Romancefest 2011: Pygmalion

I was familiar with the story of PYGMALION going into it, having seen MY FAIR LADY -- the musical adapted from the play -- before. The two films are very similar, and both are good. So, there's yet another nail in the "all remakes suck" coffin.

In this version Leslie Howard stars as the language professor who makes a bet with his buddy (Scott Sunderland) that he can transform a low class flower seller (Wendy Hiller) into a proper society lady, presentable to those of the highest pedigree. Meanwhile an unlikely romance blossoms between the two stubborn characters.

Wendy Hiller is no Audrey Hepburn, but that actually works to her advantage here -- she's more believable in the role, both as the street girl and eventually as a street girl turned lady. She doesn't have the impeccable beauty and star quality of Hepburn, which keeps her and the story a little more down to Earth and a little less in the realm of a fairy tale.

Leslie Howard is hilarious as the fussy bachelor Higgins. Almost every line he utters is an insult to at least one other character, and I found myself wondering why Howard never became more famous. His most famous role is the supporting role as Ashley in GONE WITH THE WIND, but he shows so much comic potential here (and co-directed the film) that I ended up looking him up to read about his career.

Turns out he died in 1943, shot down by German fighters. So, that's that.