Please note: THE BRIDGET JONES MOVIES ARE NOT JANE AUSTEN ADAPTATIONS.

Also please note: the word “actor” can refer to a man or a woman.

We now return you to our regularly scheduled snarking.

(Yes, the Editrix is back, refreshed, renewed, and energized with much Jane Austen wub at the JASNA AGM–can’t tell you how many folks spotted us in our “Team Tilney” t-shirt and guessed our secret identity! Wifi connection not what we had hoped, so no liveblogging, but a full report to come, possibly tonight.)

The Observer brings us this relevant tidbit in an article about fan fiction:

A librarian in Idaho recently received a $150,000 advance from Simon & Schuster to publish a three-novel trilogy about a character from Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice.

The whole article is definitely worth a read.

Review by MJ Ryan

At first blush, the 10th Anniversary Pride and Prejudice DVD looks like a Janeite’s dream come true. Five hours of Elizabeth and Darcy, enhanced for high-definition, a bonus disc that includes brand new commentary from the actors that starred in the production, and the inclusion of The Making of Pride and Prejudice by Sue Birtwhistle and Suzie Conklin. All of this packaged in a nifty cloth covered, gold embossed slipcase. Lovely. (more…)

We may get to see that particular scene after all! Alert Janeite Sylvia wrote to tell us that the role of little Walter Musgrove has been listed on IMDB as being played by Timothy Hallett.

A thorough Google search has revealed very little about young Timothy, but we are sure that he will perform excellently in his role. (This particular reporter must admit she is a little jealous - she certainly wouldn’t mind being picked up by Rupert Penry-Jones at all!)

“Pictures of perfection make me sick & wicked.” — Jane Austen

Even though he might look like perfection onscreen, my most beloved Mr. Darcy is a flawed and complex character. It is a testament to Austen’s genius that a character that spent so little time actually speaking has been the subject of so much fascination — and fiction — down through the years. Pamela Aidan, with her trilogy of stories entitled A Novel of Fitzwilliam Darcy, Gentleman, brings us her charming and satisfying vision of Pride and Prejudice, seen from Darcy’s perspective. Her first volume, An Assembly Such as This, covers the time between the assembly at Meryton and Darcy’s arrival back in London after the Netherfield ball.

(more…)

From the home office in Chawton, Hampshire, the top 10 reasons why posting on AustenBlog has been a bit spotty and distracted lately:

10. Busy plotting infiltration of Persuasion 2007 set

9. Sending Andrew Davies anonymous letters telling him that we can guarantee him an Emmy win for Northanger Abbey 2007 if he deposits £20,000 in our numbered Swiss bank account as a show of good faith.

8. Determining if our hotels in Arizona have wifi so that we can liveblog the JASNA AGM in Tucson, Arizona

7. Crocheting pretty camisole for JJ Feild so that his Henry Tilney doesn’t get a complex over Freddie’s frillies

6. Compiling exhaustive list of demands suggestions for Amanda Grange for when she writes Henry Tilney’s Diary

5. Practicing scales so can go on road with Austentatious…lalala! mimimi!

4. Basking in admiration of syncophantic minions, distributing chocolate

3. Arm-wrestling Heather L for title of Official Webmistress to Da Man

2. Lobbying Congress and Parliament for new law instituting harsh punishment for anyone who calls Jane Austen “the godmother of chick lit”

::drumroll::

And the number one reason that posting on AustenBlog has been a bit spotty lately….

1. The Editrix has been finishing up the final edits and rewrites for The Jane Austen Handbook: A Sensible Yet Elegant Guide to Her World, which will be published by Quirk Books in 2007. (Available for preorder on all the Amazons! And yes, this is our tongue-in-cheek way of announcing the book, which we’ve been working on in our Top Secret Writer’s Lair for some months now.)

We’re turning the blog over to the lovely and talented Tasha whilst we enjoy the beauties of nature and the beauties of JASNA next week! *waves hankie*

We have received some photos of the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s production of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE–just enough to whet the appetities of those who will be attending! Click on the thumbnails for larger versions.

Captions from left to right: Jane and Elizabeth; Elizabeth and Wickham (boo! hiss!); Elizabeth and Darcy (huzzah!); Elizabeth seems to be a little more amenable to Mr. Darcy’s persuasions than previously.

For those who are disappointed that they missed Jane Austen Day at the Winterthur Museum, there is another Austen-related event coming up.

