Great Expectations (film)

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Great Expectations, based on the Charles Dickens novel of the same name, is about an orphan whose dreams of social advancement are suddenly fulfilled by a mysterious benefactor. One of Dickens' most popular works, it has been filmed many times.

1 1917 version
2 1934 version
3 1946 version
4 1974 version
5 1989 version
6 1998 version
7 1999 version
8 See also
9 External links

[edit] 1917 version

A silent version made in 1917 starred Jack Pickford as the protagonist "Pip."

[edit] 1934 version

The first sound version of the novel was produced in Hollywood by Universal Studios and directed by Stuart Walker. It stars Phillips Holmes as Pip, Jane Wyatt as Estella and Florence Reed as Miss Havisham.

It is notable wherein it stars Francis L. Sullivan as Jaggers, who reprised the role in the classic 1946 version.

[edit] 1946 version

Main article: Great Expectations (1946 film)

Many consider this version, directed by David Lean, the best version, and it is certainly the most popular. It starred John Mills as Pip, Bernard Miles as Joe, Finlay Currie as Magwitch, Alec Guinness as Herbert Pocket, Anthony Wager as the younger Pip, Jean Simmons as the younger Estella, Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham, Valerie Hobson as Estella and Francis L. Sullivan as Jaggers.

Because of its enormous popularity and the strength of the actors and their characterizations, this version has tended to define the popular conception of many key characters, especially that of the young Estella, Miss Havisham, Herbert Pocket, Abel Magwitch and Mr. Jaggers. This film also helped establish the primacy of the love theme in Great Expectations above that of the class strivings of the protagonist Pip. Conversely, other characters with important roles in the novel, such as Biddy, Orlick, Mr. Wopsle and Wemmick, are diminished.

Dickens wrote two endings to the original novel, but the 1946 movie uses neither, preferring a heroic "rescue" of an Estella who suffers a romantic disaapointment and falls into a life pattern like Miss Havisham's.

The movie was adapted by Anthony Havelock-Allan, Lean, Cecil McGivern, Ronald Neame and Kay Walsh.

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.

In 1999 it came 5th in a BFI poll of British films, while in 2004 Total Film named it 14th greatest British film of all time.

[edit] 1974 version

A 1974 film version was made for television, directed by Joseph Hardy, with screenwriter Sherman Yellen and music by Maurice Jarre, starring Michael York as Pip and Sarah Miles as Estella.

[edit] 1989 version

A television miniseries version was issued in 1989. It has only been released in VHS form in the U.S. Jean Simmons, who played the role of the young Estella in the 1946 movie, played Miss Havisham in the 1989 version.

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. Having the same actress play Estella as a child and adult provided a smoother transition in following the character than in some adaptations.

This version was studied 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 significant characters omitted in other versions, such as Orlick and Wopsle, and the better examination of the roles of other characters, such as Biddy, Drummle, Miss Havisham and the adult Estella. The result is 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. This version takes relatively few liberties with characters and plot turns, and adheres closely to Dickins' published ending.

[edit] 1998 version

This adaptation of Great Expectations starred Ethan Hawke in the Pip role and Gwyneth Paltrow as Estella. Though graced with well-known and respected actors, including, in addition to Hawke and Paltrow, Anne Bancroft in the Miss Havisham role, Robert De Niro in the Magwitch role, and Chris Cooper as Joe, the movie received generally poor reviews.

This version attempts a modernization of the plot in similar spirit to Hawke's later Hamlet, and is set in modern Florida and New York City. Virtually all the major characters except Estella are renamed; Pip ("Philip Pirip") is now Finn ("Finnegan Bell"). The story line has Finn as a young fisherman in a mostly dysfunctional family who is otherwise happy with Uncle Joe as his guardian and mentor. Young Finn likes to paint and is also companion to the flamboyant and eccentric Ms. Nora Dinsmoor and falls in love with her pretty young ward, Estella, who represents the opposite of his honest but plebian prospects. His "great expectation" is to be unexpectedly introduced and sponsored in the trendy New York gallery art scene in SoHo.

The story traces most of the essential plot of the novel, though with major reworking of virtually every situation and plot turn. As with most other filmed versions of the story, Finn's (Pip's) pursuit of Estella overrides all other themes. Unlike most other versions (and the novel), the film rushes to its conclusion after the benefactor's identity is revealed, although the final resolution of the protagonist's relationship to Estella is similar to the published novel.

Some critics thought that it stayed too close to the romantic plot and dragged on weakly although the visuals were often remarked to be beautiful. This version has been more popular with fans of the key actors.

[edit] 1999 version

This adaptation, aired on Masterpiece Theater, starred Ioan Gruffudd as Pip, Justine Waddell as Estella, Charlotte Rampling as Miss Havisham, Bernard Hill as Magwitch, Clive Russell as Joe and Ian McDiarmid as Jaggers. In the UK, it won the BAFTA TV Award for Best Costume Design; the RTS Television Award for Best Sound in Drama, Best Production Design in Drama, Best Lighting, and Photography & Camera.