Rent Great Expectations (1946)

1946 at its best - Great Expectations review by JD

In this era of film making all the actors speak received English and come from good schools. Diction is clear and each shot a great work of art. Even the portrayal of a Dickensian plot reminds me of the original St. Trinian's. The acting from this era can be a little theatrical but John Mills was brilliantly subtle and the plot ran at a good pace. This will definitely not be to every ones taste. But if you habitually drink Earl Grey tea, try this.

Dickens in Fog and Flesh - Great Expectations review by griggs

Some films feel as though the book had been sitting around, waiting for the cameras to show up. David Lean’s Great Expectations is one of them. This isn’t just adaptation, it’s transposition—the sets, the atmosphere, even the fog on the marshes seem pulled straight from Dickens’ imagination. Watching it feels like stepping into the pages of the novel.

The casting is almost flawless, with one obvious wrinkle. John Mills is a fine actor, but as a supposed 21-year-old Pop he's pushing it—two years shy of 40, he's less wide-eyed appentice and more seasoned gentleman playing dress-up. Still, Marita Hunt's imperious Miss Havisham and Finlay Currie's thunderous Magwitch give the film the weight it needs.

Lean directs with painterly precision and stagecraft control, giving the whole production a richness that feels both theatrical and cinematic. This is Dickens brought to life with elegance, grit, and just the right touch of menance.

Wonderful Dickens Adaptation - Great Expectations review by GI

David Lean's fantastic version of the Dickens classic. A wonderful story and a remarkable depiction of Dickensian Victorian England. At its heart this is a romance, a story of deep passion but also a film about family, friendship and the danger of ambition and materialism. It's a wonderful story from a great English novel and though it's been filmed numerous times for cinema and TV this remains the best adaptation. With it's use of chiaroscuro lighting especially to simulate the imagination of a frightened child and with a fantastic cast of British actors this is still a real treat and perfectly captures a vision of England of the 1830s. John Mills plays the young orphan, Pip, who is apprenticed to the blacksmith and husband (Bernard Miles) of his elder sister. As a child he had, out of fear, assisted an escaped convict and later was sent to the dark and mysterious house of the eccentric Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt) to play with her ward Estella (Jean Simmons). As he comes of age he learns that a secret benefactor has decided to make him a gentlemen and in London he meets the now beautiful and adult Estella (Valerie Hobson) and falls for her although she has been groomed to deceive men. The film captures the class divisions on which English society has culturally been built, one of snobbery and privilege. Lean went onto make a second Dickens adaptation, Oliver Twist, in 1948 and showed that he had a magic eye for detail and structure. This is a superb film from when the British had a film industry in which to be proud.