L: Tales of Pygmalion
In greek mythology Pygmalion was a sculptor who fell in love with a statue he had carved named Galatea, who then in turn transformed into a real person.
However once the play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw premiered in 1912, the tale took a twist about transforming a real person from one social standing to another. In the case of the play Pygmalion, which then became the play/film "My Fair Lady" Eliza Doolittle is transformed from flower girl with a Cockney accent into a proper English accented socialite presentable in high society. So now the tale of Pygmalion had been transformed itself to represent a dramatic change of a character usually in social standing by the influence of someone else. Here is a list of films influenced by both the old greek tale and the new variation of changing social status.
However once the play "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw premiered in 1912, the tale took a twist about transforming a real person from one social standing to another. In the case of the play Pygmalion, which then became the play/film "My Fair Lady" Eliza Doolittle is transformed from flower girl with a Cockney accent into a proper English accented socialite presentable in high society. So now the tale of Pygmalion had been transformed itself to represent a dramatic change of a character usually in social standing by the influence of someone else. Here is a list of films influenced by both the old greek tale and the new variation of changing social status.
List activity
437 views
• 0 this weekCreate a new list
List your movie, TV & celebrity picks.
26 titles
- DirectorFritz LangStarsBrigitte HelmAlfred AbelGustav FröhlichIn a futuristic city sharply divided between the working class and the city planners, the son of the city's mastermind falls in love with a working-class prophet who predicts the coming of a savior to mediate their differences.
- DirectorKarl FreundStarsPeter LorreFrances DrakeColin CliveIn Paris, a demented surgeon's obsession with a British actress leads him to secretly replace her concert-pianist husband's mangled hands with those of a guillotined murderer with a gift for knife-throwing.
- DirectorAnthony AsquithLeslie HowardStarsLeslie HowardWendy HillerWilfrid LawsonA phonetics and diction expert makes a bet that he can teach a cockney flower girl to speak proper English and pass as a lady in high society.
- DirectorNorman FergusonT. HeeWilfred JacksonStarsDickie JonesChristian RubMel BlancA living puppet, with the help of a cricket as his conscience, must prove himself worthy to become a real boy.
- DirectorIrving RapperStarsBette DavisPaul HenreidClaude RainsA frumpy spinster blossoms under therapy and becomes an elegant, independent woman.
- DirectorDavid LeanStarsJohn MillsValerie HobsonTony WagerA humble orphan boy in 1810s Kent is given the opportunity to go to London and become a gentleman, with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorWilliam A. SeiterGregory La CavaStarsRobert WalkerAva GardnerDick HaymesFantasy comedy about a young window dresser who kisses a statue of Venus, which then comes to life in the form of Ava Gardner. However, the problems begin when Venus falls in love with him.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsIlene WoodsJames MacDonaldEleanor AudleyWhen Cinderella's cruel stepmother prevents her from attending the Royal Ball, she gets some unexpected help from the lovable mice Gus and Jaq and from her Fairy Godmother.
- DirectorJoseph L. MankiewiczStarsBette DavisAnne BaxterGeorge SandersA seemingly timid but secretly ruthless ingénue insinuates herself into the lives of an aging Broadway star and her circle of theater friends.
- DirectorRolf ThieleStarsNadja TillerO.E. HasseHildegard KnefA 14-year-old girl is caught while trying to pick a doctor's pocket. The doctor ends up taking her in and turning her into a sophisticated lady, whom he marries off to a wealthy man.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsJudy HollidayWilliam HoldenBroderick CrawfordA tycoon hires a tutor to teach his lover proper etiquette, with unexpected results.
- DirectorGeorge CukorStarsAudrey HepburnRex HarrisonStanley HollowayIn 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.
- DirectorLewis GilbertStarsMichael CaineJulie WaltersMichael WilliamsAn alcoholic professor has been hired by a working-class girl for higher education.
- DirectorBob ClarkStarsSylvester StalloneDolly PartonRichard FarnsworthA country music star must turn an obnoxious New York cabbie into a singer in order to win a bet.
- DirectorJohn HughesStarsAnthony Michael HallIlan Mitchell-SmithKelly LeBrockTwo high-school nerds use a computer program to literally create the perfect woman, who promptly turns their lives upside-down.
- DirectorMichael GottliebStarsAndrew McCarthyKim CattrallEstelle GettyA young artist, searching for his vocation, makes a mannequin so perfect he falls in love with it. Finding the mannequin in a store window, he gets a job there and his creation comes to life.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsRichard GereJulia RobertsJason AlexanderA man in a legal but hurtful business needs an escort for some social events, and hires a beautiful prostitute he meets... only to fall in love.
- DirectorWoody AllenStarsWoody AllenMira SorvinoPamela BlairWhen he discovers his adopted son is a genius, a New York sportswriter seeks out the boy's birth mother: a ditzy porn star and prostitute.
- DirectorRobert IscoveStarsFreddie Prinze Jr.Rachael Leigh CookMatthew LillardA high school jock makes a bet that he can turn an unattractive girl into the school's prom queen.
- DirectorGarry MarshallStarsJulie AndrewsAnne HathawayHector ElizondoMia Thermopolis has just found out that she is the heir apparent to the throne of Genovia. With her friends Lilly and Michael Moscovitz in tow, she tries to navigate through the rest of her sixteenth year.
- DirectorAndrew NiccolStarsAl PacinoCatherine KeenerRachel RobertsA producer's film is endangered when his star walks off, so he decides to digitally create an actress to substitute for the star, becoming an overnight sensation that everyone thinks is a real person.
- DirectorJonathan DaytonValerie FarisStarsPaul DanoZoe KazanAnnette BeningA novelist struggling with writer's block finds romance in a most unusual way: by creating a female character he thinks will love him, then willing her into existence.
- DirectorJohn GrayStarsJulia StilesDavid WaltonCamryn ManheimAfter losing election for US Congress, the well spoken Hannah coaches a beer vendor for the position as he, contrary to Hannah, has a likable personality. Can they learn from each other?
- CreatorEmily KapnekStarsKaren GillanJohn ChoAllyn RachelAfter being the subject of an embarrassing viral video, a self-involved 20-something enlists the help of a marketing expert to revamp her image in the real world.
- DirectorMark WatersStarsAddison RaeTanner BuchananMadison PettisA teenage girl sets out to give a nebbish classmate the ultimate high school makeover. An updated remake of the 1999 film, 'She's All That.'
- DirectorJohn SchlesingerStarsDonald SutherlandKaren BlackBurgess MeredithAn art director in the 1930s falls in love and attempts to make a young woman an actress despite Hollywood who wants nothing to do with her because of her problems with an estranged man and her alcoholic father.