Pride and Prejudice [Blu-ray]

Overview

Long before 19th-century novelist Jane Austen became a hot property in Hollywood, MGM produced this opulent and entertaining adaptation of one of Austen's best-known novels. The elegant and slyly satirical comedy of manners gets under way when socially conscious Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland), with the begrudging assistance of her husband (Edmund Gwenn), begins seeking out suitable (and suitably wealthy) husbands for her five daughters: Elizabeth (Greer Garson), Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), Lydia (Ann Rutherford), Kitty (Heather Angel), and Mary (Marsha Hunt). One of the least likely matrimonial prospects is Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), a rich, handsome, but cynical and boorish young man. Naturally, Elizabeth Bennet, the strongest-willed of the Bennet girls, is immediately fascinated by him, and she sets out to land him -- but only on her own terms, and only after she has exacted a bit of genteel revenge for his calculated indifference to her. Though Austen's novel was set in 1813, the year of its publication, the film version takes place in 1835, reportedly so as to take advantage of the more attractive costume designs of that period. Not surprisingly, a few changes had to be made to mollify the Hollywood censors (eager to find offense in the most innocent of material): the most notable is the character of Mr. Collins (Melville Cooper), transformed from the book's hypocritical clergyman to the film's standard-issue opportunist.

Product Details

Release Date:	07/14/2020
UPC:	0883929716708
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Archives
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	5,707

Special Features

Oscar nominated Crime Does not Pay Short Eyes of the Navy; Classic Cartoon The Fishing Bear; Theatrical Trailer

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Greer Garson	Elizabeth Bennet
Laurence Olivier	Fitzwilliam Darcy
Edna May Oliver	Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Maureen O'Sullivan	Jane
Ann Rutherford	Lydia
Mary Boland	Mrs. Bennet
Bruce Lester	Charles Bingley
Frieda Inescort	Miss Bingley
Edmund Gwenn	Mr. Bennet
Karen Morley	Charlotte
Heather Angel	Kitty
Marsha Hunt	Mary
Edward Ashley	Wickham
Melville Cooper	Collins
Marten Lamont	Mr. Denny
E.E. Clive	Sir William Lucas
May Beatty	Mrs. Phillips
Marjorie Wood	Lady Lucas
Gia Kent	Miss de Bourgh
Gerald Oliver Smith	Fitz William
Vernon Downing	Capt. Carter
Buster Slaven	Beck's Assistant
Wyndham Standing	Committeeman
Lowden Adams	Committeeman
Clara Reid	Maid in Parsonage
Claud Allister	Yardgoods Clerk
Bruce Lister	Mr. Bingley
Herbert Stothart	Composer

Technical Credits

Jane Murfin

Aldous Huxley

Robert Z. Leonard	Director
Jane Murfin	Screenwriter
Aldous Huxley	Screenwriter
Hunt Stromberg	Producer

Editorial Reviews

Pride and Prejudice is a moderately faithful re-telling of Jane Austen's best-known novel. The protagonists are appropriately composed in the pre-Victorian England setting, championing Austen's rebellion against what she saw as the excessive emotionalism and romantic world view of the literature of her time. Austen's aim of puncturing holes in the snootiness of upper-middle class figures is retained in Aldous Huxley's screenplay and Robert Leonard's occasionally stiff direction. The unlikely romance of the leads, played conventionally but effectively by the attractive pair of Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson, evolves from contempt to understanding to affection, retaining a modern appeal in its focus on illusory first impressions and the follies of personal pride and class prejudice. Sometimes Leonard gets the details wrong -- the costumes and sets seem more at home in a late Victorian setting than in Austen's early 19th century -- but the overall effect is truthful, transporting us to a world different from but related to our own. The gentle satire of Austen's novel sits quietly, just beneath the surface, only to rise up and take the occasional bite out of offending characters at opportune moments.