TajLV’s review published on Letterboxd:
Listed among Films Nominated for Best Picture
I read the novel by Charles Dickens in high school, and I know I saw the story screened at least once on television in my teens, although there were a number of productions made between 1953 and 1971, so it could have been any of them ... perhaps the 10-part BBC series that was broadcast in 1967. I do know I saw Alfonso Cuarón's 1998 modern version with Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke, which I didn't care for all that much. I like my Dickens more classic, I suppose.
Well, it doesn't get much more classic than director David Lean's 1946 adaptation, It stars John Mills as the main character Pip, Valerie Hobson as the heartbreaker Estella, Martita Hunt as creepy old Miss Haversham and Alec Guinness appearing in his first major film as Pip's friend Herbert Pocket.
There's also Bernard Miles as the blacksmith Joe Gargery and Freda Jackson as Mrs. Joe, along with Finlay Currie as the convict Abel Magwich and Francis L. Sullivan as the lawyer-guardian Mr. Jaggers. Of special note, Jean Simmons is introduced as the young Estella -- her first breakthrough role.
"Who am I, for heaven's sake, that I should be kind!" ~ Miss Haversham
Lean's version changes the story here and there, with the biggest divergence coming at the very end. However, the film is essentially true to Dickens' intentions, and it was certainly worthy of the Academy Award nominations it received for Best Picture, Best Writing and Best Director, plus wins for Cinematography and Art Direction. Many of Lean's innovations, such as the opening scene at the graveyard, have become essential elements of the horror genre over the past 70+ years.
Part of my 5 Directors x 5 Unseen Films (3) challenge.