Pygmalion

It was interesting to see this pre-war film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's of the play I saw recently at the Old Vic (see the review on one of my other blogs). Shaw was the screenwriter

and won an Oscar. Several changes were made and extra scenes introduced, many of which turned up in the famous post-war musical adaption - My Fair Lady. Leslie Howard takes on the Professor Higgins role and Wendy Hiller (in one of her early screen roles) is Eliza. I think this version is immensely successful, although Leslie Howard isn't really innocent enough (after all he was to be Ashley in Gone With the Wind a year later) but Hiller is terrific and believable. Although this is a 70 year old film it isn't just a stage production - the medium allows far more flexibility of scenary - and scenes, introduces crowds and much more obviously introduces the element and danger of discovery when Eliza is a guest at the Ambassador's Ball to prove how Higgins can transform her speech so dramatically. The film certainly retains the main points of Shaw's original play of an earlier generation. Very much worth seeing. Rating 9/10