As was the case with so many Hollywood Golden Era films of the '40s any relationship between this version of Pride and Prejudice and either Jane Austen's novel and historical accuracy is purely coincidental. Nevertheless, and to my surprise, I loved it. The screenplay, written by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin is brilliant and very funny but departs significantly from the original. Those of you who are very familiar with the Jane Austen novel and are such purists that you can't live with the significant changes made should stay far away. I forgave Huxley and Murfin, though, because their sweet, goodnatured romantic comedy, which takes only 117 minutes to tell, just works.
The cast, particularly the women was marvelous. They were uniformly beautiful as well as graceful and elegantly dressed. Greer Garson, as Lizie, was a delight, despite having been many years older that Austen's original. Her scenes with Laurence Olivier, as Darcy, couldn't have been more fun. In this version, Olivier became a warm and and approachable person at a much earlier stage than he did in Austen's novel and their scenes together fairly crackled with romantic tension. Even the pompous and arrogant Lady Catherine de Bourgh, played by Edna May Oliver was written to display a level of warmth and humanity that Austen certainly never envisaged.
This old film has held its age remarkably well and is great, great fun. Highly recommended!
The cast, particularly the women was marvelous. They were uniformly beautiful as well as graceful and elegantly dressed. Greer Garson, as Lizie, was a delight, despite having been many years older that Austen's original. Her scenes with Laurence Olivier, as Darcy, couldn't have been more fun. In this version, Olivier became a warm and and approachable person at a much earlier stage than he did in Austen's novel and their scenes together fairly crackled with romantic tension. Even the pompous and arrogant Lady Catherine de Bourgh, played by Edna May Oliver was written to display a level of warmth and humanity that Austen certainly never envisaged.
This old film has held its age remarkably well and is great, great fun. Highly recommended!