Rotten Tomatoes Logo Do you want to see ‘Pygmalion’?

Pygmalion (1938)

tomatometer

No Score Yet...

Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

audience

82

liked it
Average Rating: 3.8/5
User Ratings: 3,131

My Rating

Movie Info

Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller star in Anthony Asquith's and Leslie Howard's classic version of George Bernard Shaw's satiric comedy. Henry Higgins (Howard) is an upper class phonetics professor who encounters low-class guttersnipe Eliza Doolittle (Hiller) and bets his friend Colonel Pickering (Scott Sunderland) that he can pass her off as a duchess within three months. Pickering accepts Higgins' bet, with Eliza readily agreeing to the proposal, since she will get to live in Higgins' fancy home.

Unrated, 1 hr. 36 min.

Drama, Romance, Classics, Comedy

,

George Bernard Shaw

Sep 19, 2000

Criterion Collection

Cast

All Critics (16) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (17) | Rotten (1) | DVD (9)

Smartly produced, this makes an excellent job of transcribing George Bernard Shaw, retaining all the key lines and giving freshness to the theme.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Variety | Comment
Variety
Top Critic IconTop Critic

A marvelous 1938 adaptation of the Shaw classic.

November 6, 2007 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader | Comment
Chicago Reader
Top Critic IconTop Critic

Pygmalion is good Shaw and a grand show.

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times | Comment
New York Times
Top Critic IconTop Critic

There's something special about this first English film version of George Bernard Shaw's play, before it became a musical

October 25, 2008 Full Review Source: Urban Cinefile | Comment
Urban Cinefile

This authorized version is the most successful adaptation of George B Shaw to the big screen, one that maintains the text's acerbic wit and droll humor and is splendidly acted by Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller in Oscar-nominated performances.

June 14, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com | Comment

Above all, the film is remarkable in that it strengthens rather than dilutes Shaw's insistence on language as the vital instrument of power and oppression.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out | Comment

Embora não tenha o mesmo charme da versão realizada em 1964 (My Fair Lady), este filme conta com uma atuação inesquecível da dupla central (especialmente Hiller) e com os ótimos diálogos de Shaw.

July 30, 2003 Comment
Cinema em Cena

Brilliant film version of the Shaw play.

June 16, 2003 Comment
Mountain Xpress (Asheville, NC)

A brisk but far from irreverent classic.

May 24, 2003 Full Review Source: Film4 | Comment

With a screenplay by Shaw himself, the 1938 movie adaptation captures all of the charm, wit, and sophistication of the stage hit.

April 21, 2002 Comment
Movie Metropolis

Leslie Howard strikes the perfect note as the super-efficient Professor Higgins.

February 28, 2002 Full Review Source: Goatdog's Movies | Comment

the film ultimately wins your heart not because of the social lessons it offers, but because of the truthfulness of its human relationships

February 27, 2001 Comment
Q Network Film Desk

...not only the best movie adaptation of a George Bernard Shaw play, but one of the most enduring social comedies of all time.

January 1, 2000 Comment
Movie Metropolis

Shaw's magnificent comedy, a 1913 stage smash, was never better served than here, with Howard and Hiller perfectly matched as thoroughly mismatched lovers.

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide | Comment
TV Guide's Movie Guide

Pygmalion (1938) is the non-musical film version of George Bernard Shaw's 1912 stage play, a socio-economic drama based on the Cinderella story,

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films | Comment
Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films

Like My Fair Lady, Pygmalion has been falsely perceived as a romantic comedy...But Pygmalion does let one get closer to the truth; that it's really a biting social satire...

January 1, 2000 Full Review Source: Combustible Celluloid | Comment
Combustible Celluloid
More Critic Reviews

Audience Reviews for Pygmalion

The great original adaptation of Shaw's satiric play, which would be remade into the classic musical My Fair Lady many years later in 1964. Quite inspired and convincing, this film counts on a sharp, well-written dialogue and superb performances by Hiller and Howard.

November 12, 2011
blacksheepboy

Super Reviewer

It's just very hard for me to take this story as a comedic one. The themes, social commentary, sexual politics, mental manipulation and disturbing physical abuse are so dark that the films lighter moments ring completely false and artificial. I had the same issue with Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita." While you get some

September 6, 2011
stevenecarrier
Steven Carrier

Super Reviewer

Pygmalion Quotes

No quotes approved yet for Pygmalion. Logged in users can submit quotes.

Latest News for Pygmalion

What's Hot On RT

Critics Consensus
Critics Consensus

Journey 2 Not Worth the Trip

Luis Guzman
Luis Guzman

What are his 10 best movies ever?

<em>Amazing Spider-Man</em>
Amazing Spider-Man

See the all-new action-packed trailer!

The Avengers!
The Avengers!

Five new Marvelous pictures

Top Movie Quizzes

LEGO Mania: 2011 Best Picture Nominees
by natalie - 18,575 taken
created 12 months ago
How Much Do You Know About Leonardo DiCaprio?
by natalie - 44,476 taken
created 15 months ago
Pixar Movies!
by jdikwlzviv - 27,174 taken
created 15 months ago
The Wizards of Harry Potter
by jdikwlzviv - 27,670 taken
created 15 months ago

Foreign Titles

  • Pygmalion (1938) (DE)
  • Pygmalion (1938) (UK)
Help | About | Jobs | Newsletter | Critics Submission | API | Licensing | Blog | Developers | Mobile