Film Illiterate, wherein the proprietor records movies seen, and sporadic progress through assorted lists of the "best". Originally started after regretfully renting something forgettable for the third time. I've forgotten what, but never again! A tedious endeavour since 2005. Hello. 🙂
Though the 1995 miniseries is indisputably the most faithful adaptation available, it achieves as much through six hours of film. More impressive are the feature-length adaptations which try to jam the story into only two. Something is always lost, of course, but it's a different something in every one.
In the case of Robert Z. Leonard's 1940 version, faithfulness to the plot is thrown out the window, with new and more efficient scenes replacing whole swathes of story. Much of the melancholy has been stripped out, but none of the barbs; if nothing else, it does a perfect job of showing the characters' wit. (Something sadly lacking in certain other adaptations.) Even the new scenes are clever. A few of the changes are inexcusable, but the end result is still tremendously entertaining. This isn't Pride and Prejudice played purely as romance; it's a comedy, and it's absolutely hilarious.
It'd be worth watching just for the sake of the cast, including Laurence Olivier as Mr. Darcy, possibly even better at it than Colin Firth. Mary Boland is a perfect Mrs. Bennett; likewise with Edna May Oliver as Lady Catherine. Amazingly, Melville Cooper manages to make Mr. Collins lovable as well as odious.
It's not perfect, but even imperfect Austen is worth seeing. At the very least, it's far superior to the 2005 version.