| Great Expectations | |
|---|---|
&sq=Qlik&lang=&file=File:Great_expectations.jpg) Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | David Lean |
| Written by | David Lean Anthony Havelock-Allan Ronald Neame |
| Based on | Great Expectations 1861 novel by Charles Dickens |
| Produced by | Anthony Havelock-Allan Ronald Neame |
| Starring | John Mills Valerie Hobson Bernard Miles Francis L. Sullivan Anthony Wager Jean Simmons |
| Cinematography | Guy Green, (Robert Krasker shot opening sequence)[1] |
| Edited by | Jack Harris |
| Music by | Walter Goehr |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | General Film Distributors Ltd. |
Release date |
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Running time | 118 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £391,600[2] |
| Box office | £412,800 (£222,600 UK and £190,200 overseas)[2] |
Great Expectations is a 1946 British drama film directed by David Lean, based on the 1861 novel by Charles Dickens and starring John Mills and Valerie Hobson. The supporting cast included Bernard Miles, Francis L. Sullivan, Anthony Wager, Jean Simmons, Finlay Currie, Martita Hunt and Alec Guinness.
The script is based on a slimmed-down version of Dickens' novel. It was written by David Lean, Anthony Havelock-Allan, Cecil McGivern, Ronald Neame and Kay Walsh, after Lean had seen an abridged 1939 stage version of the novel, written by Alec Guinness.[3] In the stage version, Guinness had played Herbert Pocket while Martita Hunt played Miss Havisham, roles that they reprised for the film. However, the film was not a strict adaptation of the play. The film was produced by Ronald Neame and photographed by Guy Green.[4] It was the first of two films Lean directed based on Dickens' novels, the other being his 1948 adaptation of Oliver Twist.
John Bryan and Wilfred Shingleton won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Black-and-White, while Guy Green won for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White. The film was also nominated for Best Director, as well as Best Screenplay Adaptation, and Best Picture. The film is now regarded as one of Lean's best; in 1999, on the British Film Institute's Top 100 British films list, Great Expectations was named the 5th greatest British film of all time.
- ^ American Cinematographer, March 2000, p. 136
- ^ a b Chapman, J. (2022). The Money Behind the Screen: A History of British Film Finance, 1945–1985. Edinburgh University Press p. 353.
- ^ Brownlow, Kevin (1996). David Lean: A Biography. St Martin's Press. p. 206. ISBN 978-0312145781.
- ^ "Obituaries: Ronald Neame". The Daily Telegraph. 18 June 2010.