Wait a minute - in order to get a woman to fall in love with me, all I need to do is psychologically terrorize her for months on end? Why didn't anybody tell me sooner?
Pygmalion has long been eclipsed in popularity by the enormously successful My Fair Lady, but I think it's worth watching in its own right. What this movie lacks in music and visual splendour, it more than makes up for in colourful dialogue, cute comedy, and the occasional lavish set. And while I find both protagonists to be kind of obnoxious, Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller are a charismatic pair, and the two manage to develop a charming back-and-forth with one another.
It's just a shame that we don't get to see more of it, frankly. May main issue with this movie is that the teaching portion (i.e. the portion with the most potential for comedy and character development) is almost entirely glossed over, which means that we don't get to see much of a connection form. And that's really too bad, because the drama's otherwise compelling, complex, and surprisingly sweet. Something about that '30s presentation makes this rude romance so much easier to swallow.
Grade: B+
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