Reviewing Fagin, 1948-2005, with Charles Drazin

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David Lean’s 1948 adaptation of Oliver Twist provoked so many protests against perceived antisemitism in Alec Guinness’s portrayal of Fagin that the film was withheld from release in the United States until cuts had been made. Yet twenty years later, in Carol Reed’s musical version of the film, the character had been sufficiently rehabilitated to win Ron Moody an Oscar nomination. This talk will explore the challenges of playing Fagin from the Lean film of 1948 to the Roman Polanski adaptation of 2005.

Charles Drazin is a London-based author, editor, and film historian who taught film history at Queen Mary, University of London from 2007 to 2019. His books include The Faber Book of French Cinema; In Search of The Third Man; Korda: Britain’s Only Movie Mogul; and Making Hollywood Happen.

This event is in conjunction with the Library’s One Bay One Book program.