It was fun watching the 1980 version, so I figured I’d try the 1940, for ‘feature film length’ to compare with the 2005 one.
Oh wow, those are not Regency dresses!
I’d forgotten black and white was a thing, despite having a black and white TV in my student room well into the 2000s. Yes, really, I inherited it with the room. I’m still surprised when Charmed actually turns out to be in colour. I got quite good at guessing colours from grey scale, but an in-depth discussion of whether pink or blue better becomes which daughter... Not convinced. Still, I suppose if you don’t know better.
Mrs Bennet complaining about someone else’s decorum? Novel...
A lot of “yes-dear” which I can’t hear straight, only sarcastic...
Interesting to have the first scene at a shop rather than church. Mary got distracted by a bookshop, that’s a fun detail. A Punch and Judy show? Oddness. Oh Wickham is already here... I suppose that’s a time-saver.
Carriage race! That’s hilarious!
Liveried servant on the door. Nice.
Mr. Bennet seems very true to the book and similar to 1995. Interesting this whole conversation is a just the parents. Oh Mr Collins and the entail are introduced here.
Suggesting some of the daughters should have been drowned at birth seems harsh, though I’m already confused who’s who, so maybe it’s not a terrible idea.
That’s a sizeable orchestra for a public ball. It’s an interesting dance as well, square but not really a cotillion or a whatsit. And Elizabeth is dancing with Wickham, which
A waltz? How modern indeed.
Yes those costumes, we’ll get to them. I like the sparkle on Caroline (I assume)’s gown, good way of distinguishing in black and white.
Mr Bingley sounds just like Crispin Bonham-Carter in 1995.
Mrs Bennet cringe, I think the “thank the gentleman, Jane” is probably owing to this.
Of course we now have the meeting between Darcy and Wickham.
Gosh my face blindness is really not helped by the lack of colour-coding in dresses.
The mother and aunt are well-cast, proper mother-hen types.
I can’t imagine anyone looking good with a bow on top of their head. Too Daisy Duck for me.
Ah, for time-saving we’re rolling the Assembly and the Lucas party into one, that is a sensible way of doing it.
Oooh, dancing with someone after you’ve refused someone else, that is Not Done even now. Ah, now we’re also rolling in the Phillips’ evening party. That’s half the book right there!
More dance fashion geekery, mentioning a Polka/Mazurka. Poor Darcy, that is really abominably rude of Lizzy.
Now Jane is taking the carriage. Oh no she isn’t. The carriage is being sent back and Miss Jane’s horse brought out. Skip straight to Jane ill. Mr Bingley in the room with her? The doctor appears to be Scottish. Odd. Ah he is Scottish. And ridiculously high-minded in ‘medic speak’ which is all nonsense, but has to be mansplained/translated by Bingley?
There seem to be no Hursts altogether.
Why does this remind me of the Sound of Music so badly?
Mr Bennet discussing sending everyone over to Netherfield. Fun but interesting.
Ah we’re also running the Netherfield evenings into one. And cutting the visit of Mrs Bennet, which saves a lot of cringing.
That’s a fireplace and a half...
Not reading out Mr Collin’s letters certainly saves time!
Apparently it’s May now for Mr Bingley’s ball, which is a garden party. Caroline really reminds me of the Sound of Music Baroness Schroeder.
What the flip is with all the calling for Miss Elizabeth. And Mr Darcy covering with Lizzy hiding in bushes? Archery? yes of course Lizzy shoots better so Darcy says he won’t be patronising.
Mary always good for a bit of comic relief here. I will take this opportunity to add that singing badly well is actually a skill all of its own.
Have we skipped to Lambton or here or what? I’m deeply confused. We’re apparently spelling out ‘proud’ and ‘prejudiced’ and starting over the relationship. Probably still at Netherfield then.
“The highland reel”! The tune is Coming Through the Rye. And Mr Collins chasing off Darcy, then reminding her he’s Lady Catherine’s nephew.
Collins proposal, pretty literal going here. Oh lord just when you think Collins can’t get any worse. He is cringe and may turn out my favourite Collins.
Wickham has a Rhett Butler moustache. Now we get the rest of Mrs Phillips’ party. While Jane is doing a Marianne Dashwood upstairs. And Sir William Lucas arrives to to announce Charlotte’s engagement, followed by Lady Lucas rejoicing. Skipping straight to Hunsford with a rather bossy Charlotte.
Oh Lady Catherine is amazingly condescending. Has this word ever been anything but negative? I know Mr Collins seems to think it a good thing, but I’ve always found it terrible.
