My lovely girlfriend and I had decided to watch every Oscar nominated film for Best Picture. Every single one from 1927 till now. Jumping randomly from year to year we watched “Marty” (1955) then “The Bishop’s Wife” (1946) all in one night (We are night owls). Agreeing to watch just one more film that day we happened upon “Great Expectations” (1946) directed by David Lean. As we watched I came to realize that we had stumbled upon what I now consider a forgotten classic.
Like any Lean film the scope is immense. You might have seen his classics like “Lawrence of Arabia” (1962), “The Bridge on the River Kwai” (1957), or “Doctor Zhivago” (1965) and seen how they amaze you with their size, detail, and sheer amount of people involved. With “Great Expectations” Lean maintains his scope but invites you to observe such lovely characters , relationships, and conflicts with such intimacy that few directors can craft.
The film completely consumes you and leads your emotions precisely where each scene wants them to go. The scene where the two young boys brawl is so delightfully silly you would think you were a kid again.
The serious and bizarre nature of Miss Havisham (played cryptically by Martita Hunt) holds the characters as well as the audience under her thumb as she imposes her dark reality on others.
Unsurprisingly, Lean flexes his visual mastery of each scene and every landscape we encounter. As I write this I wonder who is better at this feat, John Ford, or David Lean? I doubt I could ever decide. What do you think? Anyway, watch this beautiful scene as two characters chase an escaped prisoner through the marshes
However much I wish I could show you the whole film here on This Day in Film History I cannot. However you can watch it free on https://tubitv.com/ or using the Tubi app on your smartphone. If you haven’t already seen this film I hope you do just that. To end this article I placed the trailer of the film below. Enjoy!
Jon Shai Van Sickle
Jon Shai Van Sickle is the owner and operator of This Day in Film History. He is a filmmaker as well as a film historian. He currently lives in Utah.
I’m glad that I pulled up your information. Do you post something about film daily? I am a serious classic film buff, and other peoples opinions of film interests me.
Rebecca Rothenberger
August 29, 2021