Oliver Twist is a lost 1916 silent film drama produced by Jesse L. Lasky and distributed by Paramount Pictures. It was directed by James Young. It is based on the famous 1838 novel, Oliver Twist, by Charles Dickens and the 1912 Broadway stage version of the novel.
Marie Doro had played Oliver on Broadway in 1912 to much acclaim and was brought in by Lasky to reprise her role in this film. In fact, the main reason this film was made was to showcase Doro rather than Dickens. In the play, the parts of Nancy, Fagin and Bill Sykes were played by Constance Collier, Nat C. Goodwin and Lyn Harding respectively. Elsie Jane Wilson who had a supporting part in the play is Nancy in the film. Wilson and Doro are the only players from the play to appear in this film.
Four film versions had been made prior to this film: in 1907, 1909 and two in 1912, the year of Doro's stage success. A later 1922 silent version starred Lon Chaney and Jackie Coogan.Oliver Twist at silentera.comThe American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1911-20 by The American Film Institute, c.1988Oliver Twist as produced on Broadway at both the New Amsterdam and Empire Theatres, February 26, 1912 to May 1912; IBDb.com
Plot summary
Cast Marie Doro - Oliver Twist Tully Marshall - Fagin Hobart Bosworth - Bill Sykes Raymond Hatton - Jack Hawkins, "The Artful Dodger" James Neill - Mr. Brownlow Edythe Chapman - Mrs. Brownlow Elsie Jane Wilson - Nancy Harry Rattenbury - Mr. Bumble Carl Stockdale - Monks W. S. Van Dyke - Charles Dickens
References
External links
Still from the film at Getty Images