"I read the book and I don't want to spoil it by seeing the movie." That's the reaction of a great many people who see one of their cherished novels advertised at the local cinema. Too often does established fiction submit to a most exhaustive mincing in the name of "entertainment" on its way to the screen.

It is a compliment either to the virtues of Jane Austin's book or the maturity of Hollywood that "Pride and Prejudice" has maintained its integrity on its perilous journey from paper to film. It appears on the screen as a startling and refreshing example of a picture that clicks without having resorted to the run-of-the-mill movie formulas.

Heading the list of factors-for-the-good is the cast. Seldom have audiences witnessed a more perfect chronic sneer than that of Laurence Olivier; seldom a more perfect break-down that the first proposal scene. Greer Garson is the second edition of Myrna Loy,--and the second edition can act. Honorable mention goes to Mary Boland, whose past career has been a rehearsal for the part of Mrs. Bennett, and Melville Cooper, whose depiction of stuffed shirts is rapidly approaching art.

Also showing is an unfortunate little job called "Cross Country Romance" which is an ideal case-in-point for the single feature forces among moviegoers today.