George Bernard Shaw
Born in Dublin in 1856, George Bernard Shaw has the distinction of being the only person to have won both a Nobel Prize (for Literature in 1925) and an Academy Award (for his screenplay adaptation of 1938's 'Pygmalion'). His plays are the most widely produced in English language theatre after Shakespeare. A politically active socialist, dedicated vegetarian and a scathing wit he wrote five unpublished novels and worked as a drama critic before finding his true vocation as a playwright, alongside contemporaries such as Oscar Wilde, G.K. Chesterton and H.G. Wells.
"If you have an apple and I have an apple, and we exchange apples, we both still only have one apple. But if you have an idea and I have an idea, and we exchange ideas, we each now have two ideas." - George Bernard Shaw
Arms and the Man / The Man of Destiny (1989)
Director: Desmond Davis, James Cellan Jones
Starring: Helena Bonham Carter, Patsy Kensit, Dinsdale Landen, Kika Markham, Pip Torrens,...
First produced for the stage in 1894, 'Arms and the Man' established Shaw's reputation as one of London's great wits. Helena Bonham Carter is Raina,... Read more
Bernard Shaw Collection: Vol. 1 (1989)
Director: David Jones, Desmond Davis, Herbert Wise, James Cellan Jones
Starring: Coral Browne, Penelope Wilton, James Grout, Derek Godfrey, Robert Powell, Helena...
This collection of BBC adaptations brings to life the memorable characterizations, brilliant command of language, and dazzling wit of Bernard Shaw's c... Read more
Bernard Shaw Collection: Vol. 2 (1972)
Director: William Slater, Cedric Messina, Ronald Smedley
Starring: Maggie Smith, Tom Baker, Charles Gray, James Villiers, Helen Mirren, Prunella Sc...
Bernard Shaw sits among the great playwrights of the English language; this collection brings together five of his classic plays as adapted by the BBC... Read more
Caesar and Cleopatra (1945)
6.4/10
Director: Gabriel Pascal
Starring: Vivien Leigh, Claude Rains, Stewart Granger, Flora Robson
George Bernard Shaw's exuberantly witty play about Rome's titanic leader and Egypt's young queen was transferred to the big screen with stars Vivien L... Read more
Heartbreak House (1977)
Director: Cedric Messina
Starring: John Gielgud, Sian Phillips, Barbara Murray, Daniel Massey, Lesley-Anne Down, Da...
Shaw's passionate response to World War I was this rollicking romp through the minefields of romantic entanglement. Captain Shotover (John Gielgud) i... Read more
Mrs Warren's Profession / You Never Can Tell (1972)
Director: James Cellan Jones
Starring: Coral Browne, Penelope Wilton, Robert Powell, Richard Pearson, James Grout, Dere...
Written in 1893, though not performed until 1902 due to government censorship 'Mrs Warren's Profession' scandalized Victorian England. This BBC produ... Read more
My Fair Lady (1964)
7.9/10
Director: George Cukor
Starring: Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Coope...
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe's musical variation of Shaw's 'Pygmalion' is an intellectual comedy of manners from expert director George Cukor.... Read more
Pygmalion (1938)
7.9/10
Director: Anthony Asquith, Leslie Howard
Starring: Leslie Howard, Wendy Hiller, Wilfrid Lawson
George Bernard Shaw wrote the Academy Award-winning screenplay for this adaptation of his comedy which later became 'My Fair Lady'. Leslie Howard is P... Read more
Pygmalion / Androcles and the Lion (1973)
Director: Cedric Messina
Starring: Lynn Redgrave, James Villiers, Ronald Fraser, Billy Connolly, Anna Calder-Marsha...
Perhaps Shaw's most well-known play, 'Pygmalion' stars Lynn Redgrave in the Eliza Doolittle role being taught her Ps & Qs by professor Henry Higgins.... Read more
The Devil's Disciple (1987)
7.4/10
Director: David Jones
Starring: Patrick Stewart, Ian Richardson, Elizabeth Spriggs, Mike Gwilym, Susan Woolridge
Patrick Stewart and Ian Richardson star in this George Bernard Shaw adaptation from the BBC. Set in New Hampshire in 1777, Dick Dudgeon's father has... Read more