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Great Expectations, based on the Charles Dickens story about an orphan whose life is made better through a mysterious benefactor, has been filmed many times.
A silent version made in 1917 starred Jack Pickford as "Pip," the young orphan whose given name was Philip Pirrip.
What many consider the best version, and certainly the most popular was made in 1946 starring John Mills, Anthony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness.
The movie was adapted by Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Cecil McGivern, Ronald Neame and Kay Walsh, and directed by Lean.
It won Academy Awards for Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White and Best Cinematography, Black-and-White, and was nominated for Best Director, Best Picture and Best Writing, Screenplay.
A television miniseries version was issued in 1989. It has only been released in VHS form in the U.S. and is not currently distributed.
Some have argued that this is possibly the best version produced. This is a difficult claim since the key characters of the Young Estella, Miss Havisham, the Convict Magwitch, the Attorney Jaggers and Herbert Pocket have been virtually defined by the actors in the 1946 version. Nevertheless, most of these roles are adequately to convincingly played by the new cast, some of them hewing closer to Dickins' description than the 1946 actors.
Worthy of note is Jean Simmons' role. A certain poignancy is inevitable, as she played the role of the young Estella in the 1946 movie, yet her performance as the aged and bitter Miss Havisham defines the character with depth and skill.
Other key roles include John Rhys-Davies as Joe Gargery, Ray McAnally as Jaggers, Anthony Calf as the adult Pip, Kim Thomson as both young and adult Estella, Adam Blackwood as Herbert Pocket, Anthony Hopkins as Abel Magwitch, Niven Boyd as Orlick and Susan Franklyn as Biddy.
This version is worthy of study in any argument about the usefulness of the miniseries format in production of classical works. The format, running five hours, enabled much more of the original story to be filmed than other versions, allowed the restoration of important characters, such as Orlick and the Avenger, and the better examination of the roles of other characters, such as Biddy, Drummell, the adult Estella and Miss Havisham. The result is better and more understandable plot development, and the revelation of themes of the work that tend to be obscured in shorter versions, such as class striving and the values of character vs. wealth, in favor of Pip's pursuit of Estella.
See also: Great Expectations (book)1917 version
1946 version
1989 version
