Pip (Tony Wager) is just a scrawny marsh boy until he is chosen by noted eccentric Miss Havisham (Martita Hunt) as a playmate for her ward, Estella (Jean Simmons). Bullied and cut down by Estella's sharp tongue, Pip longs to be a gentleman and thus worthy of her regard. At 20, Pip (John Mills), is contacted by a lawyer (Francis L. Sullivan) about a mysterious bequest from an unknown benefactor. He joins the ranks of British gentry, aided and befriended by Henry Pocket (Alec Guinness), learning mostly how to spend money and be useless to society, but finds that money alone isn't going to win Estella's (Valerie Hobson) cold heart.
This is a very good, faithful adaptation of the novel until it isn't. Specifically, the ending is changed to be happier, which is fine. I frankly think it's an improvement on the book. (Which also had an ending change to improve it from the much bleaker original.)
This is not my favorite Dickens adaptation but it is very good and the speaking role debut of Alec Guinness (he was an uncredited extra in a movie from 1934). The film introduces Jean Simmons, but she has credits from two years prior, so this may have just been her biggest role at the time.
It's currently streaming on the Criterion Channel and HBO Max.
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