John Mills
Jean Simmoms
Alec Guiness
Finlay Currie
Directed by: David Lean
Young Pip meets Abel Magwitch, an escaped convict, at a graveyard near his home on the Romney Marshes of Kent. He helps Magwitch by giving him food and drink. Not long after he is summoned to the mysterious house where the eccentric Miss Havisham lives with her young adopted daughter, Estella.
Years later, the grown up Pip is informed that he has 'great expectations'. An unknown benefactor has provided for him to go to London and become a gentleman. He continues to court the affections of Estella, who shows no interest in him.
Pip's benefactor ie revealed to be the convict Magwitch, once again hunted by the police. Pip is finally united with, and marries his beloved Estella.
One of the great British films of the 1940's, with exceptional artistry in every department. Film critic James Agee says that "It does for Dickens what Henry V did for Shakespeare". Dicken's novels abound with amazingly eccentric characters and in this film, Lean is served by a superb cast.
Also, on the technical side, Lean's attention to detail shows in every scene. The photography by Gu Green and art direction by John Bryan (both of whom won Academy Awards~ add greatly to the films amazing atmosphere.
This production was also nominated for best picture, best script and best director, which in the days before "Chariots Of Fire" and "Gandhi" was an achievement in itself for a British Film.
The super 8 prints (by Ranks from a 35mm fine grain) also contribute to the enjoyment of the film. The grading and definition being extremely good, the moody lighting must have presented problems for the grader, but the finished product cannot be faulted in this respect, only some slight blemishes in the master let the print down slightly, but I must emphasise that this does not detract from the total enjoyment in any way.
The sound transfer is well handled as usual by Dave West, who ensures that each reel is of uniform quality.
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Distributed by: DCR |
The above review was printed in Super
Eight Film Review issue 9. |
This page was last updated 02 Dec 2002