Pygmalion 1939
Pygmalion
When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.
When linguistics professor Henry Higgins boasts that he can pass off Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle as a princess with only six months' training, Colonel George Pickering takes him up on the bet. Eliza moves into Higgins's home and begins her rigorous training after the professor comes to a financial agreement with her dustman father, Alfred. But the plucky young woman is not the only one undergoing a transformation.
Videos & Photos
All 0 Videos & 6 Photoscast
Full Cast & Crew... Henry Higgins
... Eliza Doolittle
... Alfred Doolittle
... Mrs. Higgins
... Colonel George Pickering
... Mrs. Pearce
User reviews
See All 1 Reviews20 Jun 2022 by CinemaSerf
Even though it was made some 25 years, or so, before "My Fair Lady" it still takes a few minutes before you get used to the fact that it has no singing... Once that has been established, we can enjoy a witty and pithy observation of class and superficiality that raises both smiles and heckles in equal measure. Leslie Howard is great as the somewhat snobbish phonetics expert ("Prof. Higgins") who bets his pal "Col. Pickering" (Scott Sunderland) that he can take the gutturally linguistic flower girl "Eliza" (Wendy Hiller) and pass her off as a duchess to the highest of society. Hiller is super, too. She takes the role of the reluctant, naive but strong willed and savvy street seller by the scruff of the neck and before long we see that the Professor has more than met his match! His housekeeper "Mrs. Pearce" (Jean Cadell) has a go at umpiring now and again and there is a scene stealing performance from Esme Percy as the even more pompous "Count Karpathy" who is the one person "Higgins" fears may be able to rumble his deception. Right from the raucous and hilarious bathing scene, it sets off at quite a pace swiping relentlessly at the British societal system - ribbing snobs and workers alike as Bernard Shaw's story is transferred to celluloid in a way that (hopefully) the author would have appreciated too. I can't say I liked the ending of the play and I don't really much care for the ending here, either - but boy, it's one hell of a journey demonstrating creative skill at just about every turn.
Release Date:
Mar 03, 1939 (United Kingdom)
Run Time:
1hr 36`
MMPA Rating:
Original Language:
English
Production Countries:
United Kingdom
Status:
Released
Plot Keywords:

Related Movies To
Pygmalion
Even though it was made some 25 years, or so, before "My Fair Lady" it still takes a few minutes before you get used to the fact that it has no singing... Once that has been established, we can enjoy a witty and pithy observation of class and superficiality that raises both smiles and heckles in equal measure. Leslie Howard is great as the somewhat snobbish phonetics expert ("Prof. Higgins") who bets his pal "Col. Pickering" (Scott Sunderland) that he can take the gutturally linguistic flower girl "Eliza" (Wendy Hiller) and pass her off as a duchess to the highest of society. Hiller is super, too. She takes the role of the reluctant, naive but strong willed and savvy street seller by the scruff of the neck and before long we see that the Professor has more than met his match! His housekeeper "Mrs. Pearce" (Jean Cadell) has a go at umpiring now and again and there is a scene stealing performance from Esme Percy as the even more pompous "Count Karpathy" who is the one person "Higgins" fears may be able to rumble his deception. Right from the raucous and hilarious bathing scene, it sets off at quite a pace swiping relentlessly at the British societal system - ribbing snobs and workers alike as Bernard Shaw's story is transferred to celluloid in a way that (hopefully) the author would have appreciated too. I can't say I liked the ending of the play and I don't really much care for the ending here, either - but boy, it's one hell of a journey demonstrating creative skill at just about every turn.
Cast & Crew of
Pygmalion
Directors & Credit Writers
Cast
... Henry Higgins
... Eliza Doolittle
... Alfred Doolittle
... Mrs. Higgins
... Colonel George Pickering
... Mrs. Pearce
... Freddy Eynsford-Hill
... Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
... Clara Eynsford-Hill
... Count Aristid Karpathy
... Ambassadress
... Duchess
KC
Kate Cutler... Grand Old Lady
... Mr. Birchwood
... Sarcastic Bystander
... First Policeman
... Ysabel
VT
Viola Tree... Perfide
... A Lady
... First Bystander
Produced By
... Producer
PCS
Phil C. Samuel... Production Manager