Pygmalion (1948 TV production)

Last updated

Pygmalion
Based on Pygmalion
1913 play
by George Bernard Shaw
Produced by Royston Morley
Starring Margaret Lockwood
Ralph Michael
Arthur Wontner
Production
company
BBC
Release date
8 February 1948
Running time
150 mins
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Pygmalion is a 1948 British TV production of the 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw. It was the first time the play was done for television and was the longest production done by the BBC to that time. [1]

Contents

It starred Margaret Lockwood who was under suspension by the Rank Organisation at the time for refusing a film role. [2] [3]

Plot

Cast

Reception

The production was very well received. [4] It was voted best TV production of the year and Lockwood voted Best Actress. [5]

It was Lockwood's first play on TV and she wrote in her memoirs that "I loved every moment of Pygmalion. After the performance I was like a beginner again waiting nervously for the papers, bracing myself to read the criticism. I had not felt this way about notices since I first went on the stage. Thank goodness they were good ones. I was generously praised." [6]

Lockwood later toured with the play on stage. [7]

Related Research Articles

<i>My Fair Lady</i> Stage musical by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe

My Fair Lady is a musical with a book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner and music by Frederick Loewe. The story, based on the 1938 film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion, concerns Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney flower girl who takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. Despite his cynical nature and difficulty understanding women, Higgins grows attached to her.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wendy Hiller</span> English stage and film actress (1912–2003)

Dame Wendy Margaret Hiller, was an English film and stage actress who enjoyed a varied acting career that spanned nearly 60 years. Writer Joel Hirschorn, in his 1984 compilation Rating the Movie Stars, described her as "a no-nonsense actress who literally took command of the screen whenever she appeared on film". Despite many notable film performances, Hiller chose to remain primarily a stage actress.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Margaret Lockwood</span> British stage and film actress

Margaret Mary Day Lockwood, CBE, was an English actress. One of Britain's most popular film stars of the 1930s and 1940s, her film appearances included The Lady Vanishes (1938), Night Train to Munich (1940), The Man in Grey (1943), and The Wicked Lady (1945). She was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best British Actress for the 1955 film Cast a Dark Shadow. She also starred in the television series Justice (1971–74).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis Calvert</span> British film actress (1915–2002)

Phyllis Hannah Murray-Hill, known professionally as Phyllis Calvert, was an English film, stage and television actress. She was one of the leading stars of the Gainsborough melodramas of the 1940s such as The Man in Grey (1943) and was one of the most popular movie stars in Britain in the 1940s. She continued her acting career for another 50 years.

<i>Pygmalion</i> (play) 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw

Pygmalion is a play by Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw, named after the Greek mythological figure. It premièred at the Hofburg Theatre in Vienna on 16 October 1913 and was first presented on stage in German. Its English-language première took place at His Majesty's Theatre in London's West End in April 1914 and starred Herbert Beerbohm Tree as phonetics professor Henry Higgins and Mrs Patrick Campbell as Cockney flower-girl Eliza Doolittle.

<i>Pygmalion</i> (1938 film) 1938 British film written by G. B. Shaw from his play

Pygmalion is a 1938 British film based on the 1913 George Bernard Shaw play of the same name, and adapted by him for the screen. It stars Leslie Howard as Professor Henry Higgins and Wendy Hiller as Eliza Doolittle.

<i>The Perfect Woman</i> (1949 film) 1949 British film

The Perfect Woman is a 1949 British farce comedy film directed by Bernard Knowles and written by George Black, Jr and J. B. Boothroyd, based upon a play by Wallace Geoffrey and Basil Mitchell. The screenplay concerns a scientist who creates a robotic woman in his lab.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Lohr</span> Australian actress (1890–1975)

Marie Lohr was an Australian-born actress, active on stage and in film in Britain. During a career of more than 60 years she created roles in plays by, among others, Bernard Shaw, J. M. Barrie, Frederick Lonsdale, Somerset Maugham, William Douglas-Home and Noël Coward. She appeared mainly in the West End, but toured the British provinces at intervals throughout her career, appeared in Broadway productions and toured Canada.

