Review: 1940 "Pride and Prejudice" is Bubbly (Remembering Jane Austen)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 243 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

Pride and Prejudice (1940) – B&W
Running time:  118 minutes (1 hour, 58 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Robert Z. Leonard
WRITERS:  Aldous Huxley and Jane Murfin (based upon Helen Jerome’s dramatization of Jane Austen’s novel)
PRODUCER:  Hunt Stromberg
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Karl Freund
EDITOR:  Robert Kern
COMPOSER:  Herbert Stothart
Academy Award winner

COMEDY/DRAMA/ROMANCE

Starring:  Greer Garson, Laurence Olivier, Mary Boland, Edna May Oliver, Maureen O’Sullivan, Ann Rutherford, Frieda Inescort, Edmund Gwenn, Karen Morely, Heather Angel, Marsha Hunt, Bruce Lester, Edward Ashley, and Melville Cooper

The subject of this movie review is Pride and Prejudice, a 1940 comedy, drama, and romance from director Robert Z. Leonard (The Great Ziegfeld).  The film is based on Pride and Prejudice, the novel by Jane Austen that was first published in 1813.

However, the screenplay is adapted from Pride and Prejudice: A Sentimental Comedy Written in Three Acts.  This was a stage adaptation of Austen’s novel that was written by Helen Jerome and was played on Broadway in 1935.  Aldous Huxley, the English writer who is best known for his novel, Brave New World (1932), is one of this film’s two screenwriters.  The 1940 film also deviates from the novel, including a change in the time period in which the story takes place.

Status-conscious Mrs. Bennet (Mary Boland) is eager to marry her five daughters, while Mr. Bennet (Edmund Gwenn) would just love a peaceful home.  The Bennets however are middle class and “penniless,” so when two upper class men become interested in her eldest daughters, Elizabeth (Greer Garson) and Jane (Maureen O’Sullivan), a furious class war begins.

The strong-willed Elizabeth or Lizzy runs up against the proud and arrogant Mr. Darcy (Laurence Olivier), a man with a large fortune.  Jane falls for Charles Bingley (Bruce Lester), whose sister, Caroline (Frieda Inescort), holds the Bennets in disdain.  Although she continuously rebuffs her suitor, Lizzy can’t help but be attracted to the smoldering Darcy, even if she is prejudiced against his prideful ways.

Warner Bros.’s DVD box set of MGM literary adaptation, Motion Picture Masterpieces, offers many delights, and I’ve been waiting a long time for one in particular: Pride and Prejudice, MGM’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s much-loved (and much filmed) novel.  This version is largely unfaithful to Austen’s book (being as the movie is adapted from an adaptation of the original novel), but this is still highly entertaining.  The film is a comic romance and light drama, with Austen’s biting insults turned into witty banter fit for a comedy and romance.  Mannered melodrama also passes as dramatic turmoil and conflict.  Still, this lively movie almost makes one forget literary accuracies.  I found myself thrilling to the amusing twists, childish feuds, and slight class warfare, as I waited for the inevitable happy ending.

Greer Garson plays Lizzy Bennet as a strong and independent woman who can give both severe and playful rebukes.  Initially, Laurence Olivier’s Mr. Darcy comes across as supremely aloof.  That is before he turns the character more benign than petty, and Darcy’s off-putting aloofness becomes delightfully aloof.  Until the 1990’s, Olivier can be considered the supreme cinematic interpreter of an Austen male character.

Surprisingly, MGM, in a bid to keep Pride and Prejudice’s budget modest, reused many of the costumes Walter Plunkett designed for Gone with the Wind, so some of women of Pride and Prejudice look like Southern belles.  However, famed MGM designer Adrian created gowns for the film’s principals, and Gile Steele designed handsome and lavish suits for the men.  Pride and Prejudice won an Oscar for its art direction (for a black and white film), and the movie’s setting and backdrops represent the best of what MGM’s 1930’s-40’s dream factory could do when it came to production values.

So when such gorgeous production values are added to witty repartee, lovable characters, and bubbly comic romance, the viewer usually gets a winner and that is what Pride and Prejudice is – a winner and a personal favorite of mine.

