(Pygmalion (Der Roman eines Blumenmädchens) [de])
UK / USA 1938
d: Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard
Criterion (Region 0 us)
sc: W.P. Lipscomb, Ian Dalrymple, George Bernard Shaw, Cecil Lewis, Anthony Asquith (based on the play by George Bernard Shaw)
c: Harry Stradling (b/w)
e: David Lean
pd: John Bryan
m: Arthur Honegger
p: Gabriel Pascal (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) [us] / Pascal Film Productions [gb])
w: Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfrid Lawson, Marie Lohr, Scott Sunderland, Jean Cadell, David Tree, Everley Gregg, Leueen MacGrath, Esme Percy, Violet Vanbrugh, Iris Hoey, Viola Tree, Irene Browne, Kate Cutler
pr: 06 Okt 1938
aw: Academy Awards 1939 Oscar Best Writing, Screenplay • Venice Film Festival 1938 Volpi Cup Best Actor Leslie Howard; Nominated Mussolini Cup Best Film
rt: 95:42 min
dvd-rl: 19 Sep 2000
ar: 1.33:1 (4:3 Academy Ratio)
sd: English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono
st: English
supp: The Criterion Collection #85
This new digital transfer was created from the 35mm composite fine-grain master (made from the original negative) and the 35mm optical soundtrack
• 6-pages Booklet with liner essay by David Ehrenstein
While the British film industry tumbled into one of the more serious of its periodic crises, an unlikely bunch of radicals and adventurers set out to breathe life into GBS's pre-First World War excursion into language and materialism. They produced a very radical - if still very male - film. Unlike the later My Fair Lady, the stress here is on Higgins' creation of a princess from 'a heap of stuffed cabbage leaves'. There is no Cinderella story: Eliza's transformation is forced and painful, and Higgins' final 'Where the devil are my slippers?' a refusal to forget, sentimentally, the enduring reality of patriarchy. Above all, the film is remarkable in that it strengthens rather than dilutes Shaw's insistence on language as the vital instrument of power and oppression.
— RMy, Time Out Film Guide
•••••
The 1938 Pygmalion, made a rarity with the advent of My Fair Lady, is still the definitive version of Shaw on film; GBS wrote the screenplay himself, adding 14 new scenes. Produced by Gabriel Pascal (who later directed Shaw's "Major Barbara," see February 17), Pygmalion is more romantic than Shaw's original stage conception and, under Anthony Asquith's direction, considerably more than a "filmed play." But the irreverent wit of the Irish dramatist shines through this brisk comedy of manners in superb performances by Leslie Howard as Henry Higgins, and Wendy Hiller as Eliza Doolittle. Wilfred Lawson's portrayal of Eliza's philosopher/dustman father is also remarkable, as are the film's elaborate sets. Co-directed by Leslie Howard, Pygmalion was recognized immediately as a masterpiece, and remains an ageless gem.
— PFA
