GREAT EXPECTATIONS

Synopsis: This 1946 film is the definitive version of the classic Charles Dickens story of Pip, an orphaned British boy who is befriended by a mysterious benefactor who enables him to become a gentleman of... This 1946 film is the definitive version of the classic Charles Dickens story of Pip, an orphaned British boy who is befriended by a mysterious benefactor who enables him to become a gentleman of means. Director Lean deftly represents Dickens' disdain for the iniquities of Victorian society. This sentiment rang particularly true when the film was released the year after the war in Britain, when Britain had just elected a labor government. In a style resembling horror films, starting with a straight narration of Dickens's first two pages, through the scenes of Miss Havisham's decaying petrified and cobwebbed house, we are caught in a narrative that is both heart wrenching and socially relevant. Lean's achievement is in setting once-in-a-lifetime performances in a vibrant narrative that maintains rich detail but never bogs down. Considered by many to be among the greatest films ever made.

Starring: John Mills, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons

Starring: John Mills, Alec Guinness, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Martita Hunt, Finlay Currie, Anthony Wager, Ivor Barnard, Freda Jackson, Torin Thatcher, Hay Petrie, George "Gabby" Hayes, O. B. Clarence

Director: David Lean