The 1938 film Pygmalion is a British adaptation of the 1913 stage play of the same name by George Bernard Shaw. It was directed by Anthony Asquith and Leslie Howard, who also starred in the film as Professor Henry Higgins. Wendy Hiller played Eliza Doolittle, the Cockney flower girl who Higgins transforms into a lady by modifying how she speaks.
The film tells the story of Higgins, a renowned phonetics expert, who makes a bet with his colleague Colonel Pickering that he can teach Eliza to speak so well that she will be able to pass as a duchess at an ambassador's garden party. Higgins takes Eliza into his home and begins her rigorous training, but he soon finds himself drawn to her in ways that he had not expected.
The film was a critical and commercial success, and it won an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay. It is considered to be one of the greatest British films ever made, and it has been adapted into several other films and musicals, including the 1956 musical My Fair Lady.
Pygmalion is a witty and satirical film that explores themes of class, social status, and the nature of language. It is also a love story, albeit a complicated one. Higgins and Eliza are drawn to each other, but they are also from very different worlds. In the end, Eliza must decide whether or not she wants to remain in Higgins's world, or if she wants to go her own way.
The film is also notable for its performances. Howard and Hiller are both excellent as Higgins and Eliza, and they have great chemistry together. The supporting cast is also strong, including Wilfrid Lawson as Eliza's father, Alfred Doolittle, and Scott Sunderland as Colonel Pickering.
I hope to shortly watch another Shaw play, Major Barbara, in which Wendy Hiller and Leslie Howard star
Mel Ulm
