 Though unable to read music, East-Ender Lionel Bart (born on 1 August 1930) had a very successful career in West End musicals, above all with Oliver!, a famously tuneful if morally and dramatically diluted version of Oliver Twist. Very much a phenomenon of the '60s, he never reached again the heights of Oliver! which was adapted to Oscar-winning effect by Carol Reed in 1968, and by the early '70s he was bankrupt. His first film score was for The Tommy Steele Story (d. Gerard Bryant, 1957); he wrote the title song for From Russia with Love (d. Terence Young, 1963); and his own stage musical, the period romp Lock Up Your Daughters!, was filmed in 1969 (d. Peter Coe), though not with his songs, which were replaced by a Ron Grainer score. Brian McFarlane, Encyclopedia of British Film
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FILM & TV CREDITS
