Pride and Prejudice

Director: Robert Z. Leonard

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:	10/10/2006
UPC:	0012569793682
Original Release:	1940
Rating:	NR
Source:	Warner Home Video
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Surround]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	18,388

Special Features

Oscar-nominated Crime Doesn't Pay short Eyes of the Navy; Classic cartoon The Fishing Bear; Theatrical trailer; Subtitles: English, Fran?ais, Espa?ol & Portugu?s (feature film only)

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

Jane Murfin	Screenwriter
Aldous Huxley	Screenwriter
Hunt Stromberg	Producer

Scene Index

Disc #1 -- Pride and Prejudice
1. Credits and Cast List [2:07]
2. Meryton's New Arrivals [5:08]
3. Racing Home [2:35]
4. One Step Ahead [4:32]
5. Assembly Ball [2:26]
6. Dance Floor Discussion [4:01]
7. In No Humor Tonight [6:19]
8. Confined at Netherfield [3:42]
9. Accomplished Women [7:05]
10. Mr. Collins [5:37]
11. Target Practice [6:55]
12. Such an Interesting Family [5:55]
13. Resistible Proposal [5:44]
14. Tea and Sympathy [5:14]
15. Collins' Choice [2:21]
16. Visiting the Collinses [2:56]
17. Evening at Rosings [4:39]
18. Gracious Lady Catherine [3:37]
19. Last Man I'd Marry [5:46]
20. Bad New Travels Fast [5:26]
21. Sisterly Comfort [2:43]
22. What Comes of Chattering [1:30]
23. News of Lydia [4:31]
24. Prodigal Daughter [3:08]
25. Seriously Displeased [6:06]
26. Quite Mad [1:35]
27. Dare I Ask? [4:01]
28. Tottering on the Brink [1:50]

Menu

Disc #1 -- Pride and Prejudice
Play Movie
Scene Selections
Special Features
Eyes of the Navy
The Fishing Bear
Theatrical Trailer
Languages
Subtitles: English
Subtitles: Français
Subtitles: Español
Subtitles: Português
Subtitles: Off

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.

In The Saint John's Bible the art, plentiful and beautiful, is not there as decoration or even as illustration: it is there to illuminate, to light up Holy Scripture from within. It is sacred art, focused intently on Sacred Revelation. Susan Sink's magnificent book is above all a biblical book. She leads us into every section of the Bible, puts it in context for us, and makes clear how the art springs from and refers back to a salvific meaning. It is a book almost impossible to comprehend; it does not ask us to comprehend. What it does ask is that we open our minds and hearts and allow the Word of God, written, drawn, and painted, to transform us. These pages are not for mere reading. They are for lectio divina, as befits a Benedictine book.
Sister Wendy Beckett, Contemplative nun, author, art commentator

By its sheer beauty and craftsmanship the Saint John's Bible compels its viewers to stand in awe. That experience will be further enhanced when readers have in hand Susan Sink's The Art of the Saint John's Bible. She presents us with finely crafted answers to questions we might not have even been aware we were seeking. Why that image? Those colors? How did they . . .? A solid contribution to an epic enterprise.
George Wilson, S.J.

From the Publisher