Feb 28,1933
An orphan boy in 1830's London is abused in a workhouse, then falls into the clutches of a gang of thieves.
| nudity | Bill and Nancy obviously live together, and at one point, they seem about to make love. (This is a pre-Production Code era film, and censorship was not as strict then. True censorship in films began the following year, in 1934.) But no sex or nudity is actually shown in the film. |
| violence | Bill Sikes kills Nancy by beating her to death offscreen. In trying to escape, Bill accidentally hangs himself near the end of the movie. |
| alcohol | Fagin's boys drink and smoke. |
| frightening | The murder scene, although it isn't nearly as frightening as those in some later versions of the story, including the musical "Oliver!" Oliver's mother dies after giving birth at the beginning, but the actual death is not shown, and the scene in this early talking film is so overacted it is unintentionally funny. At one point, Oliver sees Fagin, Sikes, Nancy, and the Artful Dodger grinning in a faintly sinister way. Sikes' own death is also so badly done it is not frightening at all. Fagin is sentenced to be hanged at the end, and as he awaits execution, he begins to panic. The hanging is not shown. |
