Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

6. Child's Play: Oliver Twist

The฀Peak฀Years฀in฀Britain 124 and฀to฀his฀eventual฀flight฀to฀London,฀where฀he฀comes฀under฀the฀tutelage฀of฀ the฀old฀scoundrel฀Fagin฀and฀his฀gang฀of฀young฀thieves.฀Oliver฀is฀temporarily฀ rescued฀from฀a฀life฀of฀crime฀by฀the฀kindly฀Mr.฀Brownlow,฀but฀he฀is฀soon฀kidnapped ฀by฀Fagin’s฀cohorts,฀Bill฀Sikes฀and฀Nancy,฀Bill’s฀mistress,฀and฀returned฀ to฀the฀gang. As฀the฀novel฀goes฀on,฀Nancy฀is฀killed฀by฀Sikes฀when฀he฀thinks฀she฀has฀ betrayed฀him฀and฀the฀gang฀to฀the฀authorities.฀Sikes฀himself฀dies฀while฀trying฀ to฀escape฀from฀a฀police฀manhunt,฀and฀Fagin฀ends฀up฀on฀the฀gallows.฀Oliver,฀ however,฀is฀ultimately฀restored฀to฀Mr.฀Brownlow. Dickens,฀who฀was฀only฀twenty-five฀when฀he฀wrote฀Oliver฀Twist,฀indicated ฀in฀the฀preface฀to฀the฀novel฀that,฀when฀it฀was฀serialized฀in฀the฀London฀ magazine฀Bentley’s฀Miscellany฀in฀1837–38,฀many฀readers฀found฀it฀“coarse฀ and฀shocking.”฀This฀was฀because฀some฀of฀the฀characters฀had฀been฀chosen,฀as฀ he฀said,฀“from฀the฀most฀criminal฀and฀degraded฀of฀the฀London฀population”:฀ “Sikes฀is฀a฀thug,฀Fagin฀a฀receiver฀of฀stolen฀goods,฀and฀the฀girl฀Nancy฀is฀a฀ prostitute.”฀He฀continued:฀“It฀appeared฀to฀me฀that฀to฀draw฀a฀knot฀of฀such฀ associates฀in฀crime฀as฀really฀do฀exist;฀to฀paint฀them฀in฀all฀their฀wretchedness,฀ .฀.฀.฀forever฀skulking฀uneasily฀through฀the฀dirtiest฀paths฀of฀life,฀with฀the฀great,฀ black,฀ghastly฀gallows฀closing฀up฀their฀prospects,฀turn฀where฀they฀may—it฀ appeared฀to฀me฀that฀to฀do฀this฀would฀be฀a฀service฀to฀society.”3 The฀readers฀of฀Bentley’s฀were฀startled฀to฀find฀Fagin฀schooling฀innocent฀ boys฀as฀pickpockets฀and฀rewarding฀them฀for฀their฀efforts฀with฀swigs฀of฀gin.฀ Some฀commentators฀reacted฀in฀a฀similar฀fashion฀after฀the฀novel฀was฀published฀ in฀volume฀form฀in฀1838,฀finding฀it฀a฀depressing฀work;฀others,฀however,฀thought฀ that฀the฀sordidness฀of฀the฀tale฀conferred฀a฀touch฀of฀honesty฀on฀it. Oliver฀Twist฀went฀on฀to฀become฀one฀of฀Dickens’s฀most฀perennially฀popular ฀works.฀In฀fact,฀in฀later฀life,฀when฀he฀gave฀public฀readings฀from฀his฀fiction,฀ audiences฀were฀mesmerized฀by฀his฀rendition฀of฀the฀horrible฀murder฀of฀Nancy.฀ After฀one฀performance฀he฀wrote,฀“We฀had฀a฀contagion฀of฀fainting.฀I฀should฀ think฀we฀had฀a฀dozen฀to฀twenty฀ladies฀taken฀out฀stiff฀and฀rigid฀at฀various฀ times!”4 As฀he฀did฀with฀Great฀Expectations,฀Lean฀read฀Oliver฀Twist฀twice฀over,฀in฀ order฀to฀come฀to฀grips฀with฀the฀plot,฀before฀attempting฀a฀screenplay.฀He฀was฀ more฀convinced฀than฀ever฀that฀Eisenstein฀was฀correct฀in฀maintaining฀that฀ Dickens฀had฀an฀affinity฀for฀the฀screen฀(see฀chapter฀5).฀Recall฀that,฀as฀Anderegg฀ puts฀it,฀Eisenstein฀analyzed฀the฀influence฀of฀Dickens’s฀narrative฀technique฀ “on฀D.฀W.฀Griffith฀and฀on฀the฀development฀of฀film฀narrative฀in฀general.”5 ฀As฀ a฀matter฀of฀fact,฀he฀pointed฀out฀that฀Griffith฀developed฀the฀concept฀of฀crosscutting ฀from฀Dickens’s฀novels. LeanChap06B.indd 124 9/21/06 2:55:25 PM Child’s฀Play 125 Eisenstein฀found฀Dickens฀a฀master฀of฀crosscutting,฀that฀is,฀depicting฀“the฀ progression฀of฀parallel฀scenes,฀intercut฀with฀each฀other.”6 ฀To฀be฀specific,฀Dickens฀ switches฀back฀and฀forth฀from฀one฀area฀of฀action฀to฀another฀in฀order฀to฀portray ฀parallel฀incidents.฀By฀the฀same฀token,฀Griffith฀employed฀crosscutting฀by฀ interweaving฀shots฀of฀scenes฀taking฀place฀simultaneously฀in฀two฀different฀ locations,฀in฀order฀to฀keep฀the฀audience฀abreast฀of฀what฀was฀transpiring฀in฀ both฀places. To฀exemplify฀crosscutting฀in฀Oliver฀Twist,฀Eisenstein฀uses฀the฀episode฀ that฀shows฀in฀alternating฀blocks฀of฀narration฀how฀Mr.฀Brownlow฀waits฀for฀ Oliver฀to฀return฀while฀Oliver฀is฀captured฀and฀taken฀back฀to฀Fagin.฀Eisenstein฀ writes,฀“Mr.฀Brownlow฀shows฀his฀faith฀in฀Oliver,฀in฀spite฀of฀the฀lad’s฀reputation ฀as฀a฀pickpocket,฀by฀sending฀him฀to฀return฀books฀to฀the฀bookseller.”฀He฀ also฀gives฀him฀£5฀to฀pay฀his฀bill.฀“Oliver฀again฀falls฀into฀the฀clutches฀of฀the฀ thief฀Bill฀Sikes,฀his฀sweetheart฀Nancy,฀and฀old฀Fagin.”7 ฀Eisenstein฀emphasizes ฀ how฀ Dickens฀ shifts฀ back฀ and฀ forth฀ between฀ Brownlow฀ waiting฀ for฀ Oliver฀and฀Oliver฀being฀snatched฀by฀Bill฀Sikes฀and฀Nancy฀and฀taken฀back฀to฀ Fagin’s฀lair.8 ฀It฀goes฀without฀saying฀that,฀in฀the฀script,฀Lean฀followed฀Dickens’s฀ lead฀in฀crosscutting฀between฀the฀same฀two฀scenes. Filmmakers฀before฀Lean฀had฀been฀attracted฀to฀Oliver฀Twist฀because฀of฀its฀ larger-than-life฀characters฀and฀its...