This week I watched Pride and Prejudice with Laurence Olivier and Greer Garson in the leading roles. Having seen it many years ago (prior to my seeing the classic Colin Firth BBC production) I was keen to watch it again. I remember then thinking the costuming was a little strange, and now I know why. The women’s costumes were nightmares in puffed sleeves, bows and all manner of decoration. And the hats were absolutely hideous…huge, high bonnets stacked with flowers and frills. There were stripes and polka dots everywhere they turned and the skirts were monstrously wide in a sort of Gone with Wind style.
Anyway apart from the weird costumes, there was a strange scene where the ball at Netherfield was actually a garden party with Lizzie and Mr Darcy exchanging quips over an archery lesson. There was also a strange turn at the end with the redemption of Lady Catherine (here visibly working in cahoots with Darcy). Yet the characterisation remained surprisingly true to the book under the circumstances. Greer Garson was delightful as Lizzie and Olivier was suitably restrained, then gentlemanly, as Darcy.