olivier

Pride and Prejudice with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson is on. I used to watch this movie over and over and over when I was a pre-teen. Of course, at that time, the only other version one could watch was the BBC version made in the early '80s. It was well-done and -acted and quite thorough (not abridged at all), but it was naturally done on a low budget and so was rather lacking in many respects.

I was so in love with Olivier's Darcy. For Olivier's sake (and the sake of the entire motion picture), I felt very defensive of the 1940 version when the A&E/BBC version with Colin Firth came out in 1996. I argued it must be good, but Firth is no Olivier. Much later, I discovered that Firth explained in an interview that he felt intimidated to play the part, as he could never be like Olivier. For that, I decided he was a fine actor and he truly commanded my respect.

The 1940 version is quite enjoyable. It has a fun, 1940s-esque, sentimental score and Edna May Oliver. I think Edna May Oliver is one of the funniest old ladies who ever lived. I also thought that the costume designer's choice of costume from the 1840s was a good one--the full skirts with bonnets and big sleeves make the women look even more like pecking hens.