7 of 10
A-

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Updated:  Friday, July 18, 2014

NOTES:
1941 Academy Awards, USA:  1 win: “Best Art Direction, Black-and-White” (Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse)

The text is copyright © 2014 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for syndication rights and fees.

Review: "The Philadelphia Story" Remains Great American Cinema (Happy, B'day, Jimmy Stewart)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 104 (of 2006) by Leroy Douresseaux

The Philadelphia Story (1940) – B&W
Running time: 112 minutes (1 hour, 52 minutes)
DIRECTOR: George Cukor
WRITER: Donald Ogden Stewart (based upon the play by Philip Barry)
PRODUCER: Joseph L. Mankiewicz
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Joseph Ruttenberg (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Frank Sullivan
COMPOSER: Franz Waxman
Academy Award winner

COMEDY/ROMANCE

Starring: Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, Ruth Hussey, John Howard, Roland Young, John Halliday, Mary Nash, Virginia Weidler, and Henry Daniell

The subject of this movie review is The Philadelphia Story, a 1940 romantic comedy from director George Cukor. The film is an adaptation of the 1939 Broadway comic play, The Philadelphia Story, written by Philip Barry. The film’s screenplay was written by Donald Ogden Stewart and Waldo Salt, although Salt did not receive credit. Starring Cary Grant, Katharine Hepburn, James Stewart, the movie focuses on a rich woman whose wedding plans get complicated when her ex-husband and a tabloid reporter show up. Jimmy Stewart won his only Oscar for his performance in this film.

Socialite Tracy Lord (Katharine Hepburn) prepares to marry again, but this time to, George Kittredge (John Howard), a politician who is not in her social class. Her ex-husband, C.K. Dexter Haven (Cary Grant), has other ideas and plans on crashing the wedding. He invites himself to the Lord’s family estate in north Philadelphia, bringing along tabloid reporter, Macaulay Connor (James Stewart, who won his first Oscar for this role), and Macaulay’s photographer, Elizabeth “Liz” Imbrie (Ruth Hussey), both of whom are hoping to get the goods on the social event of the year. It is a news story their boss, Sidney Kidd (Henry Daniell), plans to call “The Philadelphia Story.” However, Haven’s machinations have some expected and not-at-all expected results.

Many movie fans and film critics consider The Philadelphia Story to be one of the most exhilarating screwball romantic comedies ever. Much credit goes to the incomparable romantic triangle of Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant, and Jimmy Stewart (although Hepburn had originally hoped to play alongside Clark Gable and Spencer Tracey). Philip Barry, who wrote the play upon which this film is based, also modeled his original Tracy Lord on Hepburn, so everything worked well from the standpoint of Hepburn’s character. Grant and Stewart were also great movie actors who mastered dialogue; fully capable of being witty (especially Grant) and verbose, necessities as the film is dialogue heavy.

The witty dialogue isn’t just for show. It establishes much of the film’s plot, as well as its setting, characters, and its principles and philosophy of relationships – a credit to screenwriter, Donald Ogden Stewart (and Waldo Salt who worked on the script but did not receive a screen credit). The viewer could get a buzz or a high just from listening to all that snappy batter and all those sharp comebacks and clever asides. This is one time “all that talk, talk” is just wonderful to hear, and it’s fun to watch how easily the star trio does it.

However, the trio doesn’t work alone. There are a number of excellent supporting performances. Ruth Hussey earned an Oscar nomination as Macaulay’s droll reporter sidekick, who gives the film’s heady dialogue some even-headedness. Mary Nash and Virginia Weidler provide some straight comic relief as Tracy’s mother Margaret and sister Dinah, respectively. John Halliday as Tracy’s father, Seth Lord, and Roland Young as Uncle Willie are the elder statesmen bringing wisdom to the young lovers and rivals.

Finally, George Cukor, known as Hollywood’s ace director of actresses, and a frequent director of Hepburn films (Little Women, Adam’s Rib), brings it all together so that the dialogue rarely seems forced, the acting phony, or the film too staged (which often happens to films based on plays). His guiding hands make The Philadelphia Story indeed one of the great romantic and screwball comedies in film history.