On Saturday, November 4th from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Winterthur is hosting a family day called Book Behind the Film. The Vagabond Acting Troupe will present Writing Threads, a walking tour that features the words and thoughts of William Shakespeare, Henry James, Jane Austen, Agatha Christie, and Karen Blixen. Writing Threads is a 25 minute walking tour of literary thoughts, presented in the galleries of the Fashion in Film exhibition. For more information, visit the Winterthur Web site or call 302-888-4600 or 1-800-448-3883.

We recommend going to see the Fashion in Film exhibition at least. Emma and Marianne’s wedding gowns, the lace on Mr. Bingley’s sisters’ gowns, and did we mention Colonel Brandon’s regimentals? Yes, we did, but they are worth mentioning again.

Erin sent us a link to a music video she made with images from SENSE AND SENSIBILITY set to the music of Christina Aguilera. It’s very sweet–check it out!

In an interview on About.com, Maria Bello described her role in the film version of THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB as:

Bello will also be shooting The Jane Austen Book Club in LA as well. “It’s based on a book called The Jane Austen Book Club.

Gee, a film called THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB based on a book called…The Jane Austen Book Club! Who knew?

It’s about these five women and a man that start a book club and it’s all Jane Austen, all the time. It’s how you see their lives going through [that]. Like the book at my house is Emma and my life starts to look like Emma’s life at the same time. I fall in love with this young guy. It’s pretty cool.”

It looks like she is playing Jocelyn from that description. We find this intensely curious as Jocelyn and her best friend Sylvia were fiftysomethings in the novel, and according to her IMDB page Ms. Bello is not even forty. The “young guy” is supposed to be in his forties–and too young for Jocelyn to think of as a match for herself at first (and a nifty reversal on Emma and Mr. Knightley’s age gap). Hollywood strikes again. We had our Barbie crush, the gorgeous Dame Helen, in mind for the role, but nobody listens to us, do they?

Alert Janeite Cinthia sent us a link to an article in the New York Sun reviewing the 1940 film adaptation of PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, recently released on DVD. The reviewer had some interesting things to say about the older film and also comparing the two theatrical releases of P&P.

It is a universally acknowledged truth that a movie studio in possession of a good fortune must be in want of Great Books. The desire fulfills two needs: to borrow prestige and flaunt high Anglican taste. In the studio era, the first helped keep watchdogs at bay and the second indulged the very pretensions that triggered Leo the Lion’s roar: ars gratia artis (”art for art’s sake”). The moguls, especially at MGM, meant to entertain and improve minds — or at least wean them from actual books, which, great or not, kept potential customers at home.

[. . .]

No better example exists than “Pride and Prejudice,” one of five selfconsciously exalted films made at MGM between 1934 and 1940 and collected by Warner Bros. as “Motion Picture Masterpieces.” As Leo the Lion would say, “Aaaarghh!” This is one of those seriously flawed films that remains irresistible and, as many subsequent adaptations prove, inimitable.

We have long struggled to explain why we like the 1940 adaptation, despite its obvious infidelity to the novel. We can’t explain it. It just makes us smile. That being said, we acknowledge that it is not even close to being a faithful adaptation.

Still, this film is more faithful to Austen than the dreary English version released last year, which wasted its additional 10-minute running time on a credit roll and a pastoral opening, complete with bleating sheep. The later film’s plot is closer to Austen, though Pemberley is shot like a documentary museum tour, which suggests how limited matters of plot become when approaching a Great Book.

Austen is nothing if not acerbic and funny, her best dialog a fountainhead for the kind of writing that would take wing a century later in the work of Wilde, Huxley, and Coward — which may help to explain why she was so long in finding a devoted audience. Austen raises characterization to an audacious pitch, almost to the level of Moliére in the instance of Mr. Collins.The 1940 film, in which Austen’s wit is augmented by Huxley’s, was one of the funniest chamber comedies of its day, and remains so today.

In contrast, there are few laughs and no wit in the 2005 version, where the actors giggle so derisively they deprive the audience of the chance. Where Leonard’s direction and the script’s machinations suggested Austen’s cool objectivity, the new version, directed by Joe Wright and scripted by Deborah Moggach, aimed for baleful realism, winding up with an accurately cast but dull Collins, a droopy-eyed Darcy (whose vaunted pride seems to stem from fatigue rather than class), and a Mr. Bennett whose final moment, as rendered by Donald Sutherland, laughing through his tears, is Actor Studio kitsch.

