The little boy who played Oliver was so cute
He was so adorable in this movie, very sweet little boy!
shareVery cute and pretty child, but not that talented. He had no rhythm what so ever (watch him in "Consider Yourself" and "Be Back Soon"...Jack Wild drags him thru the numbers)and could not sing either (his voice was dubbed). Chosen because he looked so angelic I suppose....
shareI disagree with TooSlim, Carol Reed chose Mark Lester because in his words, "it didn't matter that Mark wasn't trained as a singer or a dancer - the important thing was that he "looked right" for the part.
Mark had that extraordinarily tragic, puzzled and hurt look of a boy who is thrown into increasingly frightening situations in the film."
http://cliffcarson.com
I always assumed that Oliver was meant to be clumsy and uncoordinated in those scenes. The Dodger knew his way around the town, how to steal things and get away with it and so forth, and Oliver had spent his whole life in the workhouse. It would look really fake and stage-ish if Oliver was smooth and graceful.
shareIt would look really fake and stage-ish if Oliver was smooth and graceful.
But even simple rhythmic movements were beyond Mark Lester. It makes sense that Oliver looks like an out-of-place stranger in London, but even out-of-place strangers can be physically coordinated. Lester, on the other hand, could barely put one foot in front of the other when a musical sequence had to be filmed. Johnny Green, the film's musical director, stated in 1988 that Lester was "tone deaf and arrhythmic"
Too Slim is actually quite right. Mark Lester was hired because he had the innocent and angelic look the role required; he certainly wasn't hired for his musical abilities, because they were non-existent. Carol Reed knew Lester had limitations and, for the most part, was able to shoot around them. But if you watch any number he's involved with closely, there are moments when you can see him from head to toe - and his lack of coordination is almost startling. share
Well, interestingly, Jack Wild died in his early 50's never having done much else. Mark Lester was a coke fiend and good close friend to Michael Jackson (go look at his IMDB page for long stories about that), and today is in the medical field.
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