The 1933 Oliver Twist is a rough, quick ride

Is it worth your time?

If you have a thing for pre-code cinema or just really like Dickens, maybe. If you want a polished, big-budget period piece, stay far away. It’s got that jittery, low-budget feel where the sets look like they might tip over if a breeze hits them. Honestly, it’s mostly for people who enjoy seeing how stories were adapted before everything became so sterile and CGI-heavy.

Dickie Moore is the kid here. He has this wide-eyed, slightly terrified look that honestly sells the whole 'orphaned in a giant city' thing better than a bunch of dialogue ever could. He doesn't say much, he just stares at the grime. It works.

The pacing is… well, it’s fast. Maybe too fast. It feels like the director was trying to race the clock to get to the next scene before the film ran out. You barely get a second to breathe in the workhouse before you’re dodging pickpockets in London.

Cinematic perspective: Exploring the visual vocabulary of Oliver Twist (1933) through its definitive frames.

Odd little things I noticed

• The lighting in the hideout is incredibly moody, almost like a noir film that got lost in the wrong century.
• There is a moment where Fagin is counting coins that lasts just a few seconds too long, making the whole thing feel strangely voyeuristic.
• The extras in the background look like they wandered in from the set of The Deemster and forgot to change their clothes.
• The audio crackles in a way that actually adds to the atmosphere, rather than distracting from it. It sounds like the city itself is coughing.

I found myself thinking about Conductor 1492 while watching this, mainly because of how they both try to squeeze so much character into such a tiny window of time. It’s not elegant. It’s just blunt.

The dialogue is thick and sometimes you have to lean in to catch it, but that might just be the age of the print. Sometimes, less is more. Or maybe the sound mixer was just having a bad day. I don’t know. Either way, it adds a layer of mystery to the villainous characters that I actually kind of liked.

It’s not a masterpiece. It’s just a scrappy, grimy little movie that gets the job done without asking for a round of applause. Sometimes that’s exactly what you need on a Tuesday night. 🎞️