'Great Expectations' (1946)
Charles Dickens' classic is about the life of orphan Pip growing through life's trials and tribulations from 1812 to 1840. It has been adapted for the screen over 200 times yet few have managed to successfully condense the 800 page epic life story into a cinematically feasible running time.
The masterwork of social mobility and class struggles has notably been made into a vehicle for Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow in 1998 and even an episode of 'South Park' in 2000. But the one adaptation that really captured the novel's true atmosphere was David Lean's inspirational 1946 version with John Mills as Pip.