Pygmalion (1938 film)
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| Pygmalion | |
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 1938 movie poster |
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| Directed by | Anthony Asquith Leslie Howard |
| Produced by | Gabriel Pascal |
| Written by | George Bernard Shaw W.P. Lipscomb Cecil Lewis |
| Starring | Leslie Howard Wendy Hiller Wilfrid Lawson Leueen MacGrath |
| Editing by | David Lean |
| Release date(s) |  6 October, 1938 3 March 1939 |
| Running time | 96 min. |
| Country | UK |
| Language | English |
| Allmovie profile | |
| IMDb profile | |
Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on George Bernard Shaw's play of the same name, and adapted by him for the screen. Ian Dalrymple, Anatole de Grunwald and Kay Walsh also made uncredited contributions to the screenplay. The film was a financial and critical success, and won a number of Oscars. Shaw's adaptation differs from his original play in that a ballroom scene was added and the ending changed - a surprising decision, given his previous insistence that the play's original ending remain intact.
Wendy Hiller was chosen by Shaw to play Eliza Doolittle after she had appeared in stage productions of Pygmalion and Saint Joan. The controversial line "Not bloody likely!" made her the first person to utter that swear word in a British film. The screenplay was later adapted into the 1956 theatrical musical My Fair Lady, which in turn led to the 1964 film of the same name.
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[edit] Awards
The writers, including the uncredited Ian Dalrymple, won the 1939 Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay. The film also received nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Howard) and Best Actress (Hiller). Shaw's reaction to his award was "It's an insult for them to offer me any honour, as if they had never heard of me before - and it's very likely they never have. They might as well send some honour to George for being King of England." However, his friend Mary Pickford later reported seeing the award on display in his home.
At the 1938 Venice Film Festival, Leslie Howard won the Volpi Cup and the film was nominated for the Mussolini Cup.
[edit] References
[edit] Notes
[edit] Bibliography
- The Great British Films, pp45-48, Jerry Vermilye, 1978, Citadel Press, ISBN 080650661X
[edit] External links
- Pygmalion at the Internet Movie Database
- Pygmalion at screenonline
- Synopsis at filmsite.org
- Criterion Collection essay by David Ehrenstein
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