Synopsis
In this Dickens adaptation, orphan Pip discovers through lawyer Mr. Jaggers that a mysterious benefactor wishes to ensure that he becomes a gentleman. Reunited with his childhood patron, Miss Havisham, and his first love, the beautiful but emotionally cold Estella, he discovers that the elderly spinster has gone mad from having been left at the altar as a young woman, and has made her charge into a warped, unfeeling heartbreaker.
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Cast
- John MillsPip
- Valerie HobsonEstella
- Tony WagerYoung Pip
- Jean SimmonsYoung Estella
- Bernard MilesJoe Gargery
- Francis L. SullivanMr. Jaggers
- Finlay CurrieAbel Magwitch
- Martita HuntMiss Havisham
- Alec GuinnessHerbert Pocket
- Ivor BarnardMr. Wemmick
Recommendations
- 100
Chicago Sun-Times
The greatest of all the Dickens films, and which does what few movies based on great books can do: Creates pictures on the screen that do not clash with the images already existing in our minds. - 100
The New York Times
Somehow, the fullness of Dickens, of his stories and characters—his humor and pathos and vitality and all his brilliant command of atmosphere—has never been so illustrated as it is in this wonderful film, which can safely be recommended as screen story-telling at its best. - 100
TV Guide Magazine
A masterful realization of Charles Dickens's novel, this may be the best cinematic translation of the author's work, as well as director David Lean's greatest achievement. - 100
BBC
One of the best literary adaptations ever made. - 80
Chicago Reader
The graveyard scene is still a shocker, the details are still astonishingly well assembled, and the performances are wonderful. - 80
The Guardian
It is a wonderfully fluent, engaging story, with beautiful cinematography by Guy Green. - 80
Time Out
David Lean’s black-and-white masterpiece may be a whirlwind tour of Dickens’ novel, but what a well-performed, economic and atmospheric tour it is, and one that manages in two hours to capture much of the chronological and emotional sweep of a 525-page novel. - 80
The New Yorker
The film has a strong style that is very different from Lean's earlier work. He seems to have finally to have let go--to have pulled out all the stops. The film is emotional, exciting, full of action.
