Great Expectations

Source catalog description

This description refers to material held by Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture. Visual details below describe the original material.

A two-part educational film with the title Great Expectations. It consists of two (2) reels of 16mm color acetate film with optical sound. Part one opens with Clifton Fadiman providing contextual narration and discussing "the prison" as a major theme that arises in Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations, before the film transitions to a re-enactment of the scene in which young Pip meets young Estella and Miss Havisham (Rosalie Crutchley). The rest of part one alternates between scenes from the novel and Clifton Fadiman’s narration. Part two starts out with Fadiman providing a philosophical analysis of an interaction between Pip (John Stride) and Miss Havisham. The rest of part two alternates between Fadiman’s narration and re-enactments of scenes from the novel.

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