Pride and Prejudice (1940)

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs. Bennet is especially eager to find suitable husbands for them. When the rich single gentlemen Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy come to ... See full summary »

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writers:

Aldous Huxley (screenplay), Jane Murfin (screenplay),

Stars:

Edward Ashley, Marten Lamont, Greer Garson

Won 1 Oscar.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Edward Ashley	...	Mr. Wickham
Marten Lamont	...	Mr. Denny
E.E. Clive	...	Sir William Lucas
Marjorie Wood	...	Lady Lucas
May Beatty	...	Mrs. Philips
Greer Garson	...	Elizabeth Bennet
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Jane Bennet
Ann Rutherford	...	Lydia Bennet
Marsha Hunt	...	Mary Bennet
Heather Angel	...	Kitty Bennet
Mary Boland	...	Mrs. Bennet
Edmund Gwenn	...	Mr. Bennet
Laurence Olivier	...	Mr. Darcy
Frieda Inescort	...	Miss Bingley
Bruce Lester	...	Mr. Bingley

Storyline

Mr. and Mrs. Bennet have five unmarried daughters, and Mrs. Bennet is especially eager to find suitable husbands for them. When the rich single gentlemen Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy come to live nearby, the Bennets have high hopes. But pride, prejudice, and misunderstandings all combine to complicate their relationships and to make happiness difficult.

---

Plot Keywords:

pride | comedy of manners | social life | marriage | friend | 

---

Taglines:

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

---

Genres:

Drama | Romance

---

Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Orgulho e Preconceito

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Loew's

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Initially scheduled to start pre-production in 1936, under the supervision of Irving Thalberg with his wife, Norma Shearer as Elizabeth Bennett, but pre-production was put to a halt after Thalberg's death.

---

Goofs

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

Elizabeth Bennett: Oh, if you want to be really refined, you have to be dead. There's no one as dignified as a mummy

---

Connections

Featured in The Many Lovers of Miss Jane Austen (2011)

---

Soundtracks

"Sumer Is Icumen In"
(uncredited)
Traditional English folk song

User Reviews

Wonderful for its time

Is the 1995 television version superior? Yes - every historical period is better recreated since Stanley Kubrick took up the reins with Barry Lyndon in the mid 1970s. Lighting, dress, authentic settings, more faithful adaptations - though not better acting. In the last thirty years, we've been treated to the re-making of all that Hollywood and television had adapted from much of Thackeray, Austen, Balzac, Dickens, Eliot, Hardy, James, Wharton, Twain, Zola, DeMaupassant, even Leopardi. and in virtually every case, the movies are more faithful to their books, the spirit better represented.

Why? I think because movies and television have been more segmented. In 1940, Hollywood was appealing to everyone attending their weekly movies - from the 8 year old girl to the 60 year old man, from the miner to the mine owner, banker and sewer worker. In America alone, 90 million people attended the movies EACH WEEK in the early 1940s. As a result, Hollywood felt it had to appeal to all - and that some aspects of classics could be made more palatable in making them more mainstream.

"Horrors" say the purists. Well, I don't think so - but yes I do prefer the more recent version (of everything).

And yet this is a delightful, charming, humorous, moving film. Greer Garson and Maureen O'Sullivan, Laurence Olivier, Frieda Inescourt (what a voice!), Edna May Oliver, Gwenn and all the rest of the cast are fun, great fun to watch.

In watching this movie, you're watching Hollywood at its top at the time - the same studio that produced the Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind in the years immediately preceding this. And you get to see the glowing Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier.

So, this is very enjoyable - except to the purists.