This blog was begun the night of April 17th, 2021 :
Elizabeth! It's great to see you back in the swing of things, and I'll bet it feels wonderful from your perspective too. eh? You looked very nice all dressed up for the awards ceremony, and - hmmm, give me just a minute here while I gaze into my crystal ball - ahh, yes....yes indeed, I do see many more such ceremonies in your future! You were in your element tonight, with George Clooney present, and it's just as I predicted when "Elemental" was playing on the big screen at Staples Center. I said that things would be on the uptick again, and though it's taken awhile because of the pandemic, you're back now, good things are happening again and pretty soon you'll be winning awards for your own work. Next stop Hollywood! :)
Keep posting whenever you can and whenever you feel like it, I'm glad to see that things are going well. :)
Well, I finally saw "Pygmalion"(1938), which you probably know is the original cinematic version of George Bernard Shaw's play, later made into the enormously popular "My Fair Lady" starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. I saw that movie once, but it was years ago and so I didn't remember the story, other than it's well-known premise, where Professor Henry Higgins bets that he can turn a Cockney flower girl into a Proper Lady. I reserved "Pygmalion" after a library search for Leslie Howard (who we saw in "Spitfire" a month ago) showed it was available, but because we were doing our John Mills retrospective for several weeks, I had to set the dvd aside until tonight. The wait was worth it, however, because "Pygmalion" is a masterpiece, with a performance by Wendy Hiller that - to me - should be considered one of the greatest female leads in motion picture history. I was stunned to discover that she didn't win Best Actress that year, but at any rate, once you've seen the movie I'm sure you'll agree.
And boy, this flick is right up our alley, haha! I thought so right away, during the opening scene, where we see "Eliza Doolittle" (Hiller) selling flowers on a street corner. As she hawks her wares in a heavy slang-filled accent, Higgins stands nearby in the crowd, surreptitiously taking notes. When she sees him and asks what he's doing, she at first suspects he's a cop, and protests she's done nothing wrong. "I'm a good girl, Iyam"!
But then Higgins explains that he's merely jotting down the phonetics of her speech. He goes to to say that he's conducting a study of the many English accents, and has refined it to the point where he can identify a speaker's neighborhood to within two miles of any point in London. He then tells Eliza what borough she's from, which stuns her. She still thinks he's a policeman until his friend, the gentlemanly Colonel Pickering, reassures her that he's indeed a professor. But I mean, lol! Because that's what we love to do ourselves, right here at the blog. We get a huge kick out of accents and pronunciations, and here's Henry Higgins doing the same thing in the movie. When Eliza shows up at his door the next day, asking for elocution lessons ("So I can tawk like a real lye-dy"), it turns into a wager between the professor and the colonel that Higgins can not only train Eliza to speak properly, but can refine her in other ways too, so thoroughly that "I'll be able to pass her off as a Duchess in six months".
Thus begins her transformation, shown in montage, with Higgins instructing Eliza in the fine points of enunciation, conversation and even posture. He pushes her relentlessly without a break, sometimes going into the wee hours of the morning until she's ready to tear her hair out. But she perseveres, and when she emerges months later in an evening dress, hair braided and head held high, chin up, it's an amazing metamorphosis. Higgins ultimately takes her to a high society ball, at which an actual duchess will be present, to see if Eliza can be taken for same. Prior to this, there's a test run in front of his mother and her upper-crust friends. This is the first time we hear the transformed Eliza in a "proper" conversation, and it's both satisfying, because you feel happy for her, but it's also hilarious when she slips back into Cockney slang here and there. This scene alone should've won Hiller the Oscar; the rest of the film cements it.
You see, for all of Higgins' teaching expertise and scientific prowess, he's basically a cad. He's got no real feelings for anyone, least of all Eliza, who he thinks of almost as his Frankenstein monster, "my creation". He's also flippant and rude, caring nothing for Eliza's dignity as he shows her around like an exotic zoo animal. But in her transformation, she's surpassed the professor, because even before becoming a Lady she was spiritually and emotionally deeper than he could ever be. That's the rub of the movie, that a time will come when she won't need him anymore, and he'll no longer be able to "use" her. Once he wins his bet, Higgins will try to discard Eliza. I'll tell you no more of the story, but this is a 5 Star classic, restored by Criterion, that is an absolute must-see. Again, the performance of Wendy Hiller is as great as there's ever been, and you also get an excellent turn by Leslie Howard, who himself could've won an Oscar. I know that the role of Eliza, as played by Audrey Hepburn, is revered and rightfully so, I'm sure. We'll see "My Fair Lady" soon and no doubt love it. But "Pygmalion" is the original, and it's so great in so many ways that I'm gonna give it my highest rating : Two Gigantic Thumbs Up. Watch it and see what I mean. /////
The previous night I watched a romantic drama with an ethereal, mystic plot, called "Peter Ibbetson"(1935), starring Gary Cooper and Ann Harding as two soulmates who are separated in childhood, only to find each other years later as adults. We first see young Peter and Mary as playmates, aged 8 and 6 respectively. He is known as "Gogo" and she "Mimsy", nicknames bestowed by their families who live in an English sector of Paris. As the movie opens, we see the children arguing over some plywood boards. Mimsy wants them for a dollhouse, Gogo to build a wagon. They hate each other, as children will ("Have your stupid boards and go away, I never want to speak to you again!"), but when Gogo's mother dies and he is forced to move, they realise instinctively that they love and need each other. It's a First Love thing, realised in heartbreak. It's kids uniting against the adult world, and this theme will be carried throughout the movie as love conquers all).
Do you believe in True Love? If so, this is the movie for you. If not, or if you're allergic to sentimentality that extends into the realm of dreams, then stay away because "Peter Ibbetson" pulls no punches. Peter becomes an architect and is reunited with Mary when by chance he is contracted to build new stables on her property. At first they don't recognise each other (30 years have gone by), but when they do, their love is rekindled in an instant. The problem is that Mary has a husband, a wealthy Duke who's aware of what has taken place. He will confront Peter, with dire consequences that lead to another separation between the lovers. But then Peter makes a miraculous discovery - he and Mary can communicate in dreams, dreams they share simultaneously, which are as real as waking life.
"Peter Ibbetson", which takes place in Victorian England, is a movie you have to throw yourself into wholeheartedly, because it is nakedly romantic in the boldest sense, of undying love beyond the grave, the notion of soulmates, and that love is bigger than life itself. It doesn't, however, come across as a four hankie weeper, because it's too otherworldly for that. Think of it in the same vein as pictures like "Portrait of Jenny", "The Secret Garden" and "The Enchanted Cottage". While it's not quite as classic as those films, it's close, and you get to see Gary Cooper in a more nuanced role than you likely thought him capable of. Here's another genre we need a name for......what to call it? The "Immortal Beloved" category? Nah, that won't work......already taken. Well, we'll think of something. Until then, Two Big Thumbs Up for "Peter Ibbetson".
That's all I've got for the moment. It's time for my afternoon walk, so have a great day and I'll see ya at showtime. Tons and tons of love, as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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