''Great Expectations'' is a 1974 film made for television based on the

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

1861 novel of the same name. It was directed by Joseph Hardy, with screenwriter

Sherman Yellen Sherman Yellen (born February 25, 1932, New York City) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and political commentator. Early life and education Sherman Yellen was born in 1932 to Nathan and Lillian Yellen. He attended the High School of Mus ...

and music by

Maurice Jarre Maurice-Alexis Jarre (; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009)allmusic Biography/ref> was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations with ...

, starring

Michael York Michael York OBE (born Michael Hugh Johnson; 27 March 1942) is an English film, television and stage actor. After performing on-stage with the Royal National Theatre, he had a breakthrough in films by playing Tybalt in Franco Zeffirelli's ''Ro ...

as Pip,

Simon Gipps-Kent Simon Gipps-Kent (born Simon Trevor Kent; 25 October 1958 – 16 September 1987) was a prolificAlistair D. McGown & Mark J. Dochert''The Hill and Beyond: Children's Television Drama – An Encyclopedia'' British Film Institute, 2003, p. 97. 20 ...

as Young Pip and

Sarah Miles Sarah Miles (born 31 December 1941) is an English actress. She is known for her roles in films ''The Servant'' (1963), ''Blowup'' (1966), ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), ''The Man Who Loved Cat Dancing'' (1973), '' White Mischief'' (1987) and '' Ho ...

as Estella. The production, for Transcontinental Films and ITC, was made for US television and released to cinemas in the UK. It broke with tradition by having the same actress (the 32-year-old Sarah Miles) play both the younger and older Estella. The film was shot by

Freddie Young Frederick A. Young (9 October 1902 – 1 December 1998) was a British cinematographer. He is probably best known for his work on David Lean's films ''Lawrence of Arabia'' (1962), ''Doctor Zhivago'' (1965) and ''Ryan's Daughter'' (1970), all th ...

. It was filmed in

Eastmancolor Eastmancolor is a trade name used by Eastman Kodak for a number of related film and processing technologies associated with color motion picture production and referring to George Eastman, founder of Kodak. Eastmancolor, introduced in 1950, was on ...

and it was entered into the 9th Moscow International Film Festival in 1975.

Plot summary

Cast

as Pip *

as Estella * James Mason as Abel Magwitch *

Margaret Leighton Margaret Leighton, CBE (26 February 1922 – 13 January 1976) was an English actress, active on stage and television, and in film. Her film appearances included (her first credited debut feature) in Anatole de Grunwald's ''The Winslow Boy'' ( ...

as Miss Havisham *

Robert Morley Robert Adolph Wilton Morley, CBE (26 May 1908 – 3 June 1992) was an English actor who enjoyed a lengthy career in both Britain and the United States. He was frequently cast as a pompous English gentleman representing the Establishment, of ...

as Uncle Pumblechook *

Anthony Quayle Sir John Anthony Quayle (7 September 1913 – 20 October 1989) was a British actor and theatre director. He was nominated for an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role as Thomas Wolsey in the film '' Anne of the Thousand Days'' (1969 ...

as Jaggers * Joss Ackland as Joe Gargery * Rachel Roberts as Mrs. Gargery *

Andrew Ray Andrew Ray (31 May 193920 August 2003) was an English actor who was best known as a child star. Biography He was born Andrew Olden (Ray was his father's stage name) in Southgate, Middlesex, the son of the radio comic Ted Ray and his wife, sho ...

as Herbert Pocket *

Heather Sears Heather Christine Sears (28 September 1935 – 3 January 1994) was a British stage and screen actress. Early life Sears was the daughter of distinguished London doctor William Gordon Sears by his marriage to Eileen Gould."SEARS, Heather, actre ...

as Biddy *

as Young Pip * James Faulkner as Bentley Drummle *

Peter Bull Peter Cecil Bull, (21 March 1912 – 20 May 1984) was a British character actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as '' The African Queen'', '' Tom Jones'', and ''Dr. Strangelove''. Biography He was the fourth and youngest son ...