Ouch! (but we mostly agree)

Alert Janeite Laura wrote to tell us that a commentator on the Style network mentioned that the Dolce & Gabbana Fall 2006 collection is featuring the Empire silhouette, inspired by Pride and Prejudice and Napoleon. We think it should never go out of style!

The Editrix attended Jane Austen Day at the Winterthur Museum yesterday and enjoyed the Austen-related activities as well as the beautiful grounds of the estate. Of special notice is the Fashion in Film Exhibition, which contained costumes not only from several Jane Austen film adaptations but beautiful costumes from other films as well. (Boy, Alan Rickman is TALL! And HUNKY! At least judging from his regimentals…ah-MMMM!)

Delaware Online has an article about the event, which from what we could tell was quite well-attended.

Alert Janeite Erin wrote in with her own report.

I stood next to Colin Firth’s costume from P&P2!!!! With no glass in between us!! Mom was worried that I was going to steal it and bring it home with me. It was a nice sunny day to do the letterbox hunt through the gardens. Elizabeth Steele’s lecture on Jane’s Irony was more like a picking of her favorite quotes from her favorite books. And it really made me mad when she called my Persuasion and Northanger Abbey, “Austen’s OTHER books”. HELLO!! Captain Wentworth’s letter is the most precious thing to my heart! I didn’t catch the dancing, but the readings were nice, and Mom and I caught ourselves crying with Elinor when Edward announced that his brother was married. Anna Chancellor’s red/orange dress from P&P was there as well, she looks like she would be a lot taller than she really is. I also heard some ladies calling P&P2…a “TV show”…such ignorance! I just thought you ladies would like to know how it was. The Jane Austen impersonator looked nothing like her…there was no sparkle to her eye, no witty smile, and she was way too flowery for my taste!

The Editrix enjoyed attempted to explain “Web sites” to Miss Austen. We fear we only succeeded in confusing her.

And in defense of Elizabeth Steele, a longtime Friend of AustenBlog, we know that she did not mean to dismiss Persuasion and Northanger Abbey…and knows better than to do so in front of the Editrix! She was under strict time constraints as the room was needed for another event, and just ran out of time.

If you attended, post your own report in the comments!

The Bath Chronicle had an article on the filming that named some of the shooting locations.

The crew were in Neston Park last week for a scene showing the inside of what Austen conceived as Elliot’s Bath home. On Monday they were in the Pump Room, and yesterday they were based in the Assembly Rooms, the setting for a concert in the book.

According to the schedule, today will see Bennett Street transformed and tomorrow Sally Hawkins, who plays Anne, will be running down Bennett Street from Lansdown Road as she hurriedly seeks Captain Wentworth, played by Rupert Penry-Jones, star of the BBC spy drama Spooks.

Filming will be finished fairly soon, sounds like:

“It’s very tight. A number of the main characters won’t be working with us after this week,” she said.

“Of course, we’ll still have the main two, but people like Anthony Head and Julia Davis won’t be with us anymore.”

Their preparation warms the Editrix’s wizened spinster heart.

It has also been revealed that before filming began, the production team were in Bath as part of a meticulous fact-finding mission.

In an effort to make sure historical details are accurately represented in the new adaptation, the crew tapped into the resources of the Bath Record Office archives at the Guildhall. The Records Office was only too happy to assist the crew by showing them manuscripts and sketches dating back to the 19th century and providing information about the social conventions and events of the time.

Colin Johnston, principal archivist, said: “We have been delighted to help where we can. We were able to provide a lot of details about the layout of the streets, and indeed the Pump Room. Old sketches showing caricatures and cartoons of Georgian life were also useful for the crew and to help the props people get an idea of what was in fashion at the time.”

Alert Janeite Maisy also posted some links to set photos taken by an extra. Looks like more of the shooting in Bath Street that we linked to earlier as well as some in the Circus.

“So, Miss Anne, Sir Walter and your sister are gone; and what part of Bath do you think they will settle in?” and this, without much waiting for an answer; or in the young ladies’ addition of, “I hope we shall be in Bath in the winter; but remember, papa, if we do go, we must be in a good situation: none of your Queen Squares for us!” or in the anxious supplement from Mary, of– “Upon my word, I shall be pretty well off, when you are all gone away to be happy at Bath!”

Alert Janeite Racquel sent us a link to a Jane Austen interactive crossword puzzle that she created. Check it out–it isn’t easy!

More Austen Season casting news…Alert Janeite Sylvia M wrote to tell us that Catherine Steadman will be playing Julia Bertram in MANSFIELD PARK (2007).

