Great Expectations

GREAT EXPECTATIONS (U)

D: David Lean

Cineguild (Ronald Neame)

UK 🇬🇧 1946

118 mins

Drama

W: David Lean, Ronald Neame & Anthony Havelock-Allan [based on the novel by Charles Dickens]

DP: Guy Green

Ed: Jack Harris

Mus: Walter Goehr

PD: John Bryan & Wilfred Shingleton

Cos: Sophia Harris

John Mills (Pip Pirrip), Valerie Hobson (Estella), Bernard Miles (Joe Gargery), Francis L. Sullivan (Jaggers), Martita Hunt (Miss Haversham), Finlay Currie (Abel Magwitch), Anthony Wager (Young Pip), Jean Simmons (Young Estella), Alec Guinness (Herbert Pocket)

David Lean completely captures the world of Charles Dickens with this fine adaptation of the classic novel.

The story begins in 1830, when young orphan Pip Pirrip meets an escaped convict in a courtyard and offers him a gift of food, which has consequences for the young boy later in his life, after plying his trade as a blacksmith's apprentice.

The film does simplify Dickens' source material, with some characters omitted, but there's still plenty of loyalty to the original work.

The photography and production design are impeccable, but enjoyment of the story is very much reliant on whether or not you enjoyed reading the book.

8/10