Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writers:

Jane Austen (novel)
Aldous Huxley (writer)

Release Date:

26 July 1940 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Tagline:

When pretty girls t-e-a-s-e-d men into marriage...

Plot:

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs. Bennet is especially eager to find suitable husbands for them...

Plot Keywords:

Friend | Austen | Parent | Jane | Costume

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Greer Garson	...	Elizabeth Bennet
Laurence Olivier	...	Mr. Darcy
Mary Boland	...	Mrs. Bennet
Edna May Oliver	...	Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Jane Bennet
Ann Rutherford	...	Lydia Bennet
Frieda Inescort	...	Caroline Bingley
Edmund Gwenn	...	Mr. Bennet
Karen Morley	...	Charlotte Collins
Heather Angel	...	Kitty Bennet
Marsha Hunt	...	Mary Bennet
Bruce Lester	...	Charles Bingley
Edward Ashley	...	George Wickham
Melville Cooper	...	Mr. Collins
Marten Lamont	...	Mr. Denny

Runtime:

117 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | USA:Approved

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Frieda Inescort, who plays ultra-snob Caroline Bingley, was suffering from multiple sclerosis at the time she made this film.

Goofs:

Continuity: When their cousin Collins is expected to dinner, the butler comes in to light the candles. The mother asks about Collins and when we cut back to the butler, all the candles are lit.

Quotes:

Mr. Darcy: You must allow me to tell you how much I admire and love you.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Little Britain: Hard-Boiled Egg Eating (#1.3)" (2003)

Soundtrack:

Pomp and Circumstance

Austen with a sugar coating and no bite

Jane Austen's novel 'Pride and Prejudice' was probably ripe for MGM adaptation during WWII, even with the inevitable changes and rewrites from what she intended (for example, there are hints of romance for all the Bennet daughters by the end, even Mary).

What's good about it? Mainly the casting - Greer Garson is a feisty and cheeky Elizabeth (and this was more than 50 years before Jennifer Ehle played her in a similar way for BBC TV); Laurence Olivier never looked more attractive or brooded with greater effect than here as Darcy; Edna May Oliver is a memorable and prickly Catherine de Bourgh; Edmund Gwenn and Mary Boland are the Bennet parents; and the other Bennet girls are eye-catching and fun (Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane, Ann Rutherford as flighty Lydia, Heather Angel as Kitty, and Marsha Hunt as Mary).

Austen's barbs and fangs are removed from this adaptation, making it a romantic sugar gloop like many other films of the period. Still, providing you expect this, enjoy what's on the screen. MGM did this kind of thing better than other studios of the time, after all.