Pygmalion, 1938
Phonetics expert Henry Higgins (Leslie Howard) has a chance encounter with Colonel Pickering (Scott Sunderland) while the former is out observing the speech of a crowd outside a theater in London. Both are amused by the mannerisms and speech of a flower girl, Eliza (Wendy Hiller), and the men form a wager revolving around Higgins teaching Eliza to speak properly and passing her off as high-class at a swanky function.
This was a really fun and enjoyable film with one major flaw (which I will get to later). To start with, the film captures the wit and charm of Shaw's play. The actors, and especially Howard and Hiller in the lead roles) find the rhythms and little asides of their characters, so that they feel at once larger-than-life and at the same time relatable and human.
For the most part, the film does a great job of exploring the idea of perception and human value. The premise of the original myth is, of course, pretty sexist to modern eyes. A man literally creates a woman he finds hot, then gets to marry her. The twist in
Pygmalion (the play and sort of the movie), is that when Eliza becomes a "real" lady, she comes to a series of revelations about herself and the way that she is treated and perceived by others. In this way, the story pushes neatly back against the inherent sexism in the premise. It was also nice to see multiple characters (Pickering and Higgins' maid) articulating that his arrangement with Eliza could be considered exploitative and urging him to make sure she won't ultimately be harmed by his little experiment.
There is a line late in the film that made me worried. Eliza says, "The difference between a flower girl is the way she is treated." I was afraid that there was going to be more to that statement about women insisting on proper treatment, but there wasn't. It is not on Eliza to determine how she is treated--some people (like Pickering) treat people with kindness no matter what their social status. Importantly, Eliza's morals and behavior don't change. Her speech and manners are altered, and suddenly she is worthy of love and respect and attention. This reflects poorly on society, not on Eliza.
There's also an interesting class critique centered on Henry. Throughout the film, we see that Henry commits many sins of manners. He swears. He has a tendency to drop his hat wherever he wants. He is rude and abrupt. He wears his bedclothes around the house. And yet all this is waved away because of his social status. Just as Eliza is treated with suspicion and pity because of her way of speaking and behaving, Henry is afforded patience and tolerance because of his.
So here's the problem with the film, and it's kind of major. (SPOILERS for the end of
Pygmalion)
WARNING: spoilers below
Eliza realizes through the film that Henry has constantly objectified her and treated her as less than. No matter what she does or how she speaks, he will always regard her as being beneath him. In the play, she's had enough and she sweeps out, leaving him behind.
Oh, but the film can't resist a happy ending. Despite him articulating that he thinks everyone is beneath him (sort of? This is supposed to sound like some sort of equality, but clearly class has a lot to do with the way he lords himself over Eliza), Eliza comes back to him in the end . . . . because?
Listen, I loved the sparring between the two characters. But ultimately I did not believe that Eliza would choose to return to him. I could feel it coming in the last few minutes, but it simply did not feel right to me. Pickering would offer her respect. Freddy would offer her love. And Higgins offers her . . . what exactly?
The ending just didn't feel earned and it really bugged me. Eliza's series of revelations about herself and the way she is treated and her place in society were super compelling, and to end on such a false note was a let down.
Eliza realizes through the film that Henry has constantly objectified her and treated her as less than. No matter what she does or how she speaks, he will always regard her as being beneath him. In the play, she's had enough and she sweeps out, leaving him behind.
Oh, but the film can't resist a happy ending. Despite him articulating that he thinks everyone is beneath him (sort of? This is supposed to sound like some sort of equality, but clearly class has a lot to do with the way he lords himself over Eliza), Eliza comes back to him in the end . . . . because?
Listen, I loved the sparring between the two characters. But ultimately I did not believe that Eliza would choose to return to him. I could feel it coming in the last few minutes, but it simply did not feel right to me. Pickering would offer her respect. Freddy would offer her love. And Higgins offers her . . . what exactly?
The ending just didn't feel earned and it really bugged me. Eliza's series of revelations about herself and the way she is treated and her place in society were super compelling, and to end on such a false note was a let down.
A really fun adaptation of the play (aside from the ending).
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