Pride and Prejudice (1940 film)
| Pride and Prejudice | |
|---|---|
Theatrical release poster
|
|
| Directed by | Robert Z. Leonard |
| Produced by | Hunt Stromberg |
| Written by | Helen Jerome (dramatization) |
| Screenplay by | |
| Based on |
Pride and Prejudice 1813 novel by Jane Austen |
| Starring | |
| Music by | Herbert Stothart |
| Cinematography | Karl Freund |
| Edited by | Robert Kern |
|
Production
company |
|
| Distributed by | MGM |
|
Release date
|
|
|
Running time
|
117 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,437,000 |
| Box office | $1.8 million |
Pride and Prejudice is a 1940 American film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel Pride and Prejudice, directed by Robert Z. Leonard and starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. The screenplay was written by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, adapted specifically from the stage adaptation by Helen Jerome in addition to Jane Austen's novel. The film is about five sisters from an English family of landed gentry who must deal with issues of marriage, morality, and misconceptions. The film was released by MGM on July 26, 1940 in the United States, and was critically well received. The New York Times film critic praised the film as "the most deliciously pert comedy of old manners, the most crisp and crackling satire in costume that we in this corner can remember ever having seen on the screen."
The film differs from the novel in a number of ways. The period of the film, for example, is later than that of Austen's novel—a change driven by the studio's desire to use more elaborate and flamboyant costumes than those from Austen's time period. Some scenes were altered significantly. For example, in the confrontation near the end of the film between Lady Catherine de Bourgh and Elizabeth Bennet, the former's haughty demand that Elizabeth promise never to marry Darcy was changed into a hoax to test the mettle and sincerity of Elizabeth's love. In the novel, this confrontation is an authentic demand motivated by Lady Catherine's snobbery and, especially, by her ardent desire that Darcy marry her own daughter.
Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland) and her two eldest daughters, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan) and Elizabeth (Greer Garson), are shopping for new dresses when they see two gentlemen and a lady alight from a very expensive carriage outside. They learn that the men are Mr. Bingley (Bruce Lester), who has just rented the local estate of Netherfield, and Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), both wealthy, eligible bachelors, which excites Mrs. Bennet. Collecting her other daughters, Mrs Bennet returns home, where she tries to make Mr. Bennet see Mr. Bingley, but he refuses, having already made his acquaintance.
...
Wikipedia