Pygmalion (1938)

I have to confess I am ignorant of the famous film My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn.  I have been told that adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion is far superior to this version, which is apparently joint directed by Anthony Asquith and and Leslie Howard (who also played the starring role of Professor Henry Higgins).  While Shaw also had a hand on the script, it is clear that this 1938 adaptation operated on a far lower budget - and without the uber-magnetism and beauty of the likes of Audrey Hepburn.  Indeed, the Eliza Doolittle here, played by Wendy Hiller, is decidedly plain in comparison - even after her 'transformation' into a Lady.  The film has its charm and its moments, but ultimately I found this film unsatisfying.  


Cinderella-like, the story follows the protagonists journey from rags to riches, from a common flower-girl to someone miraculously transformed by the knowledge, and ultimately the love, of a well-to-do professor of linguistics.  I say 'miraculous' because I thought it was unbelievable and basically incredibly romantic - a wish fulfillment of class transcendence.  The message is: love can conquer all.  Oh dear.  The opportunity for a real discussion of the horrid class system of early twentieth century England is sidestepped by this gross, sentimental romanticism.  I am interested now to read Shaw's original play to see his original take on it - and I understand that it is less than happy or at least much more ambiguous.   I don't mind a fairy tale but how about we make it compelling?


The real killer here is the ending: Eliza apparently elopes with Freddy Eynsford-Hill - only to suddenly return to her true love and (dare I say it) creator, the professor.  It seems clumsy, forced and rushed - it's not clear where her planned elopement went wrong.  IMHO it would have been better for her to leave - for this narrative to have an unhappy ending.  At least it would seem more realistic and less saccharine.  In fairness, though, this would fly in the face of what audiences wanted during the first productions of Shaw's play as well as what they obviously want in mainstream cinema.  It may not be Hollywood, but British cinema here relents to Hollywood values.  Bleurgh.  


But this is also, perhaps, the residue of the Romanticism that has been built up around the Victorian reception of the ancient Greek narrative of Pygmalion.  Exquisite here is the pre-Raphaelite painter Burne-Jones and his gorgeous painting: who cares about class politics when there is beauty and love, right? Ahh, the dream of a perfect woman...

Structurally speaking, the narrative of the Prodigal Son here becomes the Prodigal Daughter - who transforms into the prodigal wife.  The transformation from "daughter" to "wife" occurs at the moment of Eliza's self-realization, her individuation, her refusal to take on the role of merely being the professor's creation.  And in this strangely psychological narrative there are hints of Frankenstein: it raises moral questions about how "scientific" knowledge is used (here it is linguistics/phonetics).  But there is also a whiff of Victorian misogyny: the narrative of a man creating a woman recalls the Genesis narrative of Eve, which surely constitutes one of the Ur-narratives of misogyny in our culture?  It would be interesting to see if there are examples of a literary creation narrative that worked the other way around! 


To its credit, there are some incredibly funny one-liners from the professor, particularly when he is being scathing towards Eliza.  They are outrageous and hilarious.  The most famous one:

Yes, you squashed cabbage leaf, you disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns, you incarnate insult to the English language, I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba! 

And there are lines that invite interpretation: for example when the professor says that as far as he is concerned even the best looking women "may as well be blocks of wood".  Perhaps the professor in the end also transforms: from gay, acid-tongued, flippant upper-crust bachelor to dedicated heterosexual, romantic husband.  Hmmm.  Cinderfella?

Recommended for historical reasons, **1/2 stars.