I introduced yet another friend to Gaskell and North & South. I am proud to report that she finds both very intriguing and is glad to have been introduced :)

I have more observations about the movie which I would like to share here.

Names and Naming in North and South
Margaret Hale's last name has links with the weather-a tempestous one at that. When Thornton walks into Margaret's home for the first time, there is thunder in the sky (as shown in the film). Margaret's emotions are like a hail--they are not full-blown like a storm, but they are intense none the less, and restless. A perfect example of the similarity between her tempestous emotions and her name is the strike. When the strikers struggle to get into the mill, the force of their actions is like a hail. This mirrors the troubled waters of Margaret's emotions.
John Thornton's first name suggests he is plain and uninteresting, but his last name conveys the sense of a hardness about him. He is prickley and it takes a lot for someone to get under his skin. He falls for Margaret because he notices how different she is from any other young women in his circle. Although he dismisses Higgins, he later comes to recognize his hard work and actually becomes humbled by him, learning about him in the process.
Gaskell does a good job of playing on the names of the important towns. While Helstone is described as "Paradise" by Margaret at first, the name also has connections with Hell. This Hell part of it is indeed what makes Mr. Hale leave Helstone for a better place, the opposite of Hell, a Paradise, which is Milton.
Although the name of "Milton" has connections to a highly educated man, one of the greatest 17th century writer, the town of Milton in Gaskell's novel is the exact opposite. The people here are mainly the working poor, who have little wish to learn. When Mr. Hale comes to teach, he starts with the Classics, something which Milton the writer adored. Thornton takes to the Classics well, which shows how he is willing to learn and therefore be of the same calibre as Milton, the writer. Also, Gaskell's intention in having such a name might be to show the characters, as well as readers, that perhaps the best learning occurs in hardship, in an "illiterate" setting. Margaret and Thornton's characters develop best when they are in Milton, a "dirty, smoky" town whose people care little for "Classical" learning.

ETA: I meant that Margaret's last name is like a hail storm.