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David Rintoul who was Darcy in the 1980 BBC Series, was more like Jane Austin's Mr. Darcy. I could not see Firth in that role after seeing Rintoul. Firth lacks that artistocratic hautuer that was the essence of Austin's Darcy and drove the plot in the novel. (BTW, Austin's Darcy never jumped in the lake!)

I like that earlier version of the story, too. My wife is a Jane Austen freak and re-reads the novel periodically. She regards that earlier verion as the most faithful (though she enjoyed the Firth version, too). One thing I did not like at all about the Firth/Ehle version was the actress who played Jane. She was supposed to be the prettiest of the sisters, but the blonde actress in the Firth version was simply unattractive (in our opinions). The dark-haired Jane in the Rintoul version and Rosamund Pike in the 2005 film were perfect.

I’m a Jane Austen nut myself, and you’d think I’d know how to spell it correctly after reading each of her novels at least 5 times. I’m glad your wife liked the Rintoul version best. I thought the casting was almost perfect. The only defect (and my little boy at that time noticed this) was that the actress that played Eliza in the Rintoul version had a bit of a lazy eye, in some of the scenes. But she captured Eliza perfectly, and the chemistry with Darcy was spot on.

"I like that earlier version of the story, too. My wife is a Jane Austen freak and re-reads the novel periodically. She regards that earlier verion as the most faithful "

I saw that version a gazillion times before I read the book. I was shocked that I knew the words as I was reading it. That version of P&P is very loyal to the book.