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IMDb > Oliver! (1968) > Goofs
Oliver!
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  • Anachronisms: The window cleaners who appear during the song "Who Will Buy" are using aluminium ladders painted brown.

  • Continuity: When Oliver gets out of bed and goes to the window during the lead-in to "Who Will Buy?", his hair is tousled and sticking up. When the camera angle changes to the outside, his hair is neatly combed.

  • Continuity: While singing "As Long As He Needs Me," Nancy's dress hangs off her shoulder and then in the next shot it is back on her shoulder.

  • Plot holes: When Oliver starts his journey from the workhouse town to London, it's winter. As his travel proceeds, the winter snow melts, and the landscape becomes green. By the time he arrives in London, it's clearly summer, judging from the people's clothes and the abundance of vegetables. While conversing with the Artful Dodger, Oliver explains that he has been walking for seven days.

  • Continuity: In the "I'd do anything" scene, Bet's hair changes

  • Revealing mistakes: Bill Sykes’ shadow does not match his actual steps when we first see him.

  • Anachronisms: In the sequence of "Who will Buy", just after the school girls are pushed into the pool a family leaves a house and the mother is wearing hat and clothing more appropriate to the 1890s rather than the period of the film. She has on a large hat with a brim as opposed to a bonnet and her dress is definitively from a later era.

  • Revealing mistakes: Near the end of the movie, we see Fagin and Dodger walking out of the city down a long cobblestone street. As they walk directly towards the sun rising in the distance, with their faint shadows seen following them appropriately, we also see larger, more pronounced shadows on the brick wall to their left - which is at a full 90 degree angle away from the sun in front of them.

  • Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Just after Oliver asks for more gruel and is taken by Mr. Bumble to the governor, they are standing at the door, Oliver mouths Mr. Bumbles lines, and then to cover it up starts wiggling his tongue.

  • Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): After the "Consider Yourself" song, Artful Dodger goes into a tunnel to make sure the police aren't following. As he jumps out of the tunnel he slips and nearly falls on his face.

  • Revealing mistakes: The steps at London Bridge are not designed in the manner that the real ones were. The real steps were, as Dickens describes them narrow at the top and widen horizontally at the bottom, allowing a person to hide and eavesdrop on (or watch) those on the upper steps without being seen.

  • Anachronisms: The "Boy For Sale" sequence deviates from both the novel and history: even during the harshest phases of Poor Law reform it was illegal for the government to sell paupers as slaves to tradespeople. It was also pointless, as apprentices could be had for nothing, and the state had to pay tradespeople for the service of taking paupers off their hands (as is the case in the novel, where the fee is paid by Bumble to Sowerberry).

>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<

Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.

  • Continuity: SPOILER: There is a murder in the film, and after the killer commits the crime, he emerges from behind the wall without the murder weapon in his hand.

  • Continuity: SPOILER: When Bill grabs Nancy at London Bridge, she cries out "Stop!" and Mr. Brownlow, at the top of the bridge, seems to hear her voice and turns around at the sound. Although she screams for several seconds, he does not actually run down the steps until he is too late to save her.


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