Pride and Prejudice

Pride and Prejudice is a 1940 American film adaptation of Jane Austen's 1813 novel Pride and Prejudice, starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, the screenplay was written by Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, adapted specifically from the stage adaptation by Helen Jerome, in addition to Jane Austen's novel. The story is about five sisters from an English family of landed gentry who must deal with issues of marriage, morality and misconceptions. The film was released on July 26, 1940 in the United States by MGM and was critically well received. The New York Times film critic praised the film as "the most deliciously pert comedy of old manners, the most crisp and crackling satire in costume that we in this corner can remember ever having seen on the screen." Plot Mrs. Bennet and her two eldest daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, are shopping for new dresses when they notice two gentlemen and a lady arriving outside, exiting from a very expensive carriage. They learn that the men are Mr. Bingley, who has just rented the local estate of Netherfield, and Mr. Darcy, both wealthy eligible bachelors, which excites Mrs. Bennet's interest. Collecting her other daughters, Mrs. Bennet returns home, where she tries to convince Mr. Bennet to visit Mr. Bingley, but he declines, explaining to her minutes later that he has already made his acquaintance. At the next ball, Elizabeth sees how proud Darcy is when she overhears him refusing to dance with her. Elizabeth also meets Mr. Wickham, who tells her how Darcy did him a terrible wrong. When Darcy does ask Elizabeth to dance with him, she refuses, but when Wickham asks her in front of Darcy, she accepts. The Bennets' cousin, Mr. Collins, who will inherit the Bennet estate upon the death of Mr. Bennet, arrives looking for a wife, and decides that Elizabeth will be suitable. Invited to a garden party by Charles Bingley at Netherfield Park, Collins keeps following Elizabeth around, who tries her best to avoid him, as he won't leave her alone. Darcy aids her and directs Collins away. Elizabeth surprisingly outshoots Darcy in archery; later he escorts her to the dance floor, but after seeing questionable behavior of her mother and younger sisters, he leaves her again, making Elizabeth angry with him once more. The next day, Mr. Collins asks her to marry him, but she refuses his persistent proposals. Later, Collins becomes engaged to Elizabeth's best friend, Charlotte Lucas.