News Chronicle, wrote that "Dickens has never before been rendered effectively into cinema terms". Gavin Lambert however, writing for the short-lived, but influential Sequence magazine, felt "that it is not so much an attempt to recreate Dickens on the screen, as a very graceful evasion of most of the issues". In America James Agee praised the film – "almost never less than graceful, tasteful and intelligent". A 1999 review in the US by Roger Ebert noted the film as "the greatest of all the Dickens films" and added that "The movie was made by Lean at the top of his early form". Box office It was also the third most popular film at the British box office in 1947 and most popular movie at the Canadian box office in 1948. According to Kinematograph Weekly the 'biggest winner' at the box office in 1947 Britain was The Courtneys of Curzon Street, with "runners up" being The Jolson Story, Great Expectations, Odd Man Out, Frieda, Holiday Camp and Duel in the Sun. The film's critical status has generally stayed high. Kevin Brownlow, a biographer of Lean, wrote that "Dickens' brilliance at creating characters was matched by Cineguild's choice of actors", and Alain Silver and James Ursini have drawn attention to the film's "overall narrative subjectivity", finding Lean "more than faithful to the original's first person style". In 1999, it came fifth in a BFI poll of the top 100 British films, while in 2004, Total Film named it the fourteenth greatest British film of all time. It was the first British film to win an Oscar for its cinematography. Awards John Bryan (Art Direction) and Wilfred Shingleton (Set Direction) won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Black-and-White, while Guy Green won for Best Cinematography, Black-and-White in 1948. Lean was nominated for Best Director, Lean, Ronald Neame and Anthony Havelock-Allan for Best Screenplay and the film for Best Picture. See also BFI Top 100 British films References Further reading External links bfi.org.uk Great Expectations at the BFI Great Expectations an essay by Adrian Turner at the Criterion Collection 1946 drama films 1946 films Films directed by David Lean Films set in the Victorian era Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award Films based on Great Expectations Films shot at Pinewood Studios British drama films British black-and-white films Films produced