Did Wendy Hiller ever perform Pygmalion on stage prior to filming the movie? She nails her scenes so perfectly it would seem she must have had some experience playing Eliza, if not, what can I say? That shows even more so what a tremendous actress she was, her portrayal of Eliza is so exquisite, it's no wonder Shaw chose her to act in his plays.
shareShe's been in several movie versions of his plays, but I don't know if she appeared on the stage in them. IMDB says "Pygmalion" was performed on stage in 1914, so I doubt Ms. Hiller was in that production. You might look at her IMDB bio and see if it lists her stage appearances.
She was, in my very humble opinion, the best woman to play Shaw's leading women in the movies. She was truly excellent.
I can now add an answer to my own question, from Wendy's IMDb bio (which wasn't there when I posted this question).
"In the audience during one of Wendy's London performances was a thoroughly captivated George Bernard Shaw who invited her to star in two of his plays, "Saint Joan" and "Pygmalion," at the Malvern Festival in 1936. Shaw and his wife, who were childless, took a pronounced and parental liking to the budding, youthful star."
It just seemed to me that Wendy Hiller knew her Eliza part backwards and forwards, almost too well, kind of like Rex Harrison obviously did in MFL, but Rex had thousands of stage performances, he could have done Higgins in his sleep, Wendy probably only had a few, but nevertheless, every time I watch Pygmalion I'm in complete awe of Wendy Hiller's Eliza Doolittle. She probably should have won the Academy Award even over Bette Davis's Jezebel, which is almost not possible, what a tough year the 38/39 Oscar's were!
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I agree with everyone's posts. She went from one extreme to the other in a way that was incredibly convincing, entertaining and breathtaking.
Cheese fries...next time.