11 Apr 2022
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11 April 2022 Cheryl

11 April 1914: “Not bloody likely!”

George Bernard Shaw's 1914 production of Pygmalion

George Bernard Shaw was the first person to receive both a Nobel Prize and an Oscar. In 1925, Shaw accepted the Nobel Prize for literature, and in 1938 he earned an Oscar for ‘Best Adapted Screenplay’ for the film adaptation of his play Pygmalion . [1]

George Bernard Shaw’s comedy Pygmalion opened to a small crowd in London on 11 April 1914, famously including the Act III line, “Not bloody likely!”

His Majesty’s Theatre in London’s West End was packed with prominent figures from London’s literary and theatrical circles, as well as members of the public eager to witness the premiere of one of Shaw’s most eagerly anticipated works. The play had already generated a significant buzz due to Shaw’s reputation as a controversial and innovative playwright and ran for 118 performances.

Pygmalion is a comedy about a phonetics expert who, as a kind of social experiment, attempts to make a lady out of an uneducated Cockney flower-girl. The production starred the renowned British actor Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree as Henry Higgins and the up-and-coming actress Mrs Patrick Campbell as Eliza Doolittle. A line uttered by Doolittle in Act III, “Walk! Not bloody likely. I am going in a taxi” caused considerable outrage.

The performances of Tree and Campbell were widely praised, but the production was met with mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. Some praised the play’s wit, intelligence, and social commentary, while others found it too didactic and lacking in emotional depth.

Shaw’s play has been adapted numerous times, most notably as the 1938 film Pygmalion, the 1956 musical My Fair Lady, and its 1964 film version.

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