9 of 10
A+

NOTES:
1941 Academy Awards: 2 wins: “Best Actor in a Leading Role” (James Stewart) and “Best Writing, Screenplay” (Donald Ogden Stewart); 4 nominations: “Best Picture” (Joseph L. Mankiewicz; M-G-M), “Best Actress in a Leading Role” (Katharine Hepburn), “Best Actress in a Supporting Role” (Ruth Hussey), and “Best Director” (George Cukor)

1995 National Film Preservation Board, USA: National Film Registry

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

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Review: Ameche, Nicholas Brothers Dazzle "Down Argentine Way" (Remembering Don Ameche)

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 92 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Down Argentine Way (1940)
Running time: 89 minutes (1 hour, 29 minutes)
DIRECTOR: Irving Cummings
WRITERS: Karl Tunberg and Darrell Ware; from a story by Rian James and Ralph Spence
PRODUCER: Darryl F. Zanuck
CINEMATOGRAPHERS: Ray Rennahan (D.o.P.) and Leon Shamroy (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Barbara McLean
COMPOSER: Cyril J. Mockridge
1941 Academy Award nominee

COMEDY/MUSICAL/ROMANCE

Starring: Betty Grable, Don Ameche, Carmen Miranda, Charlotte Greenwood, J. Carroll Naish, Henry Stephenson, Kay Aldridge, Leonid Kinskey, Chris-Pin Martin, Bobby Stone, Charles Judel, and the Nicholas Brothers

20th Century Fox opened its vault back in early 2007 and released several of its delightful Technicolor movie musicals on DVD, including the 1940 film, Down Argentine Way. In the film, American heiress Glenda Crawford (played by pin-up gal and girl-next-door Betty Grable) falls for Ricardo Quintana (Don Ameche), a dashing South American horse breeder.

Glenda is in Argentina to buy horses when she encounters Ricardo, the son of Don Diego Quintana (Henry Stephenson), a champion horse breeder. However, Don Diego won’t sell to Crawfords because of a long-standing feud he has with Glenda’s father. Ricardo follows Glenda back to New York to woo her with a deal for a champion jumping horse, but when that deal goes badly, Ricardo leaves.

Glenda and her aunt, Binnie Crawford (Charlotte Greenwood), follow him back to Argentina, where the new couple attempts to reconcile. The star-crossed lovers face tough odds to stay together. In between all the fussing and fighting, Carmen Miranda sings and the famous Nicholas Brothers (Fayard and Harold) perform a standout, show-stopping song and dance routine. An exciting day at the racetrack is the cherry on top.

One of the most enjoyable of 20th Century Fox’s early 40’s Technicolor musicals, Down Argentine Way is remembered for a few special reasons. It was Betty Grable’s breakthrough film, and it was also Carmen Miranda’s first film. Some will also remember Down Argentine Way for the spectacular dance sequence by the fabulous Nicholas Brothers, one of the few African-America film performers whose film appearances were not routinely edited out by theatres to satisfy racist audiences in some areas of the U.S.

After a slow first hour, Down Argentine Way comes to life after the Nicholas Brothers’ scene. Then, the wonderful comedy and thrilling dance numbers show through what is essentially a flimsy plot with stereotyped characters. Charlotte Greenwood’s Bennie Crawford, J. Carroll Naish’s Casiano, and Leonid Kinskey’s Tito Acuna add constant zany flourishes to this idealized Hollywood version of an exotic South American locale. The dazzling and colorful production values on display in this whimsical and gay musical fantasy are an example of why Hollywood became known as the “Dream Factory.”

7 of 10
B+

NOTES:
1941 Academy Awards: 3 nominations: “Best Art Direction, Color” (Richard Day and Joseph C. Wright) “Best Cinematography, Color” (Leon Shamroy and Ray Rennahan), and “Best Music, Original Song” (“Down Argentine Way” by Harry Warren-music and Mack Gordon-lyrics)

Wednesday, June 13, 2007