History Trivia / PrideAndPrejudice

* FanNickname: George Wickham, AKA, "Dickham." It started with ''WebVideo/TheLizzieBennetDiaries'', but has since crossed over to refer to all versions of the character.

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* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Given how film and television adaptations have latterly made this ''the'' quintessential PeriodPiece romance, it's almost possible to forget the original book was a very much contemporary comedy of manners. Amongst the things that make it this include the themes of young women needing to find a suitable husband, the idea of the Longbourn estate being subject to fee tail (abolished in England in 1925) being a plot point, the numerous examples of [[invoked]] ValuesDissonance (see [=YMMV=] tab), and the fact that the richest and most eligible bachelor around makes a whopping £10,000 a year (less than a full-time minimum wage worker earns in the 2010s!)

!!The Book

* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Given how film and television adaptations have latterly made this ''the'' quintessential PeriodPiece romance, it's almost possible to forget the original book was a very much contemporary comedy of manners. Amongst the things that make it this include the themes of young women needing to find a suitable husband, the idea of the Longbourn estate being subject to fee tail (abolished in England in 1925) being a plot point, the numerous examples of [[invoked]] ValuesDissonance (see [=YMMV=] tab), and the fact that the richest and most eligible bachelor around makes a whopping £10,000 a year (less than a full-time minimum wage worker earns in the 2010s!)

!!The 1940 film:
* AdaptationalContextChange: Lady Catherine's speech to Lizzie towards the end of the novel is a genuine ReasonYouSuckSpeech and KickTheDog moment for the haughty old woman. In the film, with Lady Catherine being softer, the speech is now a hoax that tests the sincerity of her love.
* CreatorBacklash: Creator/LaurenceOlivier didn't think much of the film, saying "it was difficult to make Mr Darcy into anything more than an unattractive-looking prig". He also felt Creator/GreerGarson was the wrong choice to play Elizabeth. During production he felt that more emphasis had been placed on the sets and costumes than the actors.
* DawsonCasting: Lizzie is twenty in the original book. Creator/GreerGarson was thirty six. Creator/LaurenceOlivier was the same age as Mr Darcy, who is also mid-twenties in the novel.
* ExecutiveMeddling:
** Lady Catherine was given AdaptationalComicRelief in order to reflect the image associated with her actress Edna May Oliver.
** The time period is moved to the 1860s in order to have more elaborate and flamboyant costumes.
* HeAlsoDid: The screenplay was written by none other than Aldous Huxley, during a period when his career was in a slump and he took several such jobs.
* RealLifeWritesThePlot:
** As the Production Code prevented showing the clergy in a negative light at the time, Mr Collins being a minister had to be downplayed.
** Producers intended to shoot the film in England but World War II broke out, necessitating shooting in America.
* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
** Filmmakers intended to shoot in colour and had been committed to shooting on a particular date. They then discovered that all the Technicolor film had been used up on ''Film/GoneWithTheWind''. Thus despite all the lavish sets and costumes designed, the film had to be shot in black and white.
** Irving Thalberg was to direct in 1936, with Creator/ClarkGable as Darcy and Norma Shearer as Elizabeth. However Thalberg's sudden death threw a wrench into those plans and the film was shelved for a couple of years. Before the 1940 version was made, there were attempts at reviving the project with Creator/RobertDonat as Darcy.
** Creator/VivienLeigh was passed over for Elizabeth Bennett.
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!!The 1995 mini-series:
* CastingGag: Anna Chancellor, who plays Caroline Bingley, is descended from Jane Austen's brother Edward.
* DawsonCasting: Julia Sawalha was a full ten years older than the fifteen-year-old Lydia Bennet.
* DyeingForYourArt:
** Jennifer Ehle is naturally blonde. Although she wore a wig to play Elizabeth, she still cut her hair short to help it fit under the wig better. This hilariously caused even more problems for the stylists, as little wisps of blonde hair kept escaping from under the wig - and they mused it would have been easier if her hair had been long.
** Creator/ColinFirth also dyed his light brown hair a shade of black. This is because producers had always imagined Darcy as dark-haired, despite the book not commenting on hair colour.
** Susannah Harker lightened her hair so that Jane would better contrast to Lizzie.
* HideYourPregnancy: Susannah Harker was pregnant during filming, but was able to continue due to the cut of the costumes and some cleverly placed shawls.
* PromotedFanboy: Jennifer Ehle claims she had literally wanted to be Elizabeth when she first read the book, and lists playing her as one of her favourite roles.
* RealLifeRelative: Joanna David (Mrs Gardiner) and Emilia Fox (Georgiana Darcy) are mother and daughter in real life.
* RomanceOnTheSet: Although people only learned about the romance after it had ended, Creator/ColinFirth and Jennifer Ehle became romantically involved during the 1995 production.
* StarMakingRole: Creator/ColinFirth was a mostly obscure actor in his mid-thirties at the time of filming. Everyone instantly knew who he was afterwards.

