Pygmalion – 1938 | 96 mins | Drama | B&W

Plot Synopsis

George Bernard Shaw was always reluctant to have his plays filmed because he would not tolerate any tampering with his dialogue, but he was persuaded by Gabriel Pascal to allow a film version of Pygmalion, the Hungarian film producer gave Shaw the solemn promise that not a word would he altered. Anthony Asquith was selected to direct it and also collaborated in the writing of the film script, but Shaw always had the last word. Some additional scenes were required for the screen and, after some persuasion, Shaw wrote them – and it was to Shaw that Hollywood awarded an Oscar for the film script.

The story is about Henry Higgins a professor of phonetics, he wagers with Colonel Pickering, an authority on dialects, that he can pass off Eliza Doolittle, a Covent Garden flower girl as a lady. The girl is persuaded to try the experiment and rigorous training eventually brings its reward. After a successful tea party given by Mrs Higgins, Eliza moves on to in ambassador’s reception, where she is accepted as a princess. The experiment successfully over, Higgins decides to get rid of the girl. By this time Eliza has fallen in love with her benefactor, and upbraids Higgins for his selfishness: Higgins comes to see her in a new light as a human being of intelligence and beauty. Finally he realises he has fallen in love with his own creation, as in the legend of Pygmalion and Galatea.

Excerpt© ‘Puffin Asquith’ by R.J. Minney.