Great Expectations

Director David Lean's version is considered by some to be the best-ever screen adaptation of Charles Dickens, and this visually flawless gem is also perfectly cast, with John Mills and Valerie Hobson as grown Pip and Estella (played as youths by Tony Wager and Jean Simmons), along with Alec Guinness (beginning a long association with Lean) as Herbert Pocket, Finlay Currie as Magwitch and Martita Hunt as Miss Havisham. From the hair-raising opening in the graveyard with Pip and Magwitch, the characters seem to have materialized right out of Dickens' pages. Camera: Guy Green (Oscar winning). Director: David Lean. (UK 1946) 118 min.