MOVIES AT ROSEVILLE - 28 June 2025 - Oliver Twist (1922)

Black and white and colour toned silent drama, with live music accompaniment (Graeme Costin), 74 minutes.
Tickets: $25/$20  
General seating - not reserved or numbered
(T 0419 267 318)

Acclaimed silent era adaptation of Dickens’ novel featuring an excellent cast led by Jackie Coogan as Oliver and Lon Chaney as Fagin. In a faithful but highly condensed presentation of the iconic novel, this version followed four earlier ones, the first being an 1897 short.

Dickens’ works have sourced over 500 cinema adaptations with one already scheduled for 2026.

The production design and cinematography are first class and guided by the skilled director, Frank Lloyd, the film’s showcasing of Oliver’s quest for identity makes its ending unexpectedly moving for an audience, then and today. The novel and the film explore a child’s adventure in which terror is a constant shadow but both formats respect Oliver’s vulnerability and its significance.

Thought lost for decades, this adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic tale of the boy who asked for more has an all-star cast. This spectacular silent film gem was rediscovered in the 1970s, and stars the man of a thousand faces, Lon Chaney, as Fagin and the then wunderkind of 1920s Hollywood, Jackie Coogan (straight after his heart-rending debut in Chaplin’s The Kid), in the title role. The director aware of the young Coogan’s celebrated mimicry on full display in Chaplin’s film a few years before framed this Oliver beautifully and devises opportunities for him to display his pantomimic skill.

This classic silent drama influenced later presentations, including David Lean’s 1948 sound version as well as Carol Reed’s 1968 musical version, Oliver, winner of five Oscars.

Dickens and Shakespeare continue to offer treasure for mining by all media and performing arts’ formats across the centuries.

Get directions