<i>The White Unicorn</i> 1947 British film

The White Unicorn is a 1947 British drama film directed by Bernard Knowles and starring Margaret Lockwood, Joan Greenwood, Ian Hunter and Dennis Price. Kyra Vayne appeared as the singer. It was made at Walton Studios by the independent producer John Corfield, and released by General Film Distributors. The film's sets were designed by Norman G. Arnold. It was also known as Milkwhite Unicorn and Bad Sister.

<i>The Magic Bow</i> 1946 film

The Magic Bow is a 1946 British musical film based on the life and loves of the Italian violinist and composer Niccolò Paganini. It was directed by Bernard Knowles. The film was entered into the 1946 Cannes Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry K. Barnes</span> English actor

Barry K. Barnes was an English film and stage actor. The son of Horatio Nelson Barnes and Anne Mackintosh Barnes, he was born and died in London. He appeared in sixteen films between 1936 and 1947. He played Sir Percy Blakeney in the 1937 film The Return of the Scarlet Pimpernel. His film career was cut short in 1947 due to an undiagnosable illness contracted during the war. He was married to actress Diana Churchill, and worked with his wife on stage during the 1940s and 1950s, taking West End revivals of The Admirable Crichton and On Approval on profitable tours.

<i>Code of Scotland Yard</i> 1947 British crime film directed by George King

Code of Scotland Yard is a 1947 British crime film directed by George King and starring Oskar Homolka, Muriel Pavlow and Derek Farr. It was originally released as The Shop at Sly Corner, being based on the popular stage play of that title by Edward Percy.

<i>Madness of the Heart</i> 1950 British film

Madness of the Heart is a 1949 British drama film directed by Charles Bennett, produced by Richard Wainwright for Two Cities Films and starring Margaret Lockwood, Maxwell Reed, Kathleen Byron and Paul Dupuis. The screenplay was written by Charles Bennett, adapted from the novel of the same name by Flora Sandström.

<i>Cardboard Cavalier</i> 1949 film by Walter Forde

Cardboard Cavalier is a 1948 British historical comedy film directed by Walter Forde and starring Sid Field, Margaret Lockwood and Jerry Desmonde.

<i>Look Before You Love</i> 1948 film

Look Before You Love is a 1948 British drama film directed by Harold Huth and starring Margaret Lockwood, Griffith Jones and Maurice Denham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eliza Doolittle</span> Fictional character in Pygmalion and My Fair Lady

Eliza Doolittle is a fictional character and the protagonist in George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion (1913) and its 1956 musical adaptation, My Fair Lady.

<i>Pygmalion</i> (1935 film) 1935 German film

Pygmalion is a 1935 German comedy film directed by Erich Engel and starring Jenny Jugo, Gustaf Gründgens and Anton Edthofer. It is based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion.

A Rose without a Thorn is a 1958 Australian television play about King Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine Howard. It was directed by Alan Burke from a play by Clifford Bax. The play was shown live in Sydney, recorded, then shown in Melbourne.

<i>Village Wooing</i> (1962 film) 1962 Australian TV series or program

Village Wooing is a 1962 Australian television play directed by William Sterling and starring Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray who were touring Australia at the time. It was based on the play by George Bernard Shaw.

Ann Veronica is a 1952 British TV version of the 1909 H. G. Wells novel of the same name.

References

  1. ↑ ""PYGMALION" ON TELEVISION". Cairns Post . No. 14, 332. Queensland, Australia. 10 February 1948. p. 3. Retrieved 28 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ "FILM NEWS FROM ENGLAND AND AMERICA". The Sun . No. 11, 818 (LATE FINAL EXTRA ed.). Sydney. 11 December 1947. p. 32. Retrieved 28 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "So The British Don't Work Hard Enough!". The Sydney Morning Herald . No. 34, 391. 13 March 1948. p. 5. Retrieved 28 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  4. ↑ Conolly, L. W. (2009). Bernard Shaw and the BBC. University of Toronto Press. ISBN   9781442690998.
  5. ↑ "FEMININE INTEREST". Warwick Daily News . No. 9124. Queensland. 1 November 1948. p. 3. Retrieved 28 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ Lockwood, Margaret (1955). Lucky Star: The Autobiography of Margaret Lockwood. Odhams Press Limited. p. 142.
  7. ↑ "Film news horn Hollywood and London". The Sun . No. 13, 035. Sydney. 8 November 1951. p. 37 (LAST RACE). Retrieved 28 September 2017– via National Library of Australia.


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.