Pygmalion by George Bernard shaw is my favourite play, closely followed the importance of being earnest by Oscar Wilde. And this version of it has to be one of my top ten favourite films. i love it, everything from the acting to the story is note perfect. Leslie Howard IS professor Higgins and one cannot imagine a better Eliza than Wendy hiller.
everyone knows the story (which is loosely based on a Greek myth), a cockney flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) is trained by a fussy and arrogant elocutionist (prof Higgins)to behave properly in high society. The story is witty, entertaining and is extremely popular. the casting in this is note perfect, Leslie Howard (probably best known for his portrayal of Ashley Wilkes in 'gone with the wind'), who also co-directed this film stars as professor henry Higgins and he embodies him perfectly, capturing every aspect of this arrogant, witty, fussy and infuriating man. the character is easily the most popular in the whole play (much against the playwright's wishes, shaw was a feminist). it was also one of Howard's favourite roles in his career as this man did not particularly like Hollywood films, considering them to be stupid and he spent his working life in Britain. he earned a nomination for best actor at the Oscars for this role (i really wish he had got it!). Wendy hiller making her screen debut and also personally recommended by shaw for the role is the best Eliza one will ever see. she also got nominated at the Oscars that same year. the rest of the supporting cast was good too, Scott Sunderland as the gentlemanly colonel pickering was very good, Wilfred Lawson as Alfred Doolittle was excellent (when he breathed at Higgins with his bad breath, i nearly wet myself with laughter), jean Caddell as the proud but middle class housekeeper Mrs Pearce, Marie Lohr as Higgins's stern but caring mother, David tree as the wimpish Freddy Eynsford-Hill who falls for Eliza and Esme Percy as count Aristid Karpathy. every one was nearly perfect in their roles.
the one thing i wasn't too pleased about was the fact that Anthony Asquith has decided to take out some of the funniest lines in the play an replace them with ones no where near as good as the old ones. he has also done this in the 1952 version of importance of being earnest.
shaw was a bit weary at his plays being done on screen. he had constantly turned down Hollywood offers to do screen his play (thank god, Hollywood has the greatest reputation of ruining British stories). he won an Oscar for best screenplay as he adapted his own play onto the screen here which did not please him. he was an odd man. they had too add in more here if they were going to make it feature length, so they have shown us Eliza's tutoring and the ball scene which is very well done. they also change the ending where Eliza returns to Higgins instead of leaving with Freddy. we are left wondering whether they get married, of live as friends or whatever. Higgins makes it perfectly clear that he will never marry anybody, but it could have happened. and Eliza is unlikely to marry a man who bullied her for six months but it leaves the audience guessing which is exactly what shaw wanted. the ending of the original play was Eliza leaving Higgins to go with Mrs Higgins, colonel pickering and Freddy to Alfred Doolittle's wedding and Higgins was left alone but with an incorrigible manner. in the film where she returns, it makes our imagination work a little more.
don't be taken in by the musical version of this play, my fair lady. this version is the real thing. i originally saw my fair lady before i saw this film and it was a lesson for me to see this and really appreciate it. i loved Rex Harrison's slightly mad performance as Higgins but Leslie Howard plays him closer to the original play (it has also been said that he would have been given the role of Higgins in my fair lady if he had still been alive) and Audrey Hepburn is just plain irritating in the role of Eliza, she can't hold a candle to Wendy hiller's performance. shaw would have undoubtedly hated my fair lady, he couldn't stick musicals, he probably wouldn't have allowed them the rights to make it. it didn't take me long to find fault in my fair lady and start loving this though. my fair lady is a Hollywood musical, they haven't a clue how to do British properly. it irritates me that everyone remembers my fair lady and fewer people know this film.
Pygmalion is deservedly a British classic and should be so much more appreciated in the UK than it is.
everyone knows the story (which is loosely based on a Greek myth), a cockney flower girl (Eliza Doolittle) is trained by a fussy and arrogant elocutionist (prof Higgins)to behave properly in high society. The story is witty, entertaining and is extremely popular. the casting in this is note perfect, Leslie Howard (probably best known for his portrayal of Ashley Wilkes in 'gone with the wind'), who also co-directed this film stars as professor henry Higgins and he embodies him perfectly, capturing every aspect of this arrogant, witty, fussy and infuriating man. the character is easily the most popular in the whole play (much against the playwright's wishes, shaw was a feminist). it was also one of Howard's favourite roles in his career as this man did not particularly like Hollywood films, considering them to be stupid and he spent his working life in Britain. he earned a nomination for best actor at the Oscars for this role (i really wish he had got it!). Wendy hiller making her screen debut and also personally recommended by shaw for the role is the best Eliza one will ever see. she also got nominated at the Oscars that same year. the rest of the supporting cast was good too, Scott Sunderland as the gentlemanly colonel pickering was very good, Wilfred Lawson as Alfred Doolittle was excellent (when he breathed at Higgins with his bad breath, i nearly wet myself with laughter), jean Caddell as the proud but middle class housekeeper Mrs Pearce, Marie Lohr as Higgins's stern but caring mother, David tree as the wimpish Freddy Eynsford-Hill who falls for Eliza and Esme Percy as count Aristid Karpathy. every one was nearly perfect in their roles.
the one thing i wasn't too pleased about was the fact that Anthony Asquith has decided to take out some of the funniest lines in the play an replace them with ones no where near as good as the old ones. he has also done this in the 1952 version of importance of being earnest.
shaw was a bit weary at his plays being done on screen. he had constantly turned down Hollywood offers to do screen his play (thank god, Hollywood has the greatest reputation of ruining British stories). he won an Oscar for best screenplay as he adapted his own play onto the screen here which did not please him. he was an odd man. they had too add in more here if they were going to make it feature length, so they have shown us Eliza's tutoring and the ball scene which is very well done. they also change the ending where Eliza returns to Higgins instead of leaving with Freddy. we are left wondering whether they get married, of live as friends or whatever. Higgins makes it perfectly clear that he will never marry anybody, but it could have happened. and Eliza is unlikely to marry a man who bullied her for six months but it leaves the audience guessing which is exactly what shaw wanted. the ending of the original play was Eliza leaving Higgins to go with Mrs Higgins, colonel pickering and Freddy to Alfred Doolittle's wedding and Higgins was left alone but with an incorrigible manner. in the film where she returns, it makes our imagination work a little more.
don't be taken in by the musical version of this play, my fair lady. this version is the real thing. i originally saw my fair lady before i saw this film and it was a lesson for me to see this and really appreciate it. i loved Rex Harrison's slightly mad performance as Higgins but Leslie Howard plays him closer to the original play (it has also been said that he would have been given the role of Higgins in my fair lady if he had still been alive) and Audrey Hepburn is just plain irritating in the role of Eliza, she can't hold a candle to Wendy hiller's performance. shaw would have undoubtedly hated my fair lady, he couldn't stick musicals, he probably wouldn't have allowed them the rights to make it. it didn't take me long to find fault in my fair lady and start loving this though. my fair lady is a Hollywood musical, they haven't a clue how to do British properly. it irritates me that everyone remembers my fair lady and fewer people know this film.
Pygmalion is deservedly a British classic and should be so much more appreciated in the UK than it is.