Major Barbara
Directed by Gabriel Pascal
Written by George Bernard Shaw
1941/UK
Gabriel Pascal Productions
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] “It is quite useless to declare that all men are born free if you deny that they are born good.” — Major Barbara, George Bernard Shaw[/box]
Rex Harrison and Wendy Hiller were born to play Shaw.
Agnostic socialist Adolphus Cusins (Rex Harrison), a Greek scholar, is a flop at public speaking. He goes to see how Salvation Army Major Barbara Undershaft (Wendy Hiller) draws in the crowds and promptly falls in love with her. She takes him home to meet her family, which lives in a palatial mansion thanks to her estranged father’s (Robert Morley) money. Papa is a munitions manufacturer
Major Barbara is shown slowly converting hard case Bill Walker (Robert Newton). Although the Army is very hard up for cash, she refuses to take even a pound from him until he is saved. Then Papa shows up at the mission and begins corrupting it with a much bigger offer. With Deborah Kerr in her very first credited movie role as a Salvation Army worker.
I can’t exactly love this very talky and intellectual film. Director Pascal worked hard at opening up the stage play but didn’t fully succeed. Nonetheless, the cast is fabulous and the argument about jobs versus religious cant is interesting.
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