Film review: Great Expectations (1946)

I have never been a Dickens fan, at least not since we were forced to read Hard Times for A-Level.  Not only was it hammer-you-over-the-head unsubtle, it included the kind of mis-reading of utilitarianism that so exasperated John Stuart Mill.  Plus it was completely lacking in humor.  However, I have long heard that Great Expectations was one of his best, and I recently saw and loved David Lean's Brief Encounter, so was ready for some sumptuous black-and-white cinematography and excellent British character-acting.  And I was not disappointed!  Everyone in this is great, from the child actor who plays Young Pip, to Alec Guinness in his first major role playing an affable buffoon.  Some actors, like Jean Simmons, who plays the horrid Young Estella, I'd never heard of, yet stole every scene they were in. This is certainly a better Dickens story: criticizing the classist assumptions about whose money is better without pummeling you with it.  And Pip is a very good protagonist (appealingly played by John Mills in adulthood) - not too saintly, definitely human, but good and decent, with a solid character arc.  It's funny, it's thrilling, it's romantic (even though Estella is essentially a psychopath, even if she's been reared that way) and it's tragic without being maudlin.  Plus the names are not TOO over the top (no Mrs Doasyouwouldbedoneby) and some of the characters very endearing, particularly the Alec Guinness character (who is well-played as a boy, too) and Mr. Wemmick, with his outrageous hair and happily nodding Aged P.