Excellent version of the Dickens novel, brilliantly directed by David Lean. It starts wonderfully, almost like a horror movie, with Pip visiting his parent's grave in a creepy, wind-swept cemetery, and being scared by Felix Aylmer; the spooky mansion of Miss Havisham and the imposing Jean Simmons (a brilliant child star debut). Estella, Miss Havisham and Magwitch are all deservedly famous creations.
As it went along I found it became less effective - though clearly made with love, skill and care, with superb acting and all that... I don't know, I just found it a little flat. Part of the problem is Pip is so passive - he just sort of ambles along, inherits money, spends it, is pussywhipped by Estella. The only thing he actively does is try to to smuggle Magwitch out of the country but he fails. Dickens' fault I suppose - but I can't help the way I feel.
Also Valerie Hobson, as the grown up Estella, isn't as effective as Jean Simmons, who is amazing. John Mills at first comes across as much too old for the role but he grows into it, and he does well in what is a tricky part. The elder supporting cast are all excellent: Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham, Francis Sullivan as the imposing fat lawyer with his dead client's faces on the wall. I liked Alex Guiness although I kept expecting his character to do more than he did.
Didn't buy the "happy" ending - Estella is going to make Pip's life hell. (I know why they did it but they would have been better off using Dickens' original ending - the one before he re-drafted.)
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