The story is about five sisters from an English family of landed gentry who must deal with issues of marriage, morality and misconceptions.

"[3] Mrs. Bennet and her two eldest daughters, Jane and Elizabeth, are shopping for new dresses when they notice two gentlemen and a lady arriving outside, exiting from a very expensive carriage.

They learn that the men are Mr. Bingley, who has just rented the local estate of Netherfield, and Mr. Darcy, both wealthy eligible bachelors, which excites Mrs. Bennet's interest.

Invited to a garden party by Charles Bingley at Netherfield Park, Collins keeps following Elizabeth around, who tries her best to avoid him, as he won't leave her alone.

In August 1939, MGM had selected George Cukor to direct the film, with Robert Donat now cast opposite Shearer.

[4] The studio considered filming in England, but these plans were changed at the start of the war in Europe in September 1939, which caused the closure of MGM's English operations.

(In the novel, the confrontation is an authentic demand, motivated by Lady Catherine's snobbery and her ardent desire that Darcy marry her own daughter.)

When it premiered at Radio City Music Hall, Bosley Crowther, reviewing for The New York Times, described it as "the most deliciously pert comedy of old manners, the most crisp and crackling satire in costume that we in this corner can remember ever having seen on the screen."

He also praised the casting, and noted of the two central protagonists: Greer Garson is Elizabeth—'dear, beautiful Lizzie'—stepped right out of the book, or rather out of one's fondest imagination: poised, graceful, self-contained, witty, spasmodically stubborn and as lovely as a woman can be.

[3]In the 21st century, TV Guide called the film "an unusually successful adaptation of Jane Austen's most famous novel...

[7] Pride and Prejudice received an Academy Award for Best Art Direction, Black and White (Cedric Gibbons and Paul Groesse).