By Dave Shiflett (Bloomberg) – Fagin gets a makeover in the latest take on Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist,” graduating from sinister prince of thieves to a fairly lovable professor of pickpockets. Purists may howl but most viewers will find plenty to like in this Masterpiece Theater adaptation, which premiers on PBS Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. New York time. If you’re feeling bad about your life, Oliver’s story is a reminder that things could be worse. His oft-told tale starts at the Mudfog workhouse, where the newborn exists mother Agnes moments before her sweaty death. His early years are desperately tough, with lashes on his back and grubs in his porridge, yet bright-eyed Oliver (William Miller) develops a steely integrity, taking no guff from anyone, including sweatshop mistress Mrs. Corney (Sarah Lancashire) or Mr. Bumble (Gregor Fisher), the bumptious beadle who seems to enjoy beating him as much as he does sizing up Corney’s magnificent rump, the conquest of which bears fruition later in the film’s second half, which airs Feb. 22. This was Dickens’ second novel and the first in the English language to feature a child in its central role. Oliver rubbed shabby elbows with several other children, most notably the Artful Dodger (Adam Arnold), who quickly lives up to his name by helping Oliver, fresh to London, dodge an incoming round from a chamber pot. Yet the most memorable character is Fagin (Timothy Spall) -- “one of nature’s philanthropists” according to the Dodger -- who in this telling of the tale is a fairly stark departure from the literary Fagin and Alec Guinness’s 1948 version. Many viewers may think he was due for an update. Guinness’s Fagin could have been lifted from the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” with a nose as big and sharp as a dorsal fin and a personality to match. Spall’s Fagin is fat, bulb-nosed, and somewhat reminiscent of Mama Cass. He’s got very bad teeth though a sweet disposition, most of the time, plus a pet crow named Ezekiel, to whom he delivers a stern warning: “Never trust the Goyim.” Sage advice in his neighborhood, especially concerning Bill Sikes (Tom Hardy) the ferocious predator who boasts “There ain’t no worse than me.” On his behalf, Sikes has a fairly well-behaved dog, Bullseye, and an angelic girlfriend, Nancy (Sophie Okonedo), whom of course he later murders. Purists may object to some deviations from the Dickens text. The vile Monks (Julian Rhind-Tutt) is now grandson of the warm-hearted Mr. Brownlow (Edward Fox), whose palatial estate is home to the also-angelic Rose (Morven Christie), who lived in a country bungalow in the original telling. Other characters disappear altogether and some plot remakes seem clunkers. After his eventual conviction Fagin is offered leniency if he will convert to Christianity and Sikes’ spectacular hanging is cast in a much different light, and location. I prefer a more sinister Fagin and found the 1948 version created an unforgettable sense of bleakness. You could almost smell the millipedes rooting around in the rotting wood of the London tenements. Yet viewers with a taste for grimness will still find a feast here. There’s slop in the streets, corruption in the courts, and decent gallows humor. After Oliver experiences a work-related injury – shot in the commission of a burglary -- his doctor asks for “first refusal on the cadaver” should his patient succumb to infection. Some deviations are also likely to meet universal approval, including the fate of Sikes’ dog, whose brains are bashed out in Dickens’ book. This version ends with him trotting down the street with the Dodger, who, in the original, was sent off to Australia after being caught pinching a snuff box. All things considered, both clearly prefer to be in London. The film brings the gritty old town back to life and opens a series of remakes of other Dickens’ classics, including “Little Dorrit” and “The Old Curiosity Shop,” plus an encore of “David Copperfield,” which air Sunday evenings well into spring. (Dave Shiflett is a critic for Bloomberg News. The opinions expressed are his own.) To contact the writer of this story: Dave Shiflett at dshifl@aol.com.
