Great Expectations (1934 film)
Great Expectations is a 1934 adaptation of the 1861 Charles Dickens novel of the same name. Filmed with mostly American actors, it was the first sound version of the novel and was produced in Hollywood by Universal Studios and directed by Stuart Walker. It stars Phillips Holmes as Pip, Jane Wyatt as Estella and Florence Reed as Miss Havisham.[1]
Great Expectations | |
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Directed by | Stuart Walker |
Produced by | Stanley Bergerman |
Written by | Gladys Unger |
Based on | Great Expectations by Charles Dickens |
Starring | Phillips Holmes Jane Wyatt Florence Reed Francis L. Sullivan |
Music by | Edward Ward |
Cinematography | George Robinson |
Production company | Universal Pictures |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 100 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Critics consider this 1934 version far inferior to the classic 1946 version, made in England and directed by David Lean. A notable link between the two movies is that Francis L. Sullivan played the role of Jaggers in both.
This film differs somewhat from the novel in making Miss Havisham more eccentric than insane. Unlike the novel, she does not wear her bridal veil constantly, does not seem to have really engineered all of Pip's misfortunes with Estella, and dies offscreen of natural causes rather than in a fire.
Cast
- Henry Hull as Abel Magwitch
- Phillips Holmes as Pip
- Jane Wyatt as Estella
- Florence Reed as Miss Havisham
- Alan Hale as Joe Gargery
- Rafaela Ottiano as Mrs. Joe
- George Barraud as Compeyson
- Francis L. Sullivan as Jaggers
- Douglas Wood as Wopsle
- Forrester Harvey as Uncle Pumblechook
- George P. Breakston as Pip, as a Child
- Harry Cording as Orlick
- Eily Malyon as Sarah Pocket (billed as Eily Malyan)
- Anne Howard as Estella, as a Child
- Walter Armitage as Herbert Pocket
- Walter Brennan as Prisoner on Ship (uncredited)
References
- The American Film Institute Catalog Feature Films: 1931–40 by The American Film Institute, c. 1993
External links
- Great Expectations on IMDb
- Great Expectations at the TCM Movie Database
- Great Expectations at AllMovie