I deserve to be vilified for giving this film a five-star rating, especially by Austen purists! So, let me start right off here with a few concessions. This film is not, by any stretch, a faithful adaptation of Austen's greatest novel, Pride and Prejudice (1813). It's not even faithful to the spirit of the novel, much less its letter. Scenes have been added (the carriage race, the archery "lesson"); scenes have been deleted (e.g., scenes at Pemberley, in London, and at Lambton). Greer Garson, magnificent as she is, is too old for the part of Elizabeth Bennet, as portrayed in the book. Several of the most delightful characters have been omitted (Mr. and Mrs. Gardner, Georgiana Darcy, Louise Hearst), others have greatly diminished visibility and development (Charlotte, Col. Fitzwilliam, and Sir William Lucas), and two have greatly altered significance (Lady Catherine and Lady Lucas). Charlotte is especially important in any serious literary analysis of the themes of the novel, yet here she is little more than a cipher. The era has been shifted (for visual appeal) to a later time period when costumes were more elaborate. Most egregiously of all, too little of Austen's beautiful language has survived and even fewer of her barbed insights into Regency England and human nature. This film is not among the top five Austen adaptations and not even the best version of its own story. It can't hold a candle to the 1995 adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. In fact, it barely qualifies as an adaptation at all, almost being better characterized as "based on" the book rather than adapting it. And yet . . . and yet, I'm giving it a five-star rating. How can that be? The delights of this film lie in what it is, not what it isn't.

The Story: Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland), a woman of the lower gentry, has her work cut out for her. She's got five daughters in need of husbands, all the more so because the Bennet's estate, Longbourn, will be entailed away upon the death of Mr. Bennet (Edmund Gwenn), to the nearest male relative, the odious Mr. Collins (Melville Cooper), a distant cousin. Mrs. Bennet's spirits are buoyed by the arrival in Meryton of two highly eligible and wealthy young bachelors. All she need do, she imagines, is place her beautiful daughters in the paths of these gentlemen and two of them will soon be married.

The story's protagonist is the second eldest of the five sisters, Elizabeth (Greer Garson). She has a romantic notion of love and no patience for snobbery or ill manners. At the Assembly Ball, the newcomers arrive: Charles Bingley (Bruce Lester), his sister Caroline (Frieda Inescort), and Bingley's inseparable friend, Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier). Bingley is a friendly sort of fellow without much class-consciousness and takes an immediate shine to Elizabeth's older sister, Jane (Maureen O'Sullivan), the fairest of the fair. Elizabeth's two youngest sisters are airheads, Kitty (Heather Angel) and Lydia (Ann Rutherford), and flirt incessantly with the red-coated soldiers at the dance. Mary (Marsha Hunt), the plainest and most bookish of the five, must content herself with the wall. Elizabeth, sitting in a corner with her friend Charlotte Lucas (Karen Morley), overhears Mr. Darcy explain to Bingley why he isn't dancing: "There isn't another woman in the room who it wouldn't be a punishment to stand up with." That bit of snobbishness by itself condemns him in Elizabeth's eyes, but he adds, fatally, about Elizabeth herself, "Oh, she's tolerable, I suppose, but I'm in no mood to give consequence to the middle classes."

Back home, Elizabeth has to fend off an unwanted suitor, Mr. Collins, who ultimately settles on Charlotte instead. Later, Lizzie also has to deal with the stinging insinuations of the snobbish Caroline Bingley. Meanwhile, her negative impression of Darcy grows stronger. One of the officers at Meryton is a handsome newcomer, George Wickham (Edward Ashley). Elizabeth learns from Wickham that Darcy, a childhood friend, had cheated him out of an inheritance. Later, Darcy plays a part in discouraging Bingley from contining his relationship with Jane. Elizabeth's disdain for Mr. Darcy is now buttressed by a multiplicity of reasons. Elizabeth is therefore shocked when the smitten Darcy proposes to her, seemingly out of the blue. In a powerful confrontation, she rejects him in no uncertain terms.

Time passes and Elizabeth begins to discover that each of her reasons for hating Mr. Darcy is less sound than she had believed and some are completely wrong. Later, she also learns that Darcy has intervened on behalf of her family, helping to relieve a scandalous situation involving her sister Lydia and Mr. Wickham. She begins to understand Darcy's true character and likes what she sees. In fact, she finds herself falling in love with him, much to her own chagrin. There are still potential obstacles in the way to happiness for the pair, however, in the form of Darcy's pride (having been once rejected already) and his sneering aunt, Lady Catherine de Bourgh (Edna May Oliver).

Themes: The most essential messages of the novel come through loud and clear, in this version, even if some of the secondary ones are lost. Pride and Prejudice is about the transformation of perfect contempt into perfect love. It is the pride and the prejudice that create the contempt and which are later swept away. Although both Elizabeth and Darcy exhibit both defects in the novel, it is clear that "prejudice" was meant to refer most especially to Elizabeth and "pride" most especially to Darcy. Those correlations are made even more explicit in this filmed version, during the dialog between the two characters at the Netherfield gathering.

