Pride and Prejudice (1940)

The arrival of wealthy bachelors in town causes an uproar when families with single daughters aggressively seek engagements, including the Bennet family, with five eligible daughters.

Director:

Robert Z. Leonard

Writers:

Aldous Huxley (screen play), Jane Murfin (screen play)

Stars:

Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland

Won 1 Oscar. Another 1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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	...	Miss Bingley
Edmund Gwenn	...	Mr. Bennet
Karen Morley	...	Mrs. Collins
Heather Angel	...	Kitty Bennet
Marsha Hunt	...	Mary Bennet
Melville Cooper	...	Mr. Collins
Edward Ashley	...	Mr. Wickham
Bruce Lester	...	Mr. Bingley
E.E. Clive	...	Sir William Lucas

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.

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Plot Keywords:

pride and prejudice | pretty girl | arrogancy | arrogant man | cleavage | 

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Taglines:

Five charming sisters on the gayest, merriest manhunt that ever snared a bewildered bachelor! Girls! Take a lesson from these head hunters.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

Sir Laurence Olivier said of this movie, "I was very unhappy with the picture. It was difficult to make Darcy into anything more than an unattractive-looking prig, and darling Greer seemed to me all wrong as Elizabeth."

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Goofs

At one point, Mr Darcy suggests to Elizabeth that they should "call it quits". There is no recorded instance of this expression before 1851, decades after the film is set.

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Quotes

Mrs. Bennet: Look at them! Five of them without dowries. What's to become of them?
Mr. Bennet: Yes, what's to become of the wretched creatures? Perhaps we should have drowned some of them at birth.

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits prologue: It happened in OLD ENGLAND . . . . in the village of Meryton . . . .

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Connections

Referenced in Gimme a Break!: Pride and Prejudice (1986)

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Soundtracks

Auf Flügeln des Gesanges (On Wings of Song), Op. 34/2
(1835) (uncredited)
Composed by Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy

User Reviews

Delightful

It does not run along the lines of the Jane Austen classic, but the 1940 movie was actually based on the stage adaption, eventually purchased by the MGM studio as what could have become another Norma Shearer expensive spectacle. Like many other projects at the studio, this collected dust after the death of Irving Thalberg, head of MGM.

Thankfully, new casting was decided on. Shearer of course is really too old for the role. The result was what I believe to be one of the most memorable movies of the 1940s. Austen's classic comedy of manners still has all its light touches of romance and humour, with the horrors of English 1800s, loss of estate, inheritance and destined sinking with no worldly stature for a family of five girls with no male heirs.

Amicably backed by a competent supporting cast including Edmund Gwenn and Mary Boland, the star of the show is really Greer Garson. Fresh from her successful debut as Robert Donat's wife in "Goodbye Mr Chips", Garson is really like Lizzy Bennett herself, charming, high spirited and strong willed. It is one of her best roles, just before she became the 'first lady' of MGM. Olivier, brooding and snobbish as the high classed Darcy, also performs well, but is still outshone by Garson.

Tasteful sets, costumes, music and art decoration helped to make this such a huge success in its day. All the right elements of acting, script and direction have made this a production that should be better remembered. We don't relate to the dilemnas of costume period drama days, but "Pride and Prejudice" is great cinematically to have lost little of its charm or its timeless appeal.

Rating: 9/10

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

26 July 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Pride and Prejudice

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1