Just perfect...

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

I haven't read Austin's novel of this name since high school, over four decades ago, so I really have no way of knowing how faithful an adaptation this is.Nor, frankly, do I particularly care.If you can divorce the two works and not expect the movie to reproduce the novel, you are left with one really remarkable film.First and foremost, the script, by Aldous Huxley, no mean novelist himself, is brilliant. I don't know how much of it is borrowed or adapted from Austin and how much is Huxley's clever creation, but it's just plain wonderful. Witty without being nasty or supercilious, it's a joy from beginning to end.Second, the script's wonderful dialogue is delivered with zest and nuance by great actors, chief among them Greer Garson and Lawrence Olivier. They seem to the manner born - which evidently they were.Then there is Edna May Oliver. She did so many different things so well, such as Pross in *A Tale of Two Cities.* She steals every scene in which she appears here, sending even Olivier into the shade. She's just a joy to watch.As, frankly, is this whole movie.

This is a fun comedy and drama about the Bennets and how they have to marry off their daughters to suitable males from wealthy society that may bring them happiness. From the get go Mrs Bennet is hunting suitable admirers from the landed gentry.The film is an adaptation of the stage play and condenses the Jane Austen novel as well as moving it forward to the Victorian era.Mr Bennet is played by Edmund Gwenn who is more knowing and wants his daughters to marry for love rather than status.The central plot is that of Elizabeth Bennet (Greer Garson) and Mr Darcy (Laurence Oliver.) Darcy is haughty, wealthy and proud. Elizabeth is a proto feminist, more intelligent and prejudiced in her views of Darcy but develops feelings for him.Even though the plot is shortened the machinations of the various love tangles does begin to drag before the film neatly concludes. Good performances from Olivier and Garson as the main suitors who fall each other.

The costumes are so ridiculous, compared to the pretty, simples dresses and jackets generally worn in the country in the early 19th century. Not an empire waist or low bodice in sight.Greer Garson looks far too old for the role of Lizzie Bennett. MGM was never big on realism, and they do not bother with it here, veering from a classic novel and using their stars, whether they suit the roles or not. GG looks like she could be the mother of some of the younger sisters. . This film was made during the infamous production code, so any remotely interesting remark or scenario from the book have, of course, been left out.You really have to toss the book out of,your mind and pretend you are watching a historical romance rather than a Jane Austen novel come to life.

For me, most all films made during the golden age of Hollywood are excellent and compare more than favourably with modern films, but this version of Pride and Prejudice stands out as my favourite version of them all.Let me say this. I love every film version of Jane Austen's seminal work, Pride and Prejudice. It's true that every version has its faults, but it is also true that every version has it's triumphs as well.The 1980 film series is perhaps most accurate. The costumes and demeanor seem most accurate pertaining to late Georgian/Regency England.The 1995 miniseries is by far the most complete, containing just about every facet of the book. Also, Jennifer Ehle is most likely the finest Elizabeth. That distinction might have gone to Greer Garson had she worn a few kilos less Max Factor.The 2005 Keira Knightly version is the most modern and in some ways the most romantic.But for me, despite some glaring changes/omissions, the 1940 version starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier is still the best. Ms Garson, despite appearing too old for the part, is absolutely pitch perfect and well captures Elizabeth's humorous nature. In fact, humor is likely this versions strength. Because Pride and Prejudice above all is a humorous look at Regency England and the lifestyle of the middle classes in England at that time, most particularly the Bennet household.Laurence Oliver, the greatest stage actor of the last century or two, and one of the greatest actors who ever lived, is wonderful as Mr. Darcy, if perhaps a tad too arch at times. Portraying a Regency snob is fraught with little traps and unfortunately, Lord Oliver does trip a few times and comes across as a bit prissy. But he is not alone, most other actors attempting Mr. Darcy end up looking a bit fey from time to time as well.David Rintoul, who, in the 1980 version, gives probably the most accurate depiction of Mr. Darcy of them all, is positively cringeworthy from time to time he is almost lady-boy.The only two actors who never seem effeminate in any way in the role of Mr. Darcy, Colin Firth and Matthew MacFadyen, both seem wooden at times, although I love them both in the role. In fact, although I find Matthew the sexiest Mr. Darcy and David Rintoul the most accurate, overall it is probably a tie between Laurence Olivier and Colin Firth with Colin Firth leading by a nose. He has his faults, but the 1995 production is simply too good, and his Mr. Darcy too perfect to be ignored.Say what you will about the superior attention to detail found in today's versions of P&P, the 1940 version positively rocks with the absolute best ensemble work found in any version.Mary Boland as Mrs Bennet captures her addle brained nature and slavish devotion to the marriage of her daughters in fine style and with a silliness not found in any other film version.Edna May Oliver is the quintessential Lady Catherine De Bourgh. I really do not care that the part was slightly rewritten to make her less hateful. The most telling feature of Mrs. De Bourgh's character should be that she is silly, and Ms Oliver captures that with aplomb. Further, Lady Catherine was first and foremost a powerhouse of a woman and that describes Edna May Oliver to a tee.Frieda Inescort is the perfect Caroline Bingley, absolutely chock full of upper crust venom. Caroline is one of the few characters in the book who is not at all silly. She is and should be always the ice goddess, who is unfortunately, a fool who does not realize it. There has never been another Caroline Bingley to compare with Ms. Inescort.Melville Cooper as the silliest character of them all, and perhaps the silliest character ever written, Mr. Collins, is hilarious.Edmund Gwenn is wonderful as Father Bennet if not really English sounding at all.Also of note are Maureen O'Sullivan as the beautiful Jane Bennet, and several others The aforementioned actors were all stage trained and knew how to master a character. This skill truly makes of the ensemble cast in this version a thing of beauty. Oh well, they all are really.There were some of the cast in the 1940 version who were a bit too vanilla for my taste, such as Bruce Lester as Mr. Bingley, and May Beatty as Mrs. Philips.This version of course takes liberties with the book, especially in substituting late Victorian fashion for Regency, and a few other things, but on the whole, I find it amazingly well written and well acted, and absolutely perfectly delineating the point of the novel.