Perfect Mr. Darcy
Is not David Rintoul just right? The whole cast of this is excellent, especially the Bennet parents and Mr. Collins. I like Colin Firth, but he was really miscast as Darcy.
shareI think he's one of the best Mr. Darcys out there! Sometimes he was a little stiff with the character but it didn't bother me much, I love the story and he had the vibe for it.
"I promise you, before I die I'll surely come to your doorstep"
I wish that David Rintoul had made movies since.In addition to his part in the Horatio Hornblower series, he also did a series called Doctor Finlay. I have not seen it. I'm in the US and it is not available in a Region 1 format. If I get a dvd player that will play dvds that are from other regions, I can assure you Doctor Finlay will be one of the first things I watch on it. If anyone has anything they can tell me about the series, I would like to hear about it.
I don't know why I did not come over to this board earlier. I always laugh over the arguments on other boards at the "Firth vs. McFayden" threads. I enjoy Firth amd McFayden's performances well enough, but for me, neither of them holds a candle to David Rintoul.
He is wonderful as Mr. Darcy. His expression of horror when Mary begins to play and sing at the assembly makes me laugh out loud every time.
I did not care for the 1995 P&P when I first saw it. I have since grown to like it, but this version is SO much better in my opinion. I remember being glued to my TV every Tuesday when this was showing on Masterpiece Theater. I purchased it the moment it was released on VHS (and have since purchased a copy of it on dvd). share
This was the best cast in my opinion. David Rintoul had pride down pat and this has been, by far, my favorite Elizabeth.
Glad to see so many people agree that this is an excellently cast P&P. Colin Firth is Ok but I say that David R has the part down pat. Elizabeth here is great too. The Actress who played in the 95 sounded like she was constanty talking through her nose. The Mother was also the best, silly enough without being over the top like the 95 version. Charlotte too was great. What can you say? I only wish this cast had the production money the 95 version had.
shareI have seen part 1 of this miniseries and I must agree that David R is a more convincing Darcy than Firth. Firth looks rather comtemporary in his walking and mannerisms. DR looked more classic and aristocratic. I am waiting for the second disk to arrive from netflix. Elizabeth Garvie is the best of all the three actressing portraying elizabeth. Keira K was too giggly and immature although she fit the physical description of lizzy better than Jennifer E, who looked too stout and matronly for the role.
shareElizabeth is NOT a mature woman at the beginning of the book. The whole point of the book is that she, just like Darcy, changes. I really liked Keira as Elizabeth. She was charming, she was endearing, she looked and acted like a typical young woman, and human nature hasn't changed in 200+ years. Happy young women smile and laugh a lot. Remember, Elizabeth tells us herself in the book that she dearly loves to laugh.
I liked Elizabeth Garvie, but my favorite Elizabeth of all happens to be Greer Garson. Yes, she's too old and yes, the costumes and plot are wrong, but she *gets* the part. She has the right amount of "archness" and "sweetness" to be the Elizabeth I picture when I read the book.
It is interesting how different people find different actresses appealing in Elizabeth's role...and that is the beauty of the book. It allows readers to picturize elizabeth differently. I agree that Elizabeth is not mature from the beginning and that she likes to laugh. But she clarifies that she does not laugh for just about anything. Moreover, there is a difference between laugh and a giggle. I found KK pleasing in some scenes but giggly in others. But then again, it is my humble opinion and I understand why some people may find her appealing as Elizabeth. I also found Greer Garson's portrayal of Elizabeth very good. She looked classy, witty, pleasing and sometimes clueless. I especially like her expressions after Darcy first proposes and leaves. She conveyed the feelings of being flattered and angry so well. She did look a bit old and the plot and constumes were not accurate. What did you think of Jennifer Ehle's performance?
shareI thought she was *too* mature. She never showed any real evidence of emotional growth. I never saw any chemistry between her and Firth, and I was floored to find out that the two of them had been an item during filming.
I also thought she sneered and spat out her lines. Remember, the book said she exuded sweetness and that Darcy had no idea she hated him. In fact, we are told that he is surprised when she refuses his proposal. Well, the way Ehle played the role, he'd have to have been a complete and utter moron not to see that she hated him. She treated him like dirt.
I agree completely. She was too defensive and contemptuous towards Darcy. She also looked too stout and old for the role.
I am still struggling with the reasons why Darcy may have been so sure that Elizabeth will accept his proposal. One of the reasons of course may be Lizzy's teasing and playful attitude towards him (although she was taunting him, she did it in a pleasing way). But then I am also wondering if he, being brutally rational, thought that given the superiority of his status over Lizzy's, it would be a privilege for her to marry him and she would never refuse him. Another reason may be he was spoilt as a single child (for many years before his sister was bron) and was used to getting what he wanted. He was just not used to people saying no to him. He admits this at the end of the book.
I think you are right in your description of Darcy's thinking vis a vis Elizabeth and marriage.
