Melville Cooper

According to IMDb:

Phil Silvers was asked to screen test for a role as a vicar despite having a strong New York accent. It turned out to be a cruel prank by studio executives who passed the screen test around Hollywood. In his autobiography, Silvers says “These three minutes were perhaps the funniest I’ve ever done.”

Source: IMDb

It doesn’t specifically say that the screen test was for the role of Mr. Collins, but I can’t think of another “vicar” they could be referring to.

This clip gives you a good look at the infamously non-period women’s costumes:

According to Edward Maeder, Adrian, the costume designer, asked director Robert Z. Leonard to place the film in a later time period than that of the novel so that the costumes might be more opulent than those of Jane Austen’s time.

Source: IMDb

Also:

Many costumes designed by Walter Plunkett for Gone with the Wind (1939) were used again the following year in this film for some of the large crowd scenes, although Adrian created the gowns for the principals in this film. A modest budget partially explains why the costumes are not at all accurate for the assumed period of the film and reusing Plunkett’s elaborate fashions saved MGM money in making this film.

Source: IMDb

And costumes weren’t the only things MGM wanted to recycle from Gone with the Wind. MGM’s first choice for Darcy and Elizabeth? Clark Gable and Vivien Leigh.

Malcolm Rennie

It’s a difficult to know what to do with this “teleplay” of Pride and Prejudice, produced in 1980 by the BBC as part of a series of Jane Austen’s works.

On the one hand, as a “teleplay,” it can’t really be held to the same technical and aesthetic standards as a true “film.” On the other hand, when held up to other video productions of the same time period…well, let’s just say that Three’s Company looks positively lush in comparison.

Speaking of Three’s Company, every time the Bennet sisters look at each other knowingly I feel like there’s something missing, so I’ve made an attempt to remedy that here:

And the history of costume recycling continues here:

• The pink walking-dress worn by Miss Bingley at Netherfield is the same one worn by Emma in the BBC version of Emma (1972) (Emma wears it during the strawberry-picking-party at Donwell).

• The beige and pink floral print muslin gown Clare Higgins (Kitty Bennet) wears at Longbourn was previously worn by Constance Chapman (Miss Bates) in Emma (1972).

• The pale blue gown with gold-flowered bodice and sleeves Jennifer Granville as Mrs. Hurst wears to dinner on Elizabeth’s first evening at Netherfield is the same gown Doran Godwin as Emma wears to the Christmas party at Randalls in Emma (1972).

• The white floral-print muslin gown with cut-out sleeves Sabina Franklyn (Jane Bennet) wears at Longbourn following the Meryton Assembly ball is the same costume Doran Godwin (Emma Woodhouse) wears at Hartfield in Emma (1972) while discussing Jane Fairfax’s “reserve” with Mr. Knightley.

• The brown and burgundy pelisse with embroidered bodice and matching bonnet Sabina Franklyn (Jane Bennet) wears on the walk to Meryton with Mr. Collins is the same costume Doran Godwin (Emma) wears to visit the poor in Emma (1972).

• The yellow-checked dress Tessa Peake-Jones (Mary Bennet) wears in the scenes before and after the Meryton Assembly ball is the same costume Debbie Bowen (Harriet Smith) wears at the Box Hill Picnic in Emma (1972).

• The green gown and overdress with scalloped neckline worn by Jennifer Granville (Mrs. Hurst) at the Netherfield Ball is the same costume Fiona Walker (Mrs. Elton) wears to dine at Hartfield in Emma (1972).

• The deep blue military-style coat Elizabeth Garvie wears in the scenes of Elizabeth Bennet arriving at Hunsford and at Pemberley is the same costume Ania Marson as Jane Fairfax wears in Emma (1972) during the scene in which Jane visits Mrs. Elton at the parsonage to discuss the party Emma is throwing for Mrs. Elton.

Source: IMDb

As for Mr. Rennie’s performance, since this is the version with which people are probably least familiar, I’d be interested in hearing people’s first impressions based on this clip.

David Bamber

The word that always comes to mind when I see David Bamber’s Mr. Collins is “obsequious.” I’m not even sure if that’s the right word, but that’s the word.

And I’ve started practicing that look he gives Jane across the table. It has that perfect combination of ardor and affectation that women find irresistible.

Tom Hollander

Tom Hollander is still my favorite Mr. Collins. His approach is quite different than the other three, who are essentially just doing variations on the same buffoonish theme. And he isn’t just another exhibit in the British Museum of the “Comedy of Embarrassment.”

I’m sure we all know someone like this Mr. Collins. The kind of guy whose inappropriate actions are born out the kind of social awkwardness that self-improvement efforts only seem to amplify. With every self-help book he reads, the farther he gets from anything approaching naturalistic behavior; the harder he tries to say and do the right thing, the more mannered and stilted his speech and actions become.

You just feel so sorry for the poor fellow because he is so obviously ill-suited to the life and position he has mapped out for himself.

And there’s something about that first line at the dinner table:

“What a superbly featured room and and what excellent boiled potatoes. Many years since I’ve had such an exemplary vegetable.”

I start cracking up at the pronunciation of “po-ta-toes” and by the time he gets to “exemplary vegetable” I’m doing involuntary spit takes.

He also gets extra points for “rectory” and “abuts.”