A motion picture adaption of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice released in July, 1940.
Cast and Crew[]
Greer Garson as Elizabeth Bennet
Laurence Oliver as Fitzwilliam Darcy
Mary Boland as Mrs. Bennet
Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine de Bourgh
Maureen O'Sullivan as Jane Bennet
Ann Rutherford as Lydia Bennet
Frieda Insecort as Caroline Bingley
Edmund Gwenn as Mr. Bennet
Karen Morely as Charlotte Lucas
Heather Angel as Catherine Bennet
Marsha Hunt as Mary Bennet
Melville Cooper as William Collins
Edward Ashley Cooper as George Wickham
Directed by Robert Z. Leanord
Produced by Hunt Stromberg
Written by Jane Austen, Aldous Huxley, Jane Murfin, and Helen Jerome
Music by Herbert Stothart
Cinematography by Karl Freund
Editing by Robert Kern
Distributed by MGM
Origin[]
According to "Jane Austen: An Illustrated Treasury," by Rebecca Dickson, this film adaption came about during conflict in the States about whether or not to aid Britain in World War II. Many in the States believed England to be a pompous, strict country which never strayed from their class distinctions. The movie opens with Mr. Darcy openly snubbing Elizabeth Bennet. His rationale behind this (as opposed to what it is in the book, being that she is "tolerable, but not handsome enough to tempt" him) is that she is of the middle classes. Exactly America's stereotype of Britian at that time. However, as the story unfolds, these English become more caring than they seem at first. To (loosely) quote Rebecca Dickson, "The Americans aren't going overseas to save stuck-up aristocrats. They're going to help out that darling Lizzie Bennet and her chummy aunt-in-law Cathy Bourgh".