Pride and Prejudice (1940)
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Director: Robert Z. Leonard
Starring: Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver,
Maureen O’Sullivan, Ann Rutherford
Honors:
Jane Austen’s popular early
nineteenth century novel gets the Hollywood treatment in MGM’s 1940 production
of Pride and Prejudice. One of the
United Kingdom’s most beloved works of literature transitions to a prestige
film for Hollywood’s most lavish studio, which in turn trims and tailors the
lengthy tale into a two hour costume picture. This period tale about young
ladies learning of lessons on social society, morality, and marriage would be
one of the pictures made with cinematic pride for MGM, garnering some critical
attention, but in the end would become one of many adaptions made for the
classic Austen story.
Pride and Prejudice is a
drama/comedy about five sisters coming of age as they learn to handle social
society, relationships, and their future. The well to do socialite Mrs. Bennet
(Mary Boland) is excited when she hears of two new young and wealthy bachelors
arrive in town that could make possible suitors for her grown daughters. Each
of Bennet’s daughters have a distinct style about them, but it is Elizabeth
(Greer Garson) and Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan) whom she grooms into possibly
finding themselves a rich gentleman to marry. Elizabeth grows a distinct
relationship with one of the gentleman, Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), whose
pride repulses her, but the two cannot help but have an attraction to one
another. After a series of coming closer and quarreling over their views on
what makes the right person for them socially speaking the two finally open up
their feelings towards each other after putting aside their silly issues that had
made them squabble many times over.
The picture plays as a mix of a high class period costume picture and a
slight screwball comedy where the two stars bicker back and forth until they
realize that they are made for each other. One can clearly see much effort was
put into the production quality of the feature with elaborate sets and wardrobe
along with a large cast of some of the finest actors of the time. What may hurt
this picture is that it falls short of going all-in on the production with the
lack of Technicolor to go along with the detailed settings and costumes.
Further hindering the source material is the fact that the story is compacted
into a two hour feature playing primarily on the humor of society, while at the
same time taking itself too seriously. It is as if the film could not put
itself fully in one direction and fails to be really great.
A product of the glitzy Hollywood studio of MGM, Pride and Prejudice was meant to be yet another prestige picture back
when it was originally green lit in 1936, but due to the untimely death of the wildly
successful producer Irving Thalberg, it was put on hold. It would take a couple
of years before the project was re-launched, and unfortunately much had change
in that period of time. What was originally going to be cast of Clark Gable and
Norma Shearer in the lead roles would move to other stars and director as
filming began in 1939.
Director Robert Z. Leonard would be given the responsibility of
undertaking this feature film now casted with English born actors Greer Garson
and Laurence Olivier in the leads roles. Leonard was no slouch when it came to
prestige pictures as he had already directed The Great Ziegfeld to an Academy Award for best picture in 1936.
Greer was still new to the screen, but made an impression in the critically
acclaim Goodbye, Mr. Chips the year
prior. Olivier, a proud stage actor, recently had really opened up towards the
big screen as he transferred is intense stage presence to his feature film
performance. Both stars’ performances were adequate for the characters, but
both come off as rather snooty and stiff, which in my opinion, does not make
for a good love story.
Aside from the main characters, the cast of ancillary characters make
for far more interesting group of performers. Mary Boland plays the matriarch
of the family, the character that is the real reason behind the whole story.
She plays well a supporting character as a higher class middle-aged woman that
looks out primarily for her own social status over the joy of her children. She
is a delightful actress that provides high energy to the film. So much can be
said of Edna May Oliver as well as she plays Lady Catherine, a very prejudice
upper-class “lady” who essentially controls everyone around her, telling them
what they should or should not do. Oliver was one of the best liked and most
recognizable actresses in Hollywood, which is astounding since she was always a
supporting actress. Her signature long face made her perfect for any harsh
tongue ladies in any film, and here provides the perfect friction in a story
that needed a character that stands out.
Other players of note in the cast included a grand mix of talent.
Maureen O’Sullivan, who was best known for playing Jane in many Tarzan pictures,
provides a rather good performance as Elizabeth’s sister Jane. Ann Rutherford
appears as Lydia, yet another of the sisters, as she plays something a little
more legitimate than her most popular roles as Andy Hardy’s love interest in
the popular Mickey Rooney series. Lovable character actors Edmund Gwenn and
Melville Cooper appear in the picture as the endearing father to the sisters
and Mr. Collins, the cousin to the sisters who asks Elizabeth to marry him (in
that proper British way where cousins can marry… I guess). Gwenn brings a
lovability of a male figure to the film while Cooper brings a bit of comedy as
the butt of some jokes.
The film basis made more of its roots from the stage adaption of the
novel, which made for many changes in the tale that served as the source
material. The time period on which the entire tale takes place is vastly
compressed while many scenes are wither moved, trimmed, edited, deleted or even
added to make the storyline fit a pattern more suitable for American movie
audiences.
Critics would generally like the picture, mostly for it art decoration,
for which the picture took a home an Academy Award. There is a possible
apocryphal tale that the movie was set to be produced in vibrant Technicolor,
but due to the richly colorful production of Gone with the Wind color film stock was greatly depleted in
Hollywood and the director Robert Z. Leonard had to settle for filming in black
and white.
The producers would push the time period of the story from the 1810 era
of Jane Austen to a couple decades later in the late 1820s and 1830s as a
period of more vibrant and elaborate dresses, which lent for a more appealing
to the eye in this period piece with the style of dress. It could also perhaps
be because of the high cost of the sets and costumes as to why the before
mentioned expensive color process would not be carried out. In any case, the
picture was still one of the more expensive features of the year and because of
that the feature would take a significant loss upon release.
Being one the earliest and still one of the more treasured versions of
story, Pride and Prejudice continues
to be a well like period picture out of this time of Hollywood. With a rather
good cast this watered down telling is passible as entertainment if one is so
inclined for dribble about upper-class English society of the 1820s. Its most
saving graces is its fine cast and award winning art decoration, but perchance this
style of story would be less viewed by larger audiences due to the coming World
War that made the happenings of upper class individuals seem less important to
movie audiences.
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