Wow! Have we really gone so far down the rabbit hole here that a quality piece of entertainment gets dumped on? Pride and Prejudice is one of my favorite movies, and while Garson is older than the character she is playing, it only goes to show what a fine actress she was, pulling off a magnificent youthfulness. Olivier has just enough starch in his britches as her haughty paramour, softened to tenderness by Ms. Garson's inimitable Irish lilt, finesse and charm. Theirs is a supremely devilish and quaintly antagonistic affair of the heart. Delicious entertainment.
While I'll concur Olivier could - in some other movies - be a bit too invested in his performance to make it click as it should, I really don't think this negates what an accomplished actor he was in totem, absolutely wonderful in Wuthering Heights, and Rebecca, and, I always found him affecting and true as the empathetic detective in Bunny Lake is Missing. I also didn't mind his 'hamming' in either The Prince and the Showgirl, or, of course, The Entertainer, where it is decidedly expected and part of the plot.
While I'll concur Olivier could - in some other movies - be a bit too invested in his performance to make it click as it should, I really don't think this negates what an accomplished actor he was in totem, absolutely wonderful in Wuthering Heights, and Rebecca, and, I always found him affecting and true as the empathetic detective in Bunny Lake is Missing. I also didn't mind his 'hamming' in either The Prince and the Showgirl, or, of course, The Entertainer, where it is decidedly expected and part of the plot.