Davis Lean's spellbinding screen translation effectively captures the spirit of Charles Dickens' literary masterpiece. It tells the story of young Pip (John Mills) who experiences two distinctly different encounters with the escaped convict Abel Magwitch (Finlay Currie) and the eccentric Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt). With a life of hard grind in a blacksmith's looking the most likely prospect, Pip's fortunes change dramatically when the generosity of a mysterious benefactor propels him to London to begin his journey towards becoming a gentleman with 'great expectations'.