as Wemmick *

John Clive John Clive (6 January 1933 – 14 October 2012) was an English actor and author, known internationally for his historical and social fiction, such as ''KG200'' and ''Barossa''. Clive was also an established British television and film actor. ...

as Mr. Wopsle *

Patsy Smart Patsy Smart (14 August 1918 – 6 February 1996) was an English actress, best remembered for her performance as Miss Roberts in the 1970s ITV television drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. She also appeared in: ''Danger Man'', '' Only When I Laug ...

as Mrs. Wopsle *

Maria Charles Maria Charles (born 22 September 1929) is an English film, television and stage actress, director and comedian. She is probably best known for her TV performance as the overbearing mother Bea Fisher in the ITV sitcom ''Agony''. Charles has also ...

as Sarah Pocket

Production and reception

''CinemaTV Today'' reported in 1974, however, that "in an unprecedented move, the bulk of the score for Sir Lew Grade and NBC's musical version of ''Great Expectations'' has been scrapped seven weeks into shooting". ''Films Illustrated'' reported that the film would contain "only a traditional score by Maurice Jarre" after the idea of a film musical version had been dropped. In 1995, Michael York said "we found when we started putting it together

hat A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

the songs interrupted the narrative flow of the piece". Critics' comments were generally negative. '' The Listener'': "Everything is wrong about it with a sort of dedicated, inspired wrongness that, in itself, is breath-taking". The ''

Monthly Film Bulletin ''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...

'' thought director Hardy and screenwriter Yellen had reduced "one of Dickens' most subtle and complex novels to an insipid seasonal confection". Gordon Gow, writing in ''

Films and Filming ''Films and Filming'' was the longest-running British gay magazine prior to the partial decriminalisation of homosexuality in England and Wales.Bengry, Justin"The Queer History of Films and Filming."''Little Joe: A magazine about queers and cinema ...

'' thought it odd to have "Pip divided between two players,

hile Hile ( ne, हिले) is a hill town located in the Eastern Part of Nepal, 13 km north of the regional center of Dhankuta Bazar. At an elevation of 1948 meters, it is the main route to other hilly districts like Bhojpur and Sankhuwasab ...

his beloved Estella should be played by one actress the whole way through". Brian McFarlane, writing in a 2008 study of screen adaptations of ''Great Expectations'', criticised the film for its tendency to give way to "clichés of sentimentality" and assured the director, who had expressed a hope that people would not feel the necessity of comparing it with

David Lean Sir David Lean (25 March 190816 April 1991) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter and editor. Widely considered one of the most important figures in British cinema, Lean directed the large-scale epics ''The Bridge on the River ...

's version that, "he need not have worried: no one would have spoken of them in the same breath. It's not just Lean's film with which it would not stand comparison but with several superior TV mini-series too". McFarlane expressed some admiration however for

's interpretation of the jilted Miss Havisham: "there is a potent sense of the perverse pleasure she takes in watching Estella humiliate Pip, and, during a later visit, of real cruelty in her telling him, 'You've lost her'. Leighton injected 'a necessary bitterness into these scenes. The critic David Parker, writing for the

BFI Screenonline Screenonline is a website about the history of British film, television and social history as documented by film and television. The project has been developed by the British Film Institute and funded by a £1.2 million grant from the National Lot ...

website, praised Joss Ackland's interpretation of Joe Gargery: "Ackland manages to create a subtle blend of individual simplicity and moral fortitude that seems to capture the essential role the village blacksmith fills in the narrative."

References

External links

* * * * {{Great Expectations 1974 films 1974 drama films American drama films British drama films Films shot at EMI-Elstree Studios Films based on Great Expectations Television shows based on Great Expectations Films directed by Joseph Hardy (director) Television shows shot at EMI-Elstree Studios 1970s English-language films 1970s American films 1970s British films