as Fagin.  Chaney wears a down-pointed nose, long scraggly beard (with too distinct an application line) wonderfully rotten teeth and eyebrows like flying buttresses. His performance is a collection of gimmicks without an emotional core.  He uses a stooped walk (not unlike Shadows but with less call) greedy, grasping arms and hyperactive facial contortions.  He's too frequently over the top.  And when at rest, you feel there's no one at home.  Sitting in his condemned jail cell at the end, he's basically a vacuum.  Chaney is even less charismatic than usual -- Coogan upstages him.  And when Oliver is restored to his family, the film slows down and loses its human interest.  The focus shifts to the villains, and the kid makes them all look a pint low.  This isn't a serious liability in a vehicle for a child star.  But in a consideration of moral evil where the bad guys are half the show, it's probably not what you want.  Anyway, it's a tribute to the nipper's charisma that he makes innocence and goodness more entertaining than evil and violence, at least for once. 

Lloyd continued making movies on into the Fifties, winning an Oscar in 1933 for Noel Coward's Titanic-themed Cavalcade.  He gets a lot of atmosphere and color from the generous $400,000 budget.  Dickens' sense of social evil is conveyed by the realistically squalid and grimy sets.  And the story's most violent moment is no less shocking for occurring offstage (as in "Oliver!")  Lloyd goes easy on the social criticism (especially compared with Lean's film).  But then Coogan is such a fearless little pistol that it isn't always easy to take him seriously as an oppressed child.  Lloyd strikes an admirable balance between the integrity of source's social concerns and the imperative for jolly entertainment. 

Oliver Twist was considered a lost film until 1972 when a print without titles was found in Yugoslavia.  Both the producer, Sol Lesser and Jackie Coogan worked with Blackhawk Films to create new titles.  This version was premiered at Filmex in 1975 with Coogan and Lesser in attendance, and is now available from Kino on Video. (Review © 1998 Christopher Clotworthy)