Oliver!

My mother took me to see the film "Oliver" soon after it was released and it made a great impression on me. I came away sort of dazed. I remember my mother asking me which song I enjoyed most and I told her that obviously it was "Where is love?". Although in hindsight "Who will buy...?" is another tear-jerker.

And that is why, possibly, I have a fascination with curved terraces such as Regents Street, London and the Royal Crescent, Bath. We stopped in Bath on our recent trip to the UK and so, whilst Ali was buying beads, I ran across town (barefoot) and took the next two photos.

The Royal Crescent, Bath

Royal Crescent rear view

The building is quite deep - so I figure the rooms inside must be quite large. And the rear elevation is rather random with later additions, as can be seen from this aerial view I found. Posh facade and not so posh derriere.

Aerial view

So what was it in the film "Oliver" that moved me so much? That puts it in first place of all musicals I have seen. Perhaps I am incurably romantic? Perhaps I fell in love with Mark Lester's face? Perhaps I was moved by the music? Or perhaps the whole thing was just so well crafted from beginning (sepia photograph coming to life) to end (Fagin's adieu).

Some admiration for Mark Lester dissipates on hearing that he did not actually sing any of his songs! There were no film locations - the whole show was filmed in the studio. This link shows some of the "behind the scenes". And the following quote gives some sense of the epic nature of the production:

"This was to be more than "a big picture." The timelessness of its theme, its depth of story and character, its richness of song and dance, its evocation of an era, all demanded painstaking devotion, over a long production period. The original stage presentation had to be "opened up," so that the movie camera might do justice to its several hundred performers amid new colourful settings; and so that 110 musicians, and scores of singers, and the magic of sound engineering might give new dimensions to its music. But it had to be expanded by the addition of far more dancing than the limited confines of the stage had permitted.

"A crew of 350 built the astonishing sets, and symbolic of their scope may be these random examples of the materials used: 110 tons of scaffolding; 10 tons of nails and screws: 1000 cobblestone slabs to recreate roadways of  long ago; 1000 gallons of mixed paints. But cold statistics can convey no sense of the warmth, dedication and "heart" of the vivid life and crowded panorama which so many talents joined forces to create."