Pride and Prejudice (1940)

New arrivals in Meryton attract the attention of Mrs. Bennet, who hopes to find husbands for her five daughters. Elizabeth resists Darcy’s manner and the assumptions that accompany his wealth, while Jane’s relationship with Bingley draws the two families closer. Their encounters combine romantic misunderstandings with the practical pressures facing the Bennet household.

Robert Z. Leonard directs the black-and-white MGM production. The screenplay is credited to Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin, drawing on Austen’s novel and Helen Jerome’s stage adaptation. Garson and Olivier lead a cast that includes Mary Boland as Mrs. Bennet, Edmund Gwenn as Mr. Bennet, Maureen O’Sullivan as Jane and Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine.

Released on July 26, 1940, this is an earlier, separate screen interpretation of the novel. It can be watched on its own or compared with the 2005 adaptation; neither is a sequel to the other. The distributor’s digital edition runs 118 minutes.