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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: Unrated
Binding: DVD
Brand: Image Entertainment
EAN: 9780780021273
Format: Black & White, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0780021274
Label: Criterion
Manufacturer: Criterion
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Criterion
Region Code: 1
Release Date: January 12, 1999
Running Time: 118 minutes
Sales Rank: 8346
Studio: Criterion
Theatrical Release Date: December 12, 1947
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Editorial Review:
Description:
One of the great translations of literature into film, David Lean's Great Expectations brings Charles Dickens' masterpiece to robust onscreen life. Pip, Magwitch, Miss Havisham, and Estella populate Lean's magnificent miniature, beautifully photographed by Guy Green and designed by John Bryan.
Amazon.com essential video:
David Lean's handsome adaptation of Charles Dickens's classic novel captures the warm humor and richness of character that so many filmmakers miss in their reverent recreations of Victorian England. From the nightmarish opening sequence on the windswept graveyard where young orphan Pip (Anthony Wager) meets the desperate escaped criminal Magwitch (Finlay Currie) to the shadowy, musty mansion of the widow Miss Haversham (Martita Hunt) where he first meets the impertinent young beauty Estella (Jean Simmons), Lean captures a childlike exaggeration of reality with his elegant expressionism. When Pip's sudden change in fortune sends him to London as a burgeoning gentleman in high society, Lean sketches a beautiful, bustling city. John Mills's performance as the adult Pip charts his change from the wide-eyed wonder and generous spirit of the child he was to the class snob transformed by money and social standing, an ugly flaw that Pip confronts when his mysterious benefactor is finally revealed. The outstanding cast also features Valerie Hobson as the grown-up Estella, now a beguiling enchantress, a bright young Alec Guinness in his film debut as Pip's jovial London roommate Herbert Pocket, and the imposing Francis L. Sullivan as the decidedly humorless lawyer Jaggers. Exquisitely photographed by Guy Green (who won an Oscar for his work). Lean and his collaborators effectively maintain the heart of Dickens's epic drama while cutting it to its essentials in this vivid, compelling film. --Sean Axmaker
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Enjoy the Movie, Endure the Ending
First, a word of warning to the modern viewer: If you are the type of viewer who cannot stand the overacting, dramatically altered 'Hollywood' ending, and absurdly ostentatious soundtrack score inherent to any film released in the 1940s, you may choose to look elsewhere for an adaptation of Dickens.
If, however, you are able to accept the limitations and imperfections of the decade in which this was created, you will see a beautifully filmed masterpiece. Some of the camera work in this work is incredible. The director shows a sensitivity to setting and mood unparalleled in any other adaptation of 'Great Expectations'. Even some of the acting is brilliant, especially Alec Guiness's role as Herbert Pocket.
Diehard fans of Dickens, especially those familiar with the controversy over Dickens's two endings, will bemoan the way in which the ending is slaughtered in a way Dickens would have never allowed or considered. This, however, may be easily remedied by stopping the movie five minutes before it ends. Or one can grit one's teeth and endure it.
The film is also too short. Many of the best scenes from the novel have been cut, and the actors and actresses often seem rushed, which is a shame, since this makes it pretty much impossible to tackle the nuances of the novel's plot. Classic Hollywood apparently had four hours to spare on a movie defending the racist South, but not much time for Dickens.
All complaints aside, however, this is not bad. I have ... Read More
Rating:  - The Gold Standard!
There are some films, such as "Casablanca," that should never be remade. David Lean's "Great Expectations" is one of them.
The cast--headed by John Mills as the grown-up Pip, and which includes the rotund Francis L. Sullivan as the lawyer Jagger (whose clients are hanged as a matter of course), Finlay Curry as the convict Magwitch, and Alec Guinness as Herbert Pocket--is pitch-perfect (although I always thought the excellent Valerie Hobson was a bit of a disappointment after the brittle hauteur of Jean Simmons).
This film has everything: humor, suspense, and a lack of the sentimentality that seems to have crept into Dickensian films of late.
Lean, who was to become famous for his sweeping desolate landscapes of "Lawrence of Arabia" and "Dr. Zhivago," captures the essence of the lonely English fog-bound marshes with swirling swathes of grey in this glorious black and white film. The image of young Estella (a bewitching Jean Simmons) leading young Pip by candlelight up the darkened staircase into the cobweb-enshrouded inner sanctum of the demented Miss Havisham (the incomparable Martita Hunt), is unforgettable, as is the sight of the jilted bride's rat-infested wedding cake. Without computer-generated effects or even color, David Lean has created a cinematic masterpiece.
Rating: - Classic Movies
I watched this classic story long ago and had forgotten about it until reading the story again. I had a hard time finding this old English version. My personal opinion is that the English productions are much better quality than what comes out of Hollywood for the classics especially. I have a sentimental attachment to this film because it came out the year I was born and has such great character actors and actresses in it. As in other classical movies it does not match the book in the way it develops the characters. Case in point - there was no development of Estella's mother in the movie until right at the end. Whereas in the book it started early in developing that she might be the mother of Estella. Still all in all it came through with a great depiction of a Charles Dickens masterpiece.
Rating: - Lean meets Dickens' 'Great Expectations.'
Who doesn't like a David Lean film or a great Victorian story like Great Expectations? Except for the ending, David Lean's 1946 film follows Dickens' original novel closely. Set in 19th Century England, Great Expectations tells the story of a young orphan, Pip (Anthony Wager), who befriends an escaped convict, Magwitch (Finlay Currie), in a graveyard, before later falling in love with a cruel, but beautiful girl, Estella (Jean Simmons). As a teenager, Estella mocks Pip's coarse and common manners. She aspires to become a lady, and Pip has great expectations of becoming a gentleman. At age 21, Pip learns that Estella has been raised by Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt) to break men's hearts. Although Estella warns him, "You must know, Pip, I have no heart," he continues to love her nonetheless. Despite its happy Hollywood ending, which differs greatly from Dickens' novel, many (including me) consider Lean's film to be the best version of the novel. In 1948, Lean (The Bridge on the River Kwai; Doctor Zhivago; Lawrence of Arabia) went on to film another Dickens' novel, Oliver Twist. The Criterion edition of Great Expectations offers surprisingly few extras: the original theatrical trailer and subtitles for the hearing impaired.
G. Merritt
Rating: - BENEFACTORS
Dickens' tale of an abused orphan gets a deluxe production here with lively direction by David Lean, a shapely script by, among others, Anthony Havelock-Allan, some splendid performances (& a few clinkers as well) which is all served up in glorious Black & White by Guy Green, The first part is so good it carries you through the somewhat disappointing second part. The opening in the churchyard where Pip meets the escaped convict Magwitch (Finlay Currie) is so expertly staged it's thrilling & you can't wait to see what happens next. Soon Pip is employed by and eccentric lady who has a fancy to see him 'play'. She was betrayed & abandoned years earlier on her wedding day &, for her, time stopped that same moment. In her great moldering house Pip meets the ward, Estella, who is being schooled to be a heart breaker of men. Later a mysterious benefactor makes Pip a young person of great expectations & he is off to London for a new life, more adventures & perhaps discover the identity of his patron. Anthony Wager is wonderful as the young Pip. He doesn't have the creepy precociousness of some Hollywood child stars of the era. His vulnerability is part of his appeal. When John Mills takes over the part you understand what he is trying to do; play the part of a young man who doesn't know what to do with his new wealth, how to wear his new clothes or dine on strange foods with his new friends. Play the part of a young man with no confidence. Unfortunately Mills' performance ... Read More
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