Pygmalion is on my list of unseen Oscar nominated Best Pictures. TCM was showing it so I set my Tivo and when I came home from work I had this delightful British romantic comedy to watch. If you have seen My Fair Lady then you have seen Pygmalion. The films are almost identical minus the singing and dancing. My Fair Lady is a direct adaptation of Bernard Shaw's play and film. The charm in Pygmalion is the great Wendy Hiller in one of her first roles as Eliza Doolittle and Leslie Howard as Professor Higgins.
In My Fair Lady I was always bothered by the age difference between Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn. When he appeared in the musical on Broadway he was 48. By the time the film was made he was 56 and just appeared to old to be courting Audrey Hepburn. In Pygmalion Howard, at 45, seems much more suitable to be attracted to the young Miss Doolittle, played by Hiller at the age of 26.
The film itself is a marvel of the English language and full of Shaw's trademark wit.
At the Movie House rating ****
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