You know, after all the other Made Up Story stuff we’ve been hearing about BECOMING JANE, this tongue-in-cheek comment from James McAvoy shouldn’t surprise us in the least.

I’m quite urgently interested in Becoming Jane, in which his character sets about seducing and dumping Anne Hathaway’s Jane Austen, an episode which, according to the pre-publicity, ‘inspired her career as one of the world’s great romantic writers’.

Well, James, I say, this sounds exciting, doesn’t it, Becoming Jane? Who knew that Jane Austen…? ‘Took it up the arse?’ he says smoothly. ‘Because that’s what happens! No, it doesn’t,’ he hastens to add. ‘There are, however, a couple of smooches.’

Yes, we laughed. We are not quite so without humor. However, we feel obliged to point out the answer to the reporter’s question. “Who knew that Jane Austen…” needed a MAAAAAAAN to “inspire” her career? The answer, of course, is that SHE DIDN’T. It’s a Made Up Story!

Speaking of, this is just hysterical.

When 20 year old Jane Austen falls in love with a penniless Irish boxer,

*falls over laughing*

he inspires her to put pen to paper for the first time.

As Alert Janeite Tony A pointed out in comments, “Jane puts pen to paper for the first time at age 20. Oh, that’s right, I forgot. She dictated the Juvenilia to her personal secretary.”

But their affair is doomed: his lack of money and social status is frowned upon and to ensure her own family’s reputation they are tragically forced to apart… With Austen fever at an all time high, this is a touching romantic drama about the nation’s favourite author.

Who knew, indeed? But we think that this company has little to do with the actual film and suspect that there was a great misapprehension. We HOPE that is the case!

Don’t miss the comments responding to the original post…priceless snark. Well played, Janeites!

(And thanks to Alert Janeite Julia who sent in the Guardian link just as we were posting it!)

We have news on no less than three stage productions of P&P, all different, and in different areas of the U.S.

First, in Cleveland, the Lakeland Community Theater of Lakeland College is currently showing a production of P&P, through October 22–that’s this Sunday, so make haste! Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students.

Secondly, the Pioneer Theatre Company in Salt Lake City, Utah, is staging P&P on November 3-18. Single tickets go on sale starting October 18. That’s Wednesday, so once again…make haste!

Thirdly, the Shakespeare Theatre of New Jersey’s production of P&P begins tomorrow and runs through November 19. The theatre is located in Madison, New Jersey. Tickets are available online or by phone; remember, AustenBlog readers get a discount!

The Morris County Daily Record has an article about the production.

“These are two people who are highly self-examining and unusual,” director Monte said. “It is only through the process of self-assessment that transformation is possible. Then the door opens to each other and they are enlightened.”

That is, through an intense year of thinking about their own behaviors as individuals and toward each other, they are ultimately able to let go of the aspects of their pride and prejudice that do not serve them.

“They cannot be happy until they go through this year-long process that allows for shifts in perspectives. What makes them unusual and outstanding is that there are very few people in life willing to go through this process,” Monte said.

Most will give up and get out of the situation to avoid dealing with it. These people deal with it.

We love reviews, by the bye. (hint hint)

Alert Janeite Carmen wrote to tell us that the Spanish magazine Doble Cero (a free magazine from a shopping center for young people/buyers) refers to the Spanish singer David Bisbal, who is very famous in Spain, Latin America, Germany and other countries, as ‘Orgullo y Sensibilidad,’ (Pride & Sensibility). (Click on the thumbnail to see a larger image.) Carmen wrote,

a bit Janeite, don’t you think? About the inside article, nothing about Jane, as I supposed,….But, at least, the journalist chose a ‘janeite’ title.

PS: just one thing, although he makes a danceable music, it is not my sort of music!

Carmen also sent a link to the page about David at Wikipedia and his official site.

We heard from Dianne from the Jane Austen Society of Australia, who wanted to let antipodean AustenBlog readers know that JASA’s Christmas Lunch will be held on Saturday, 16 December, 2006 at Sydney Rowing Club at Abbotsford in Sydney, starting at 12.15 p.m. “Entertainment will be a selection of Robert Burns’ poems and a Scottish fiddler, and tartan is recommended! (and in case you’re wondering, Burns is mentioned positively in Sandition),” Dianne wrote. (Yet we suspect that Jane might not completely approve of young Robbie’s wilder antics. Just a hunch.) Send enquiries to books AT jasa DOt net DOT au.