Pygmalion

This remains the definitive film version of the Shavian classic. As in any of Shaw's plays, the essence of Pygmalion rests upon sharp dialogue rather than splashy musical numbers, and upon character rather than action.

Wendy Hiller makes an infinitely better Eliza Dolittle than the miscast Audry Hepburn. Hiller's transformation from flower-girl to lady is astonishing. On the other hand, one never believes Hepburn in the role of a "draggle-tailed gutter-snipe". She comes off like a dressed-down fashion model putting on an accent.

Leslie Howard's performance is far more subtle, and far less strident, then Rex Harrison's. Perhaps Howard would have been offered the lead role in My Fair Lady in preference to Rex Harrison had he lived longer (he was shot down in a plane in 1943). The two actors were not that much different in age and, if Leslie Howard was not noted as a singer, neither was Rex Harrison.