THE DVD SHELF: George Bernard Shaw on Film and the Animated "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"

By Steven Suskin
28 Feb 2010

THE DVD SHELF: George Bernard Shaw on Film and the Animated "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown"


We look at a box set of three Shaw plays on film — two under the direct supervision of GBS himself — and the 1985 animated version of the Off-Broadway musical You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown.

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Eclipse, Criterion's no-frills, low-price division, has given us several highly interesting sets, and they now do it once more with the 20th box in the series, George Bernard Shaw on Film [Criterion]. The big title, "Pygmalion" starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller, is a Criterion staple and not included in this set. Rather, we get "Major Barbara" (1941), "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945) and "Androcles and the Lion" (1952).

All three came from director-producer Gabriel Pascal, the colorfully flamboyant Transylvanian who was also responsible for "Pygmalion." (He did not direct the final film, "Androcles," apparently due to health issues.) "Major Barbara" and "Caesar" contain a virtual who's who of fine British actors, and with good reason; Shaw, then in his late 80s, worked on the films. Few actors were likely to pass up the opportunity to work with the legendary playwright. If the scripts are somewhat altered from the original stage versions, that's okay too; Shaw did it himself, and in some cases seems to have consciously tried to improve his 40-odd-year old plays.

"Major Barbara" is arguably the finest of the three. Wendy Hiller, of the 1938 "Pygmalion," gives a wonderful performance in the title role. Robert Morley, that delectable character man, performs Andrew Undershaft with relish, and Adolphus Cusins is played by Rex Harrison. (The prologue features an exchange between Harrison and a policeman who happens to be Stanley Holloway, putting the two together 15 years before they reconnected for My Fair Lady.) Also on view is a young Deborah Kerr, in her film debut, as Jenny Hill; Sybil Thorndike as The General; and playwright-actor Emlyn Williams as Snobby Price.

"Caesar and Cleopatra," like "Major Barbara," was filmed during the War. Due to difficulties in production and various artistic whims of Mr. Pascal — importing authentic sand from Egypt!!!! — this became the most expensive British film thus far, and lost a bundle when it was first released. It is a good and highly watchable film nonetheless, and vibrantly Technicolored. Vivien Leigh, midway between "Gone with the Wind" and "A Streetcar Named Desire," plays the teenaged queen and is one of the film's prime assets. As is Claude Rains, best known today as Bogie's buddy Captain Renault in "Casablanca" but a fine actor with memorable roles in "The Invisible Man," "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington," "Now, Voyager" and Alfred Hitchcock's "Notorious." Also on hand is Flora Robson as Ftatateeta.

"Androcles and the Lion," from Shaw's 1912 play, is the lesser of the three, although not without its charms. (The play itself holds a relatively low rating among the plays of the master.) Chester Erskine, a Hollywood type, directed. Alan Young, who already had a Best Actor Emmy award, plays the title character. (He went on to become famous acting not against a lion but a horse, with the unlikely moniker "Mr. Ed.") Jean Simmons — who died in January 2010, and who was the finest Desiree Armfeldt I've seen — plays Lavinia; Victor Mature plays the Captain; and Caesar is here in the hands not of Claude Rains but Maurice Evans. We also get the chance to see both Elsa Lanchester and Reginald Gardiner.

In keeping with the Eclipse format, the films come without bonus features. There are, however, brief but informative printed notes from Bruce Eder. All told, this "George Bernard Shaw on Film" box offers Shavians a chance to hear the words, for the most part exceedingly well-spoken, and in the first two cases to see what Shaw himself had in mind when he stepped into the movie studio. Continued...