Great Expectations
Made in 1946 but arguably still the greatest screen adaptation of any Dickens novel, David Lean ’s version of Great Expectations milks the melodrama, sometimes for modern tastes going too far – Miss Havisham’s death scene a case in point. Any film with John Mills , Jean Simmons and Alec Guinness in lead roles was never going to struggle for success, but in the Oscars none of the actors were even nominated, and it only won two in technical categories. Two less well-known actors deserve mention along with those legends: Bernard Miles as Joe and Finlay Currie as Magwitch perhaps had their greatest moments on screen in Great Expectations, Miles going on to greater success as a director and founder of The Mermaid Theatre . Lean was a uniquely skilled director, handling the intimate scenes with a mannered touch, and the scarier stuff with real élan. The script veers away from the Dickens original in many ways, not least Estella merely being engaged in the film where she marries in the book, but it stays true to the original author’s concerns – the redemption of Magwitch; the futility of unchanging hatred; the power of goodness. Sadly contemporary audiences struggle with what some now refer to as ‘grey and white’ films, so apart from the occasional November Sunday afternoon TV showing and the DVD played for GCSE English classes Great Expectations will rarely be viewed.
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