Production Values: The screenplay for this film was written by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, based on a successful play, not directly from the novel. And yes, it is the same Aldous Huxley who you've heard of before, author of such books as Brave New World and The Gates of Perception. Huxley was famous also for his interest in psychedelics, long before such interest was commonplace. The emphasis for this production is on farce and romance. Austen's fangs have been yanked. Instead of biting satire, we're given a delightful romantic comedy in period attire. How is that a problem? Austen lovers already have an almost ideal adaptation, as well as another rather tedious older one from the BBC. Here we're blessed with a delightfully farcical version, rather than another faithful one. Variety is the spice of life. Elizabeth, who enjoyed frivolous activities as much as improving her mind, would have enjoyed this version. The snobbish Darcy (as he was at the beginning of the novel) would have pooh-poohed it.

The pace of the film is feverish, reminiscent of theater plays like A Flea in Her Ear. Critics say that the fast pace is what precludes genuine character development, which is one of the most profound strengths of Austen's work. No, the choice to treat the story as a light-hearted farce and romance precluded significant character development and the quick pace simply matched the decision about form.

The sets and costumes are delightfully appealing. Cedric Gibbons won an Oscar (his third) for the art direction for this film. (Gibbons, by the way, also designed the famous Oscar trophy.) True, the costumes are not those of the time period in which Austen set her novels. There may even be some period inconsistencies among the outfits; some purists say so. Who cares? There's plenty to admire. The cinematography is gorgeously rendered high contrast black-and-white. Camera angles are interesting and varied and the editing is fast-paced. The musical score by Herbert Stothart is not only delightful, it is integrated into the film to an extent that few musical scores are. Watch, for example, the early scene at the Assembly Ball and note how the comings and goings of the various characters match the music. There's a sprightly phrase in the musical number produced, I believe, by a quick riff on a harp. It comes up repeatedly and each time we see a couple of the characters sweep past an on-looker, as they are taking a turn about the room. Not too many films make such effective use of their music as this one. There's also a lot of very skillful prop-related humor in this film.

Even so, the visual production values for this film pale in comparison to the quality of the cast. The cast for this version of Pride and Prejudice is, overall, the best ever assembled – not in every role, but taken as an ensemble. This is one of the deepest casts I've ever seen in a film. Obviously, the film belongs first and foremost to Greer Garson, as the cheeky Elizabeth. Many critics consider this the finest single performance of her career. She has an amazing variety and range of facial expressions and, seemingly, the perfect facial reaction to each situation and line of dialog. At the end of the first proposal scene, she gives a pair of sighs of exasperation that are, to my mind, the best sighs I've ever seen on film. That may not sound all that important, but just wait until you see them for yourself. It's a tremendously poignant moment and Garson lays her inner feelings right out there before your eyes. If those sighs don't bring you to tears, you're just not Austen material!

Laurence Olivier may never have appeared more handsome than he does here, as Darcy. His emotional range is exceptional as is his use of gestures and postures to convey meaning and feelings. Colin Firth was a practically perfect Darcy in the 1995 adaptation, but Olivier is satisfying in his own way.

This version of Pride and Prejudice provides easily the best casting for the rest of the Bennet sisters. Maureen O'Sullivan (otherwise best known, ironically, for a role as Tarzan's Jane) is an absolute knockout, as Jane is supposed to be. She is the only actress cast as Jane in any of the versions who is as lovely as I feel Jane is supposed to be. Ann Rutherford, as the flighty Lydia, delivers one of the best supporting roles you'll ever see. Just watch how she used her eyes and facial expressions to illustrate Lydia's flightiness. Marsha Hunt is an absolute riot as Mary, hamming it up just the way one should for this extravaganza of farce. Heather Angel is the most nondescript of the sisters, which is also as it is supposed to be. Check her out in the scene on the swings.

Still, there're more great performances. In my opinion, Frieda Inescort is easily the best Caroline Bingley in any of the versions of Pride and Prejudice. Her haughty visage and the tilt of her head are deliciously malevolent. Then watch her little hand gestures as she digs her barbs into Elizabeth's psyche. Dame Edna May Oliver is magnificent as Lady Catherine, though the film's treatment of that character is, for me, the hardest one of the deviations from the novel to abide. Bruce Lester is every bit the delightful airhead that Charles Bingley is supposed to be and Edward Ashley has all the slimy charm that Wickham must manifest. Melville Cooper hams it up nicely as Mr. Collins.

Then there's Edmund Gwenn and Mary Boland as Mr. and Mrs. Bennet. In keeping with the light, farcical nature of this version, the relationship between the Bennet parents is treated more for comedic value, with less weight on the incompatibility between the two, which in the novel, had culminated in a loveless marriage. Mrs. Bennet is still insufferable, but here she is only humorously insufferable. Here, Mr. Bennet's frustration is whimsical rather than disdainful, as in the novel. He even takes time to complement her beauty, which would have been unthinkable to the Mr. Bennet of the novel. Gwenn and Boland play off one another superbly.

Bottom-Line: Sure, you can find more faithful adaptations of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, notably the one from 1995. Sure, you can find better Austen adaptations in general. What you won't find is one with better overall casting, better acting, livelier pace, more humor, or a bigger chunk of good old Hollywood, gooey romance. It's far from the best way to savor Austen's magnificent prose and insights, but it is a delightful way to spend an evening. I've probably seen this film ten times. It wears well. Austen purists will need to forget about their expectations and approach the movie as they would films like Bridget Jones's Diary, Clueless, or Pride & Prejudice: A Latter-Day Comedy. Taken on its own terms, this 1940 version of Pride and Prejudice is a gem.

Recommended:
Yes

Video Occasion: Good Date Movie
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 9 - 12