Colonel Fitzwilliam in a kilt! This is more than a little whiskey-flavoured.
Darcy is already trying to listen to what Elizabeth says? Very odd. I wonder how that affects later plot points.
Honestly Lady Catherine’s face! I’ve seen shorter faces on actual horses... And Anne.
That kilt is a few inches too short.
The. Housekeeper. Does. Not. Have. A. Piano.
Darcy defending Lady C, and being rudely rebutted.
“It’s no use I’ve struggled in vain” “empty and meaningless days and nights”
“I love you I love you” “my darling”
“Knowing Jane how could you hurt her so”
“You dare not speak because you know you’re guilty”
—-
Ah Lydia has run away with Wickham from Longbourn! No trip to Pemberley then!
“Yes mama, I know, I know” I use this tone of voice on the cat...
The Collinses dropped Lizzy off which gets us straight to Mr Collins’ “consolation”. Mr Darcy appeared too? The letter becomes an explanation? No, he’s offering his services. No, it’s both. He’s explaining the near-miss with Georgiana and offering his services, then leaving saying it might be the last time he sees her and finishing like the letter with “God bless you”.
Now suddenly Lizzy loves Darcy and is being dreadfully unhappy.
Narrative choice to let Caroline inform Darcy about the continued trouble with Lydia. They’re trying to move out of Longbourn because of the disgrace. How did the disgrace of Lydia result in them needing cheap lodgings in Margate? It makes NO SENSE!
Blaring horns and a 6-horse chaise to introduce Lydia back, that seems odd as well. Miracle recovery for Mrs Bennet at least.
How can they be actually rich? Generally W. T. F? An uncle in Jamaica left him a fortune? Is this still Darcy’s doing? “Wicky”?
Lady C arriving as well! This is getting a full house. While we’re still in an uproar about the move to Margate. All very odd. And Lady C. Ordering Mrs Bennet out of her own room?
The shoulders on Lady Catherine’s dress are so ridiculously wide I can’t even tell which end of her arm is up...
She can strip Mr Darcy of his fortune as executor of her sister’s estate? That seems unreasonable. And Lady C telling her about Mr Darcy’s interference with Lydia and Wickham.
Mr Darcy was In. The. Carriage? And now Lady Catherine tells him to go and propose to her because he needs a woman who will stand up to him? Nonononono.
Caroline gets to be responsible for Mr Bingley coming back.
Now Darcy sent Lady Catherine as his ambassador. This is all Topsy-turvy! (Or apparently tipsy-turbo, according to autocorrect)
And now we’re getting suitors for Mary and Kitty too?
“Perhaps it’s lucky we didn’t drown any of them at birth”
“Three of them married and two teetering on the brink”
The end
Well that was. Something. Of its time, I suppose.
What did they do well? Joining up several parties or several evenings into fewer scenes and giving summaries of letters and conversations seems like a good choice for getting a novel down to feature-film length. I quite liked some of the distinctions in costume, the casting was pretty good. Leaving the Hursts and Gardiners out again saves time and (in my face-blind case) confusion with characters.
What did I not like? Some things did not make sense. Why change the Netherfield ball to a summer party? Why one daughter going missing would suddenly require cheap lodgings in Margate is an absolute mystery. The ridiculous number of people all around at once at the end. Attributing plot points to other people. Leaving out Georgiana and Pemberley entirely, and making Lady Catherine Darcy’s wing-woman? Her disapproval is one of the great joys.
The challenge with turning specifically Pride and Prejudice into a film is the slow character development. Lizzy is slow to fall in love, Darcy is slow to change under her influence. Contrasted with many boy-meets-girl-meets-obstacle-gets-removed-happiness kind of stories where the obstacles are more external, that is. Foreshadowing slightly, in 2005 as I remember it the change in Darcy happened too slowly. Here, he started to change too soon, which means that by the proposal she should not hate him as much. They apparently changed that by bringing the news of nefarious treatment of Wickham back in the story, but I wonder if it would not have been served better by bringing the first proposal forward, so more of the film can focus on the change.
Costumes, of course (yes, you’ve been waiting) are Not Regency. I am no expert on this Gone-with-the-Wind-like era, but as far as I could tell it was reasonably consistent and the dances mentioned were in keeping with the dress? The only part of the costume I feel qualified to comment on is the kilt; it’s too short. Kilts should reach to the bottom of the kneecap. Colonel Fitzwilliam is not old enough to have a fat belly that raises the hemline. So I suppose largely points for consistency on this one. It’s a choice.
Come back next week to see me attempting a fair trial for the 2005 one. I think I was right, and it will be easier after watching this version tonight.
F
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