A 1919 Hungarian Film of Oliver Twist
A 1919 Hungarian Film of Oliver Twist

Summary/Abstract: Several of the almost a hundred films based on the works of Charles Dickens during the Silent Period (1896–1927/8) were made not only in Britain and the United States, but in a variety of European countries. The nations involved include France, Italy, Denmark, Germany, Russia and Hungary–a wider range, in fact, than in the subsequent Sound Era, perhaps because it was easier in the earlier period to insert brief written intertitles to explain plot and characters than to translate and then record complex dialogue or provide lengthy subtitles. As with the majority of silent films, many of these works are now considered “lost” or survive in incomplete prints; yet copies continue to turn up, often in surprising places. The 1919 Hungarian-made film of Oliver Twist, directed by Márton Garas, a prolific and successful film-maker of the period, was considered a “lost” film until a print was discovered quite recently in the Serbian Film Archive in Belgrade. It is unfortunately incomplete, lacking two of its six twelve-minute long reels, but a knowledge of the original book allows a viewer to fill in missing details. Apart from these, the print is in quite good condition and retains the original tinting, mostly in red or blue, common in the period (red being used mostly to indicate scenes of violence or great emotion, and blue for those taking place at night). The Serbian intertitles sometimes alter the names of the characters—Nancy is “Nannie”, for example—, but I will retain the originals in the description that follows.

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