Her other roles in later years included that of Princess Dragonmiroff in "Murder on the Orient Express," Mrs. Harris in "Anne of Green Gables, the Sequel," and most memorably roles in the murder mysteries "Cat and the Canary," and the PBS Mystery Series "A Taste for Death." In 1992, at the age of 80 she gave another outstanding performance in the Masterpiece Theater production, "The Countess Alice." In each of these later films it is difficult to see that this is the same Wendy Hiller of the three early works. However, it is the latter that I am most interested in discussing here.
Reportedly Hiller was George Bernard Shaw's favorite actress and appeared on stage in the lead roles for his "St. Joan," and "Pygmalion." When Gabriel Pascal decided to produce "Pygmalion" on film, one requirement stipulated by Shaw was that Hiller play the lead role of Eliza Doolittle.
She was 26 when the film was produced. Her performance was wide ranging from the blowsy flower girl in Covent Garden to the supposedly Hungarian Princess that Leslie Howard created of her in his role as Henry Higgins. To me, the most enjoyable part of the film is when Higgins takes her to meet his mother after hours of voice correction and training. While there, she launches into a combination of exaggerated social grace while at the same time reciting a tale of truly rousing memorable incidents and actions of various of her relatives. The outstanding film scoring was by French composer Arthur Honegger.
Three years later Shaw's "Major Barbara" was brought to the screen. Hiller plays an officer in the Salvation Army, Major Barbara Undershaft, the daughter of one of England's greatest industrialists. The father was played by Robert Morley, who in real life only four years older than Hiller. The most powerful moments in the film were early on when she is preaching on the docks and exhorting those listening to her to "Come, Come," she says in powerful tones with a gentle smile on her face, as she asks the listeners to come with her to join with God. Again she projects real persuasive power. This film also has an outstanding cast of supporting players, including Rex Harrison, Robert Newton and in a film first for her, Deborah Kerr.
Then in 1945 Hiller played in the last of her wonderful early roles, that of Joan Webster in "I Know Where I am Going." In this film we see her again in obvious control of her whole destiny. She has traveled to the western isles off the coast of Scotland where she is to travel by boat to the fictional island of Killoran, near the real isle of Mull. There she will marry one of England's richest men. But she is stymied by bad weather that makes it impossible for a boat to traverse the distance between the two islands. And there her unshaken confidence in knowing where she is going is hampered by meeting a Scots Laird Torquil MacNeil an officer in the British Navy. She finds herself attracted to MacNeil played by Roger Livesay, and doesn't want him to interfere with her plans. Eventually, she makes the dangerous journey in a storm including crossing a dangerous whirlpool that lurks off the coast.
The film includes a memorable evening of dancing to Scottish rhythms and sounds with spectacular singing by local Scots. Webster is there with MacNeil and eventually and with great reluctance is persuaded to join the dance. It is the next day that in fear of losing her life commitment that she undertakes the dangerous stormy sea journey to Killoran.
Michael Powell, who directed the film originally wanted Deborah Kerr to play the Joan Webster role. Kerr had starred in his recent film "The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp," where she had played three separate roles opposite Livesay. He opted for Hiller when Kerr was not available because of a previous film commitment.
Two other persons of interest, who had roles in the film, should be noted. Pamela Brown played Cattriona Potts, the lady who managed the small hotel where Joan Webster stayed while waiting to go to Killoran. She is a very attractive woman with large brown eyes. She had extensive acting experience almost all of it acquired after she was diagnosed with a particularly debilitating arthritic condition at the age of 16. It interfered with some of her movements which she managed to successfully hide in most of her performances. Also in the film for the first of her only two film appearances is Margot Fitzsimmons, Maureen O'Hara's younger sister. There is one scene in particular where in profile she bears a strong resemblance to O'Hara.
Wendy Hiller can be seen to advantage in almost any of her film productions, but these three early films when she was in her middle 20's to early 30's really demonstrate her power. One of the characteristics of all of these early Hiller films is the her strength as she masters any situation she must confront. Incidentally, the two recent DVD releases of "I Know where I am Going," and "Pygmalion," are particularly fine quality-wise.
25th Anniversary Edition of Classic Films No. 10 from August 1982
Fairview Collaborative review of Jack Nicholson's Goin' South
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