He had no idea she hated him. He realizes during the Bennet sisters' stay at Netherfield that he is attracted to her and fights it from the get-go. He says he was "bewitched" by her and also that it was dangerous for him to be near her. He intentionally tries to ignore her so as not to lead her on, and she thinks he's rude and snobbish. Which he is, but not always.
Also, at Hunsford, Elizabeth tells Darcy where she likes to walk on the grounds at Rosings because she thinks she is "warning" him that she'll be there and he'll know to avoid those areas. But he takes it in the opposite way -- that she's letting him know where she likes to walk because she wants him to be there.
So, if you look at it from his perspective, you can see why he might think she's interested.
In order to understand Darcy's attitude towards Elizabeth's refusal, you must also understand the attitude of the day towards marriage in specific and women in general. The book itself outlines that marriage is the only honorable choice for a single woman of their class; more "lowborn" women might go out & work without anyone sneering at them (more than usual), but not women such as the Bennets - or Charlotte Lucas, whose accepting Mr. Collins is foreshadowed by all the talks she and Elizabeth have on the subject of marriage. Given the Bennet's financial situation (not very rich to begin with, estate entailed away), these girls HAVE to get married - and given their social standing, it was almost a miracle that Darcy proposed to Elizabeth. I knew Darcy didn't know everything Elizabeth thought of him at the time of his proposal, but he must have known that she didn't love him. However he proposed anyway, and for all the reasons he, himself, outlined, as well as those Austen puts in the book, he had every reason to think she'd accept. He knew he was a catch, and he figured if he told her how graciously he was overlooking all her family's flaws it would make her inclined to accept him (Boy, was he wrong!!).
shareAlso Darcy had to be aware that his station in life and his income would have made him a 'catch' for any woman, but particularly for Elizabeth whose family was, shall we say, 'shabby genteel'. Remember Lady Lucas' catty comment about Charlotte having a new instead of a remade dress for the Netherfied ball. In addition he would have been made aware, no doubt, of the precarious situation of the Bennet females in the event of the death of Mr. Bennet because the estate (which seems to be their only wealth-Mr. Bennet is hard-pressed to find dowries for his daughters, another reason that daughters were considered a curse in those days- was entailed away (because of lack of male issue from Mr. Bennet) on the eldest male relative, Mr. Collins. Collins, although a pompous ass, was attempting to be generous in offering to marry Lizzie, which would have secured a home and a living to her mother and sisters if her father passed away. Unless one of the girls made an advantageous marriage, the Bennet women would eventually have been either homeless or dependent in any case on one of Mrs. Bennet's male relatives or Mr. Collins for their very sustenance. Those who know Jane Austen's life story are aware that such indeed was the situation of Jane, her sister Cassandra, and their mother after the death of Mr. Austen. In "Sense and Sensibility, Austen gives a grimmer picture of the lives of her female protagonists who are in that very situation. Austen wrote what she knew.
Young men who were younger sons even of a wealthy house were in a similarly precarious position. The wealth of the family would have been settled on the elder son. They had two choices: a career in the church or the army. They, too had to work toward marriage with an heiress to maintain the lifestyle to which they had been raised. Colonel Fitzwilliam is in this position. For him, Anne DeBourgh would have been a good choice, absent Darcy after he wed Elizabeth, as one of the sequel writers (Regina Jeffers' 'Darcy's Passions" -by the way a poor imitation of Austen- envisions. At least there, the family connection if not wealth (Fitzwilliam's lack) would have been maintained and in time Lady Catherine's estate and fortune would have at least passed to Anne and a male family member.
It must be remembered that in the time and place of this story, for most people, love was not a requirement in marriage. Most people of the upper classes married to consolidate wealth and property, and make sure it remained in the upper classes, one of the reasons for Darcy's original reluctance to court Elizabeth. Although the mothers of young women of Elizabeth's class hoped for a proposal from a man of Darcy's status and income,it happened rarely. Charlotte Lucas encapsulates the practical view of marriage in those days when she says to Elizabeth that "Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance." and later that she is not romantic; all she wants is a comfortable home. For her and most women of the time, marriage was security and enough money to support that security. If love evolved, that would have been icing on the cake.
In Darcy's eyes, he is being extremely imprudent,(the marriage hoped for between him and her daughter Anne by Lady Catherine would have been the ideal, uniting as it would have two family fortunes and properties) but he is so rich he can afford to be. He has every reason to believe that in spite of his arrogant behaviour, Elizabeth will accept him.
Ehle smirks too much for me.
shareHi,
I purchased all 4 seasons of Doctor Finlay at Amazon.com as (4) Region 1 DVD sets:
Season 1 is called "Doctor Finlay"
Season 2 is called "Doctor Finlay Volume 2"
Season 3 is called "Doctor Finlay Set 3"
Season 4 is called "Doctor Finlay: Days of Grace" but is maddeningly missing the final episode of the series "Snowblind" for some puzzling reason!