Pygmalion / My Fair Lady
PYGMALION (U)
D: Anthony Asquith
General Film Distributors (Gabriel Pascal)
UK 1938
96 mins
Comedy/Romance
W: George Bernard Shaw, W.P. Lipscomb, Cecil Lewis & Ian Dalrymple [based on the play by George Bernard Shaw]
DP: Harry Stradling
Ed: David Lean
Mus: Arthur Honegger
Leslie Howard (Prof. Henry Higgins), Wendy Hiller (Eliza Doolittle), Wilfred Lawson (Arthur Doolittle), Scott Sunderland (Col. Pickering), Marie Lohr (Mrs. Higgins), David Tree (Freddy Eynsford-Hill)
Slightly old-fashioned with its execution, but this first film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's sprightly comedy of manners is blessed with some fine performances and brilliantly witty dialogue which make it timeless in its own right.
Professor of dialect Henry Higgins accepts a wager to transform common as muck flower seller Eliza Doolittle into a lady of high-standing by correcting her grammar and diction, and though it appears he has bitten off more than he can chew with the task at hand, a relationship blossoms between the two unlikely companions.
The story was further immortalised in the musical remake, My Fair Lady, as well as a very loose teenage version of a similar story (She's All That). Some may argue that this is the best filmed version of George Bernard Shaw's play, though My Fair Lady is probably the more memorable.
9/10
MY FAIR LADY (U)
D: George Cukor
Warner Bros (Jack L. Warner)
US 🇺🇸 1964
173 mins
Musical
W: Alan Jay Lerner [based on the stage musical by Alan Jay Lerner & the stage play ‘Pygmalion’ by George Bernard Shaw]
DP: Harry Stradling
Ed: William H. Ziegler
Mus: Frederick Loewe
PD: Gene Allen & Cecil Beaton
Cos: Cecil Beaton
Audrey Hepburn (Eliza Doolittle), Rex Harrison (Professor Henry Higgins), Stanley Holloway (Alfred P. Doolittle), Wilfred Hyde-White (Col. Hugh Pickering), Gladys Cooper (Mrs. Higgins), Jeremy Brett (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Theodore Bikel (Zoltan Karpathy)
Antiquated, it may be, but there is something quite delightful about this adaptation of Frederick Loewe & Alan Jay Lerner’s musical play, itself based on George Bernard Shaw’s ‘Pygmalion’.
Musicals are probably my least favourite genre, however, I do tend to enjoy them if I like the songs, and the majority of songs throughout My Fair Lady are absolutely delightful.
Rex Harrison is perfectly cast as foppish linguistics professor Henry Higgins, who accepts a wager to make a lady out of common-as-muck flower seller Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), and eventually becomes quite accustomed to her face.
Overall, the plot really is a basic one, even tackled a few years earlier in Frank Capra’s ‘Pocketful of Miracles’ and even as recently as 2010’s ‘The King’s Speech’, albeit with a gender and wealth flip.
Audrey Hepburn looks the part as Eliza Doolittle, but the (dubbed) singing voice of Marni Nixon is what truly makes her shine. I have to let it to be said that Hepburn’s performance is quite irksome in the film’s earlier scenes, though she does become incredibly pleasant as the film progresses, though it stretches the running time a little too far (2 hrs flat would have been more than sufficient).
The Best Picture winner for 1964 wouldn’t have been my choice, but I understand why it was honoured. The performances are all fine, and the songs are enjoyable, but the star of the show really has to be Cecil Beaton’s resplendent costume design.
Overall, I’d have to say that I prefer the 1938 version of ‘Pygmalion’, but this is still a highly enjoyable musical adaptation.
8/10
