Pygmalion

Most everyone knows that the hit musical My Fair Lady (and the movie of the same name, from around 1964) was based on one of George Bernard Shaw's famous plays, Pygmalion.  I was thinking about the words of Higgins, commenting on Alfred P. Doolittle's remarks: "Listen to his native wood notes wild: 'I'm willing to tell you, I'm wanting to tell you, I'm waiting to tell you!' "

I was wondering how much of that was Shaw, and how much Lerner and Leowe.  I reasoned that, by this time Shaw's work must be in the public domain; I looked for the play in The Gutenberg Project, and there it was!  And much of the straight dialog was right in the original, including the 'Wanting ... willing, and waiting' bit!

The words—the libretto—of the musical are nothing short of hilarious, and well worth obtaining a print copy to follow along with, in my humble opinion.  I remember bringing the booklet home with me, when I was around 17, and laughing, all by myself!  Brilliant.  And they did trim some of the text down, to improve the rhythm of the words.

Well, what a pleasure and a blessing it has been, to have been alive at the time when movies such as My Fair Lady, The Sound of Music, The Court Jester, Ben Hur, and The Ten Commandments were made (not to mention 2001, A Space Odyssey, Star Wars, and ... OK, I'll fill this gap pretty soon)!  Mel Brooks's movies alone deserve a mention.  Ẅhat a great life we have led, eh?

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