One of the great translations of literature into film, David Lean’s Great Expectations brings Charles Dickens’s masterpiece to robust onscreen life. Pip, Magwitch, Miss Havisham, and Estella populate Lean’s magnificent miniature, beautifully photographed by Guy Green and designed by John Bryan. —The Criterion Collection
Director, writer, and producer David Lean, grew up in a strict religious background in which movies were forbidden, to become one of the world’s most celebrated filmmakers. Beginning as a tea boy in the mid-‘20s, he was lucky enough to move into editing just as sound films were coming on the scene. By the mid-’30s, he was regarded as one of the top in his field. Lean turned down several chances to make low-budget films, and got his first directing opportunity (unofficially) on Major Barbara (1941), one of the most celebrated movies of the early ‘40s. Noel Coward hired Lean as his directorial collaborator on his war classic In Which We Serve (1943), and, after that, Lean’s career was made. For the next 15 years, he became known throughout the world for his close, intimate, serious film dramas. Some (This Happy Breed 1944, Blithe Spirit 1945, and Brief Encounter 1945) were based upon Coward’s… read more
managed to catch the free showing at my local cinema (thanks to EU Film Fest!). such wonderful adaptation of the famous work.
A masterpiece, and one that I prefer to Lean's (admitedly excellent) larger scaled productions. Lean brings a real sense of place and perfectly displays the numerous stunning sets. Satis House remains one of the great places in all of film.
"Jean Simmons, a radiant British actress who as a teenager appeared opposite Laurence Olivier in Hamlet and emerged a star whose career flourished