The movie deals with an orphan child called Pip (Anthony Wager and grown-up John Mills) meets on the dark moor an escaped convict (Finlay Currie) and helps him . Later on , at a musty mansion he meets an old woman , Miss Havershan (Martita Hunt),and a beautiful girl called Stella (Jean Simmons and grown-up,Valerie Hobson) . Pit suddenly becomes a gentleman with the support of an unknown benefactor and his advocate (Francis L. Sullivan) . He befriends Herbert Pocket , Alec Guinness , in his debut picture as Pip's likable flatmate .

The film is an adaptation based on Charles Dickens's novel , being very fine directed by the classic director David Lean . In the movie there are drama , a love story , humor , tragedies and is pretty enjoyable . Impressive black and white cinematography by Guy Green , David Lean's usual ; in fact Lean has only utilized four cameramen throughout his career , the others have been Freddie Young , Jack Hyldyard and Ronald Neame who besides is producer and screenwriter of the film ; everybody famed and specialist photographers . The motion picture is considered to be the greatest version of the Charles Dickens novel , the recent rendition featured by Ethan Hawke as Pit , Gwyneth Paltrow as Stella and Anne Bancroft as Miss Havershan is deemed average . John Mills acting as the starring is first rate , he's romantic , sympathetic , attractive but also vulnerable and memorable . Alec Guinness as the agreeable friend is top notch , and secondary cast as Bernard Miles , Freda Jackson and Finlay Currie are excellent . Rating : Above Average . Well worth seeing for the classic cinema lovers .

As I watched the beginning of this film, I couldn't help but compare the story to the only other Charles Dickens story I was familiar with: Oliver Twist. It looked like it was going to be another story of a nice, respectful boy being abused by nasty adults. However, as soon as the young boy turned into a man, the similarities ended. Poor Oliver had a lot of ups and downs but life was basically pretty good for the boy, "Pip" in "Great Expectations."

Because of that, I didn't think this Dickens tale had the emotional impact of Oliver Twist, but still was great storytelling. The last 20-30 minutes of this film tied so many things together it really made it a satisfying film. From what I just researched, it sounds like the book was a lot harsher story.

My only major complaint with this film is the casting of the lead character, "Pip," as an adult, which involves most of this movie. John Mills looked way too old to be playing a 20-year-old "Pip Pirrip." In truth, he was too old. Mills was 38 when doing this role. They couldn't have found a younger actor? This guy looked and sounded like Ronald Colman, which is fine except Colman never looked 20, either! This is gross miscasting.

At any rate, I enjoyed a number of actors in here, mainly three older ones: Martita Hunt, Findlay Currie and Francis L. Sullivan. Hunt was just great as "Miss Haversham." I found her fascinating in every sentence she delivered, all of which she did while just sitting in a chair. Currie was genuinely frightening in the beginning as the escaped convict "Magwitch." However, what a transformation that man made in this story! Francis L. Sullivan emotes convincingly enough to play the

lawyer "Mr. Jaggers" and be fun to view, too. The rest of the actors were fine, but nothing memorable.

To me, the acting took a back seat to Dickens' story and to the film's cinematography. Knowing David Lean directed this film, that Criterion usually produces nice-looking DVD transfers and that "Oliver Twist" looked fantastic on disc, I was paying as close attention to the cinematography, and I enjoyed it. The story wasn't that intense until the finale, which was very well done. The romance was a bit questionable and is a sad-but-true comment how many people, at least us men, can be "in love" with a shallow woman who offers nothing but good looks. (Speaking of looks, Valerie Hobson pretending to be a little older Jean Simmons in the role of "Estella' is like Margaret Hamilton passing for slightly-older Jennifer Jones. Give me a break!)

Even though the screenplay is softer than the novel, most people say it still captures Dickens' flavor, and few critics had anything but praise for this classic film. Do I prefer this movie over the aforementioned Oliver Twist? No, but only because the latter is the most stunning photographed black-and-white movie I've ever watched. ("Citizen Kane" ranking second.) This is still very good in that category. Lean and cinematographer Guy Green won Oscars for their work here, so you know it's not too shabby.

The combination of Dickens, Lean, Green and a fine cast all make this a classic movie that is certainly recommended. Don't make the mistake of choosing the insipid 1998 version with Ethan Hawke and Gywneth Paltrow. This is the only version you want to see.

I am a bit surprised that GREAT EXPECTATIONS is in the top 250 on IMDb. While it's a very well-crafted film from start to finish, it's also a story that is a bit old fashioned. Now I am about to say something radical, so hold on tight. When I was forced to read this story in 8th grade, I thoroughly hated it. While the film did change my views a bit, I still am not a huge fan of the story. Sorry, but our teacher managed to strip all the fun out of the tale.

In general, I liked the film though purists might hate that so much of the story has been changed. I didn't mind this too much, with things like Mrs. Havisham catching fire and Pip putting her out being added--but they definitely were not in the original. One change I really didn't like, though, was the ending. Why give the film a "happy ending" where Pip and Estella supposedly marry and live happily ever after?! This is especially dumb because there is no way that the chronically screwed up Estella COULD have a happy marriage--Ms. Havisham simply worked too hard screwing her up to have her suddenly become normal! That was the point of the original story! Overall, excellent acting, very exciting cinematography and a complete disregard to reverently following the rather dull source material make this a very good film--but that ending?! Uggh.