SHAW ON THE SCREEN

Dominion, Volume 32, Issue 144, 14 March 1939, Page 11

SHAW ON THE SCREEN

“Pygmalion” For Everyone

The few who perchance have lingering doubts as to the genius of Mr. George Bernard Shaw, critic, author, playwright, satirist, and most penetrating and amusing writer of dialogue should make a point of seeing the screen version of his “Pygmalion,” for pictures of such quality are not produced every year. Those who have an acquaintance with the play will not need to be told that “Pygmalion” is an extremely entertaining human document, but even such good folk, with all their devotion to Shaw as a .playwright, will be stimulated by the manner in which the play comes to life on the screen; the faithfulness of Its transformation; the vivid preservation of character, and the facile manner in which the subtleties of 'Shaw have been presented for the consumption of everyone. Pygmalion of mythology fashioned a statue of his ideal woman so wonderfully that he fell in love with it, and prayed the gods to breathe life into the marble. The gods were kind, and did so. The ancient legend was transmuted into a farce under the title of “Niobe,” played with surpassing excellence by the Broughs some 40 years ago. Shaw has made the theme one for an intensely human play. He does not deal in wet clay or cold marble. His Professor Higgins, crazy on phonetics and the dominating part speech plays in the social scale, seized upon Eliza Doolittle in the Covent Garden markets for his raw material. Becoming interested in her raw Cockney dialect, he wagers with his friend, Colonel Pickering, that within six months, he would make her a duchess; meaning, of course, a person capable of associating with the higher strata of society. The colonel agrees to pay all the exixmses of the experiment if Higgins wins, and the professor starts in on Eliza. Gradually, and with infinite patience, and many headaches, Higgins forces on her the niceties of English as spoken in Park Lane. Then comes the test, a wonderful scene with Violet Vanburgh as the duchess. Eliza sails through, an automaton, but with perfect speech, carriage, and manners, to win the attention and admiration of glittering Mayfair. Having won his wager by turning out the perfect specimen from the "roughest material, what becomes of Eliza? How does Professor Higgins treat the clay he has moulded? This is, perhaps, the most Shavian incident in this deliciously whimsical screen play, so very reasonably produced, so rationally acted. Leslie Howard has never been seen to such advantage as in the part of Professor Higgins; Wendy Hiller, as Eliza Doolittle, is a treasurable discovery as au actress (apart from her natural charm as a woman) ; and Wilfred Lawson, as Doolittle, the reputed father of Eliza, goes close to stealing the honours in a character study treacly with unction. ‘’Pygmalion” is a screen dish to set before king or parlourmaid —neither could help laughing for 90 per cent, of its duration. Little wonder that the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences, of Hollywood, named “Pygmalion” as tbe bestwritten play of 1928. One would have to search a long time to find a betterwritteu screen play ever produced anywhere. Gaumont-British gains prestige by this picture.