!!The 2005 film:
* DyeingForYourArt: Simon Woods dyed his hair red to play Mr Bingley. Unfortunately for him, the colour stuck and his hair grew as such for a while.
* FakeBrit: Creator/DonaldSutherland and Creator/JenaMalone are Canadian and American respectively.
* PlayingAgainstType: Jena Malone as Lydia in the 2005 film. She usually plays reserved good-girl types.
* PlayingGertrude: Jena Malone plays the youngest sister, and yet was the second oldest of the five actresses. Talulah Riley, playing the third daughter, is the youngest.
* RealitySubtext: Simon Woods and Rosamund Pike had dated two years previously, and Joe Wright had been reluctant to cast Woods for this reason.
* ThrowItIn:
** The crisscrossing dialogue between Jane, Lizzy, and Mr. Collins during the dance scene was actually the actors getting their lines out of order. The resulting awkwardness was so appropriate for the characters and the moment that the director chose to use it.
** Mr Bingley's rehearsal of proposing to Jane was meant to be shorter, but Simon Woods improvised it - and turned out to be so good they let him go on longer.
** The first dance between Lizzy and Darcy was got in one take. The camera was only supposed to take establishing shots, but it got the whole scene in - which Joe Wright did not discover until the editing process. Thus TheOner is used in the finished film.
** According to Joe Wright in the director's commentary, Mary did in fact fall in love with Mr. Collins.

* HideYourPreganancy: Susannah Harker was pregnant during filming, but was able to continue due to the cut of the costumes and some cleverly placed shawls.

* CreatorBacklash: Laurence Olivier didn't think much of the film, saying "it was difficult to make Mr Darcy into anything more than an unattractive-looking prig". He also felt Greer Garson was the wrong choice to play Elizabeth. During production he felt that more emphasis had been placed on the sets and costumes than the actors.
* DawsonCasting: Lizzie is twenty in the original book. Greer Garson was thirty six. Laurence Olivier was the same age as Mr Darcy, who is also mid-twenties in the novel.

** Irving Thalberg was to direct in 1936, with Clark Gable as Darcy and Norma Shearer as Elizabeth. However Thalberg's sudden death threw a wrench into those plans and the film was shelved for a couple of years. Before the 1940 version was made, there were attempts at reviving the project with Creator/RobertDonat as Darcy.

** Colin Firth also dyed his light brown hair a shade of black. This is because producers had always imagined Darcy as dark-haired, despite the book not commenting on hair colour.

* StarMakingRole: Colin Firth was a mostly obscure actor in his mid-thirties at the time of filming. Everyone instantly knew who he was afterwards.

** Irving Thalberg was to direct in 1936, with Clark Gable as Darcy and Norma Shearer as Elizabeth. However Thalberg's sudden death threw a wrench into those plans and the film was shelved for a couple of years. Before the 1940 version was made, there were attempts at reviving the project with Robert Donat as Darcy.

* DawsonCasting: Lizzie is twenty-four in the original book. Greer Garson was thirty six. Laurence Olivier was the same age as Mr Darcy, who is also mid-twenties in the novel.

* AdaptationContextChange: Lady Catherine's speech to Lizzie towards the end of the novel is a genuine ReasonYouSuckSpeech and KickTheDog moment for the haughty old woman. In the film, with Lady Catherine being softer, the speech is now a hoax that tests the sincerity of her love.

** Irving Thalberg was to direct in 1936, with Clark Gable as Darcy and Norma Shearer as Elizabeth. However Thalberg's sudden death threw a wrench into those plans and the film was shelved for a couple of years.

!!The 1940 film

* DawsonCasting: Lizzie is twenty-four in the original book. Greer Garson was thirty six.
* ExecutiveMeddling: Lady Catherine was given AdaptationalComicRelief in order to reflect the image associated with her actress Edna May Oliver.

* DyeingForYourArt: Jennifer Ehle is naturally blonde. Although she wore a wig to play Elizabeth, she still cut her hair short to help it fit under the wig better. This hilariously caused even more problems for the stylists, as little wisps of blonde hair kept escaping from under the wig - and they mused it would have been easier if her hair had been long.

* ExecutiveMeddling: Lady Catherine was given AdaptationalComicRelief in order to reflect the image associated with her actress Edna May Olivier.

!!The 1995 mini-series

!!The 2005 film
* FakeBrit: Creator/DonaldSutherland and Creator/JenaMalone.

* ThrowItIn: The crisscrossing dialogue between Jane, Lizzy, and Mr. Collins during the dance scene was actually the actors getting their lines out of order. The resulting awkwardness was so appropriate for the characters and the moment that the director chose to use it.

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[[folder: The 2005 film]]

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