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Pygmalion (1938) [The Criterion Collection #85] [REPOST]

Posted By: Notsaint

Date: 17 Sep 2013 17:18:04

Cranky Professor Henry Higgins (Leslie Howard) takes a bet that he can turn Cockney guttersnipe Eliza Doolittle (Wendy Hiller) into a “proper lady” in a mere six months in this delightful comedy of bad manners, based on the play by George Bernard Shaw. This Academy Award–winning inspiration for Lerner and Loewe’s My Fair Lady was directed by Anthony Asquith and star Howard, edited by David Lean, and scripted by Shaw himself.

Directors: Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard
Cast: Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfrid Lawson, Marie Lohr, Scott Sunderland, Jean Cadell, David Tree, Everley Gregg, Leueen MacGrath, Esme Percy, Violet Vanbrugh, Iris Hoey, Viola Tree, Irene Browne, Kate Cutler, Cathleen Nesbitt, O.B. Clarence, Wally Patch, H.F. Maltby, George Mozart, Ivor Barnard, Cecil Trouncer, Stephen Murray, Eileen Beldon, Frank Atkinson, Leo Genn, Moyna MacGill, Patrick Macnee, Anthony Quayle

The Criterion Collection

SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES
- Gorgeous new transfer, with digitally restored image and sound
- English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired

IMDb

The snobbish & intellectual Professor of languages, Henry Higgins makes a bet with his friend that he can take a London flower seller, Eliza Doolittle, from the gutters and pass her off as a society lady. However he discovers that this involves dealing with a human being with ideas of her own.
~ Steve Crook

Although "Pygmalion" is a black and white movie, and pretty old, it's really well done. The actors are very convincing - Higgins is just as rude as I thought he'd be, and Eliza as moralistic and vivacious. It complements the written play itself - not many things are left out and it does not seem too heavy or dramatised. The supporting cast were great as well - Mrs Pearce, Colonel Pickering, Mr Doolittle and Mrs Higgins were excellent. As for dialogue, there is a lot of it, but it's all so meaningful, that you have to be riveted so you don't miss a thing. The fact that it is black and white is actually irrelevant.

Oh yes. "Pygmalion" is the story of a Professor of Phonetics (Higgins) trying to change a flower girl in the streets (Eliza) into a lady in the middle class.

Overall, "Pygmalion" is an excellent movie, not to be missed.
~ ac224

Digitaly Obsessed

Playwright George Bernard Shaw was a longtime socialist and member of the Fabian Society in early 20th-century Britain. As such, he was a critic of Britain's rigid class structure and the believed superiority of the aristocracy. While being socially conscious, Shaw could also be very funny. He exquisitely combines these two threads in Pygmalion, which was later transformed into the musical My Fair Lady.

Leslie Howard both co-directs and stars as Prof. Henry Higgins, an expert on phonetics, by profession and hobby. He runs across a Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle (Wendy Hiller), with her appalling dialect and appearance. He bets with fellow phoneticist Col. Pickering (Scott Sunderhand) that he can pass her off as a duchess with six months of work on her speech and manners. As Eliza has difficulty adapting to upper-class society, she also manages to charm members of the aristocracy. Along the way, we get a great deal of Shavian wit and not-so-subtle jabs at British classism.

Part of what makes this film work so much better than My Fair Lady (aside from the improbabilities of breaking into song every few minutes) is the casting. The later musical rather subverted Shaw's intent, by putting Audrey Hepburn in the role of Eliza. We know she's a movie star right off the bat, making the Cockney aspect a mere mummery. Unknown Wendy Hiller, on the other hand, is not particularly attractive, making her transformation all the more astounding, and making much clearer Shaw's point that class is a mere matter of training, and has nothing to do at all with the person.

The other point of superior casting is priggish Leslie Howard as Henry Higgins. His prideful and demeaning attitude fits the character wonderfully so, far better than Rex Harrison could ever do; his pasty and frail appearance much more befits the phonetic pedant that the role calls for. Wilfrid Lawson as Eliza's boozing father is also a masterstroke, as he brings a nice contrast of beefy honesty to his degenerate role.

The photography is a beautiful black and white, with masterful editing by future director David Lean. Eliza's training is taken care of with a brisk montage that carries the impression of enormous effort and repetition in the space of a few seconds. Even though the time is brief, we get the message quite nicely, in a splendid economy of filmmaking.

Classical music buffs will want to acquire this disc, for the score is written by noted composer Arthur Honegger. While less experimental than some of his earlier compositions, the slightly mechanical score fits the film's theme of the artificiality of manners quite well. The original BBFC "A" Certificate is included at the beginning of the film. The running time is over five minutes longer than indicated on the keepcase. Pygmalion is #85 in the Criterion Collection numbering, for those keeping score.

A very funny film which was nominated for four Academy Awards®, including Best Picture and Best Screenplay for Shaw, Pygmalion is one of the gems of British filmmaking. The scene where Eliza is given her first bath is by itself worth the price of admission. Garn!

DVDBeaver