Oliver Twist

David Lean's second Dickens adaptation, perhaps marginally less beguiling than Great Expectations, but still a moving and enjoyable account of Dickens' masterpiece, which gets off to a memorable start with Oliver's pregnant mother battling through the storm to reach the safety of the workhouse. The film tellingly recreates the horrors of Victorian slum life (the attractive if artificial sets atmospherically lit and shot by Guy Green), and is particularly noteworthy for Guinness' striking Fagin.