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Though famously remade as the musical My Fair Lady, this 1938 version of the story was the first English-language screen adaptation and the only one approved by its playwright, the cantankerous George Bernard Shaw, who also penned the Academy Award-winning screenplay. The tale is familiar by now: Phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Leslie Howard, who also co-directed) refashions the speech patterns and manners of Covent Garden flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Wendy Hiller). Along the way, Shaw's shots at social mores, exemplified mainly by Higgins's comically rude attitude toward Doolittle, are brought home by several elements, not the least of which are editor David Lean's spooky, tunneling montages, the brisk and frisky staging by co-director Anthony Asquith, and the intense chemistry between Howard and Hiller. Fans mesmerized by My Fair Lady's songs and florid pageantry needn't fret, as they will likely be charmed by the zippy rhythm of Shaw's dialogue, which has a terrific musicality of its own Eddy Crouse

All Movie Guide

Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller star in Anthony Asquith's and Leslie Howard's classic version of George Bernard Shaw's satiric comedy Pygmalion. Henry Higgins (Howard) is an upper class phonetics professor who encounters low-class guttersnipe Eliza Doolittle (Hiller) and bets his friend Colonel Pickering (Scott Sunderland) that he can pass her off as a duchess within three months. Pickering accepts Higgins' bet, with Eliza readily agreeing to the proposal, since she will get to live in Higgins' fancy home. Once in Higgins' house, Eliza is subjected to intensely repetitive phonetics lessons in an effort to transform her Cockney accent into the speech of proper English. Things are a bit rocky at first, with Eliza blurting out "Not bloody likely" at a tea party. But when Eliza is presented at the Ambassador's Ball, she is not only accepted as a princess but is the talk of the ball, everyone in attendance commenting on her charm, beauty, and poise. Relishing his success, Higgins abruptly dismisses her. But Eliza has fallen in love with Higgins and is aghast at her cursory treatment by him. She tells him, "I sold flowers. I didn't sell myself. Now you've made a lady of me, I'm not fit to sell anything else." When Eliza leaves, Higgins realizes that he loves her too, but Eliza has announced to Higgins that she plans to marry high society playboy Freddie Eynsford-Hill (David Tree). Paul Brenner

Product Details

• UPC: 037429151822
• Source: CRITERION
• Aspect Ratio: Pre-1954 Standard (1.33.1)
• Presentation: B&W
• Sound: Dolby Digital, monaural
• Language: English
• Subtitles: English
• Time: 1:30:00
• Sales Rank: 7,678

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Essential Art House, Vol. 2

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