Oliver Twist

Drama, Family
USA  /  English

It is Oliver Twist’s (Barney Clark) ninth birthday. Where boys in better circumstances would get a gift Oliver is dispatched to a workhouse. This is a cruel step down from the unpleasant orphanage he has called home his whole life. At the workhouse Oliver is tricked by the other boys into asking for a second helping. His act is interpreted as defiance and for his sins Oliver is loaned out to a cruel undertaker from whose establishment he flees. After an exhausting seven day walk Oliver reaches London where he runs across the delightfully skilled pickpocket the Artful Dodger (Harry Eden). The Dodger works for Fagin (Ben Kingsley), an elderly crook who trains young boys to steal for him. Oliver is welcomed into the gang and promptly put to work. He shows little aptitude for the job and is caught by his wealthy victim, Mr. Brownlow (Edward Hardwicke). Mr. Brownlow takes pity on Oliver and invites him home. But Fagin doesn’t want to let Oliver slip out of his grasp and sends his henchman Bill Sykes (Jamie Foreman) to kidnap Oliver and steal the elegant treasures of the Brownlow house.