Classic Movies on Sky Arts - The Story of Great Expectations

 

We are into series 5 of Classic Movies on Sky Arts. The same presenters are here: Ian Nathan, Steven Armstrong, Neil Normand and Christina Newland.

Episode 5/1 Great Expectations (1946)

A new series of classic films starts with the so-familiar story of Great Expectations. It has been adapted many times for the big screen and TV. This was one of the first, a David Lean black-and-white film from just after the end of the Second World War. Christina starts by telling us that Charles Dickens was a "visual storyteller". We hear a lot about the background to the book from Ian and Steven, with descriptions of the story and especially how hard it was to decide what to include from this long book. 

Neil Norman thought that this was one of the author's "most popular of his books". Dickens always liked to read the book to an audience, and Steven adds that it was "almost a stand-up routine". Christina said that the Victorians loved melodrama. Ian chips in with it being "a triumph of casting".

We hear a lot about David Lean, who somehow went to see a play of Great Expectations much against his better judgement. However, he was bowled over by the story and knew it would make a great movie. We hear how he edited the bookkeeping to just the most dramatic scenes. Ian and Nathan tell us about Lean's history and how the films he made had become so popular, starting with Brief Encounter. It was interesting that he and his scriptwriter went off to Cornwall to produce the screenplay.

The presenters talk about the cast, from seventeen-year-old Jean Simmons as Estelle to Valerie Hobson as the older version. Then the young Pip, played by Anthony Wager, with John Mills when he is an adult. This is such a great cast that includes Bernard Miles and Alec Guinness. Then it's Finlay Currie who plays the sinister Magwitch and has his frightening meeting with young Pip. Martita Hunt had played Miss Haversham many times on stage.

We hear about the sets, the locations and the cinematography. Black and white has never looked so theatrical. Audiences loved the film, and it won Oscars for art direction and cinematography. David Lean was nominated for best director. Ian says it was "the purest expression of his talent". But there was nothing for the cast. Neil Norman summed up the film by saying that Lean was the "first director that made Dickens live on the screen". All the presenters thought that this was probably the best-ever adaptation of a Dickens novel.