Beyond the Epic: The Life and Films of David Lean

2. A Touch of Class: Pygmalion, Major Barbara, and Other

Getting฀Started 30 editor—and฀so฀he฀did.฀Furthermore,฀Pygmalion฀was฀the฀first฀film฀on฀which฀ David฀Lean฀acted฀unofficially฀as฀a฀codirector. Pygmalion฀฀(1938) Gabriel฀Pascal,฀a฀Hungarian-born฀film฀producer,฀arrived฀in฀Britain฀in฀the฀ mid-1930s฀without฀a฀penny฀to฀his฀name.฀Yet฀he฀was฀determined฀to฀convince฀ the฀playwright฀George฀Bernard฀Shaw฀to฀permit฀him฀to฀make฀films฀of฀his฀ plays.฀Pascal฀had฀set฀himself฀a฀real฀challenge,฀since฀as฀early฀as฀1924฀Shaw฀had฀ expressed฀his฀disdain฀for฀the฀silent฀cinema.฀Many฀motion฀pictures,฀he฀wrote,฀ were฀ “boresome฀ blunders,”฀ marred฀ by฀ actors฀ photographed฀ in฀ hideous฀ makeup,฀shown฀in฀close-ups฀“that฀an฀angel’s฀face฀could฀not฀bear.฀.฀.฀.฀Good฀ sense฀is฀about฀non-existent฀among฀your฀filmmakers.”2 Not฀to฀be฀deterred,฀the฀irrepressible฀Pascal฀managed฀to฀wangle฀an฀interview ฀with฀Shaw.฀Pascal฀could฀be฀beguiling฀and฀charming,฀and฀Shaw฀was฀entranced ฀ by฀ the฀ enthusiastic฀ Hungarian.฀ Pascal฀ was฀ able฀ to฀ get฀ the฀ elderly฀ playwright฀to฀grant฀him฀the฀screen฀rights฀to฀his฀1913฀play฀Pygmalion—though฀ Pascal฀did฀not฀leave฀their฀first฀meeting฀with฀the฀Pygmalion฀contract฀in฀his฀pocket ,฀as฀legend฀has฀it.฀It฀was฀only฀after฀further฀conferences฀that฀Pascal฀managed฀ to฀convince฀Shaw฀that฀he฀was฀a฀conscientious฀filmmaker฀and฀that฀the฀film฀version ฀of฀Pygmalion฀would฀not฀mutilate฀the฀play.฀Finally,฀Shaw฀ceded฀the฀film฀ rights฀to฀Pascal—and฀even฀agreed฀to฀write฀the฀screenplay฀himself. After฀beating฀the฀bushes฀unsuccessfully฀in฀search฀of฀financial฀backers฀for฀ the฀ project,฀ Pascal฀ eventually฀ went฀ straight฀ to฀ the฀ top฀ and฀ got฀ Richard฀ Norton,฀the฀production฀chief฀at฀Pinewood฀Studios฀in฀Buckinghamshire,฀to฀ help฀him฀secure฀backers฀for฀the฀movie.฀Norton฀wisely฀pointed฀out฀to฀Pascal฀ that฀financiers฀had฀not฀been฀willing฀to฀put฀money฀into฀a฀Shaw฀film฀before฀ because฀Shaw’s฀plays฀were฀considered฀too฀highbrow;฀besides,฀they฀did฀not฀ have฀enough฀sex฀to฀appeal฀to฀film฀audiences.฀Accordingly,฀Pascal฀cleverly฀ coaxed฀Shaw฀into฀altering฀his฀“sacred฀text.”฀A฀film,฀Pascal฀emphasized฀to฀ Shaw,฀cannot฀be฀merely฀a฀photographed฀stage฀play.฀Shaw’s฀secretary,฀Blanche฀ Patch,฀commented,฀“It฀was฀the฀biggest฀concession฀Shaw฀ever฀made฀to฀anyone .฀Pascal฀now฀had฀[Shaw]฀well฀under฀control.”3 The฀charm฀that฀Pascal฀exerted฀on฀Shaw฀is฀evident฀in฀Shaw’s฀later฀description ฀of฀the฀producer.฀“Gabriel฀Pascal฀is฀one฀of฀those฀extravagant฀men฀ who฀turn฀up฀occasionally,฀say฀once฀in฀a฀century,฀and฀may฀be฀called฀godsends฀ in฀the฀arts฀to฀which฀they฀are฀devoted,”฀wrote฀Shaw.฀“The฀man฀is฀a฀genius.”4 ฀ Though฀hardly฀a฀genius,฀Pascal฀had฀an฀uncanny฀way฀of฀ingratiating฀himself฀ with฀ influential฀ and฀ powerful฀ people,฀ like฀ Shaw฀ and฀ Norton.฀ A฀ wag฀ at฀ Pinewood฀quipped฀that฀Gabriel’s฀last฀name฀should฀have฀been฀Rascal,฀not฀ LeanChap02B.indd 30 9/21/06 2:52:59 PM A฀Touch฀of฀Class 31 Pascal.฀With฀Shaw฀in฀their฀corner,฀Pascal฀and฀Norton฀then฀formed฀Pascal฀ Film฀Productions,฀an฀independent฀film฀company,฀and฀Norton฀employed฀his฀ considerable฀influence฀with฀the฀moneymen฀to฀raise฀the฀capital฀needed฀to฀ produce฀the฀film. Moreover,฀Norton฀arranged฀to฀have฀the฀movie฀distributed฀by฀J.฀Arthur฀ Rank’s฀General฀Film฀Distributors.฀Rank฀had฀made฀a฀fortune฀with฀his฀flour฀ mills฀before฀entering฀the฀film฀industry฀in฀1933.฀By฀1937,฀he฀had฀acquired฀ Pinewood฀Studios.฀So฀Pygmalion฀was฀to฀be฀made฀at฀a฀studio฀where฀one฀of฀ Rank’s฀own฀executives฀was฀in฀charge฀of฀production;฀consequently,฀Rank฀obviously ฀thought฀Pygmalion฀a฀promising฀project.฀Rank’s฀ultimate฀goal฀as฀a฀ film฀mogul฀was฀to฀get฀good฀British฀films฀into฀the฀American฀market,฀and฀he฀ shrewdly฀ guessed฀ that฀ Pygmalion฀ would฀ attract฀ audiences฀ in฀ the฀ United฀ States฀as฀well฀as฀in฀Britain. Pascal฀had฀an฀unerring฀eye฀for฀choosing฀the฀right฀personnel฀to฀collaborate ฀on฀a฀project.฀He฀engaged฀David฀Lean฀to฀edit฀the฀film,฀with฀the฀warm฀ approval฀of฀Norton,฀who฀remembered฀Lean฀from฀Escape฀Me฀Never.฀Lean฀ willingly฀took฀a฀cut฀in฀pay฀in฀order฀to฀be฀part฀of฀this฀prestige฀production.฀In฀ addition,฀Pascal฀secured฀the฀services฀of฀Anthony฀Asquith฀to฀codirect฀the฀film฀ with฀ Leslie฀ Howard,฀ who฀ was฀ also฀ to฀ play฀ the฀ male฀ lead.฀ Asquith฀ was฀ a฀ prominent฀British฀director฀who฀came฀from฀an฀upper-class฀milieu฀and฀was฀ noted฀for฀his฀screen฀adaptations฀of฀stage฀plays,฀particularly฀those฀about฀people ฀of฀status฀and฀breeding.฀Therefore,฀Pygmalion฀was฀right฀up฀his฀alley,฀dealing ฀as฀it฀does฀with฀the฀class฀distinctions฀in฀British฀society.฀The฀story...