If the popularity of a novel can be measured by the quantity of its video editions, Pride and Prejudice must be one of the most popular books ever. By now, there are four movie editions （1938、1940、2003、2005）and six TV series （1949、1952、1958、1967、1980、1995）. Among them, the movie in 1940 is the most excellent one. To some young people, the 2005 edition movie is more familiar, while it is judged not that good in both plot and performance. So that it can be neglected in the essay.
The 1940 Hollywood movie was played by English actor Sir Laurence Oliver and Greer Garson. Their fame and performance made the movie a classic. Furthermore, this edition got an Oscar for Best Art Direction.
The essay will compare the film and novel in two sections.
I. Actors’ selection and performance
The movie has the most famous actor and actress among all versions. Sir Oliver is the greatest drama actor and movie actor in England. He got an Academy award in 1949 for Hamlet. He is so handsome and elegant which is very close to Mr. Darcy in novel: “drew the attention of the room by his fine, tall person, handsome features, noble mien and” (chapter 3). Greer Garson is very charming too. This couple is good-looking but not very accord with the novel.
Firstly, Elizabeth is only 21 (chapter 29) and Mr. Darcy is in his early 30s. But Garson is 3 years older than Oliver and she played the movie in her 37-year-old. She totally made Elizabeth a graceful married lady better than a vivid young girl.
Secondly, Sir Oliver had his own theory that he would design every movement and word before acting and never express spontaneously. So his performance in the movie is very unnatural and sometimes made people feel like watching a theatre.
“Because facial expressions exaggerated for hundred times, so the performance made audience feel awkward.”Worse still, he played Mr. Darcy into a cautious and hospitable gentleman who was not exact as the novel writes in the front part.
And the selection of other actors and actresses are not that fit the book too. The actress who played Jane was less beautiful than Garson and too nervous in public. In the novel, Jane is very graceful and sometimes regarded as the most extraordinary girl in the Bennet. But the movie wanted to express the wit of Elizabeth so that it made Jane ridiculous occasionally. Kitty and Lydia were too mature while Charlotte was too handsome. All in all, the actors’ selection fit the standard of 1940s Hollywood movies which was appearance prior to acting skill.
II. Plots arrangement
The story of Pride and Prejudice is a little long but the plot is quite simple. Jane Austen used a sum of balls and meetings to enlarge the whole story. The movie chose to cut some parts and it came into a 118 minutes version.
The movie canceled the whole part of Elizabeth went to Pemberley with her aunt and uncle. So some characters were deleted in the movie like Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner and Miss Darcy. What’s more, the movie added and adapted some plots like the very beginning scene which Mrs. Bennet got the news of Netherfield was lent, how Wickham came to the town and absent from the ball in Netherfield, archery scene in Netherfield ball, Mr. Darcy came to Longbourn and Mary and Kitty got admirers.
Considering the limitation of movie making condition in 1940s, we can understand why the movie cut the story happened in Pemberley. But the abbreviation of this part made the movie lack of tension, which means Mr. Darcy changed too fast that it just like a normal Hollywood comedy. Once got criticism then correct it and became a totally different person.
It is understandable that the movie cut down Mr. and Mrs. Hurst because they made little contribution to the story. But some adaptations are not very good. For example, the first scene introduced how eagerly Mrs. Bennet wanted her daughters get married but it’s very strange in the era that some ladies raced horses on country land. And so did the archery part. The funny dialogues happened between Jane, Mr. Bingley and doctor in Netherfield was quite strange that it made Jane ridiculous.
Sir Oliver spread a lot of English theatres and novels into America in 1940s. Besides Pride and Prejudice, there are Shakespeare’s comedies and tragedies, Wuthering Heights, Rebecca and so on.
Maybe it is the reason why Pride and Prejudice changed so much so that it can be accepted for American audience. But to some extent, the original story is what book fans want to see. That’s why the TV series in 1995 was popular among book fans.
In general, the 1940 movie is a classic and it can be remembered for a long time.
高清
