Running Video Time: 1h:58m:24s
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Great Expectations is a 1946 British film which won two Academy Awards and was nominated for three others (best picture, best director and best screenplay). It was directed by David Lean, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and stars John Mills, Valerie Hobson, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness. Jean Simmons, who played the role of the young Estella in the film, later played Miss Havisham in a 1989 version directed by Kevin Connor.
The script, a slimmed-down version of Dickens' novel which had been inspired after seeing an abridged stage version of the novel, in which Guinness (responsible for the adaptation) played Herbert Pocket and Martita Hunt was Miss Havisham -- casting that was carried over into the film - was written by Anthony Havelock-Allan, David Lean, Cecil McGivern, Ronald Neame and Kay Walsh. The film was produced by Ronald Neame and photographed by Guy Green. It was the first of two films Lean directed based on Dickens' novels, the other being his 1948 adaptation of Oliver Twist.
Cast * John Mills as Pip as an adult * Jean Simmons as Estella as a girl * Valerie Hobson as Estella as an adult * Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham * Finlay Currie as Abel Magwitch * Francis L. Sullivan as Mr. Jaggers * Bernard Miles as Joe Gargery * Alec Guinness as Herbert Pocket as an adult * Anthony Wager as Pip as a boy * John Forrest as Herbert Pocket as a boy * Freda Jackson as Mrs. Joe Gargery * Ivor Barnard as Mr. Wemmick * Torin Thatcher as Bentley Drummle * O. B. Clarence as The Aged Parent * David Lean as Director
An orphan, Phillip "Pip" Pirrip (Anthony Wager), lives with his shrewish older sister and her kind-hearted blacksmith husband, Joe Gargery (Bernard Miles). One day, Pip runs into an escaped convict, Abel Magwitch (Finlay Currie). Magwitch intimidates the boy into getting him some food and a file for his chains. However, the man is caught when he attacks another escapee, and is taken back to prison.
Later, Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt), a rich spinster, arranges to have the boy come to her mansion regularly, to provide her company and to play with a cruel but beautiful teenage girl, Estella (Jean Simmons). Estella mocks Pip's coarse manners at every opportunity, but Pip quickly falls in love with her. Once, he meets one of Miss Havisham's relations, Herbert Pocket (John Forrest), a boy about his age. Pip also bumps into Mr. Jaggers (Francis L. Sullivan), Miss Havisham's lawyer. The visits come to an end when Pip turns 14 and begins his apprenticeship as a blacksmith. Estella leaves also, to learn to become a lady.
Six years later, Mr. Jaggers shows up and tells him that a mysterious benefactor has offered to turn Pip (played as an adult by John Mills) into a gentleman, one with "great expectations". Pip naturally assumes that it is Miss Havisham. He is taken to London where Mr. Jaggers arranges for Pip to stay with Herbert Pocket (played as an adult by Alec Guinness), who will teach him how to behave like a gentleman. From Herbert, Pip learns that Miss Havisham was left at the altar many years ago; she is determined to avenge herself against all men, and Estella is her instrument, a heartless creation designed to break men's hearts. Pip refuses to believe it.
After Pip turns 21, Joe Gargery comes to visit him, but the reunion is spoiled by Pip's ill-concealed irritation at Joe's coarse manners. Joe brings a request from Miss Havisham to see her. There he is delighted to be reunited with Estella (Valerie Hobson), though she warns him point-blank, "You must know, Pip, I have no heart. " She is about to enter London society. Estella and Pip spend much time together, though she flirts with many men, especially the wealthy, but unpopular, Bentley Drummle. However, she confesses to Pip that though she flirts with Drummle, she has absolutely no feelings for him.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Expectations_%281946_film%29
