Major Barbara (1941)

User Rating:

7.2/10   

Director:

Gabriel Pascal

Writers:

George Bernard Shaw (original play)
George Bernard Shaw (scenario and dialogue)

Release Date:

2 August 1941 (UK)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

A young and idealistic woman, who has adopted the Salvation Army and whose father is an armament industrialist, will save more souls directing her father's business. A comedy with social commentary. |

Plot Keywords:

Salvation Army | Inheritance | Manufacturer | Father Daughter Relationship | Reference To Napoleon

Cast

Wendy Hiller	...	Major Barbara
Rex Harrison	...	Adolphus Cusins
Robert Morley	...	Andrew Underschaft
Robert Newton	...	Bill Walker
Sybil Thorndike	...	The General
Emlyn Williams	...	Snobby Price
Marie Lohr	...	Lady Britomart
Penelope Dudley-Ward	...	Sarah Underschaft
Walter Hudd	...	Stephen Underschaft
David Tree	...	Charles Lomax
Deborah Kerr	...	Jenny Hill
Donald Calthrop	...	Peter Shirley
Marie Ault	...	Rummy Mitchens
Cathleen Cordell	...	Mog Habbijam
Torin Thatcher	...	Todger Fairmile

Also Known As:

George Bernard Shaw's Major Barbara (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

131 min | USA:121 min | UK:121 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

UK:A | USA:Approved (MPAA rating: certificate #03074) | Finland:K-16

Company:

Gabriel Pascal Productions

Trivia:

This is Deborah Kerr's first credited movie role.

Quotes:

Andrew Underschaft: The fist Underschaft wrote: if God gave man the hand, let not man withhold the sword. The second wrote: all have the right to fight, none have the right to judge. The third wrote up: to man the heaven, to heaven the victory. The fourth had no literary turn...

Movie Connections:

Version of Majoor Barbara (1964) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Tell me the Old, Old Story

Wanted to like this better than I did

"Major Barbara (1941: **1/2). A lot of talent has gone into this film version of Shaw's play about a Salvation Army lass who is disillusioned when her Mission accepts a fat check from her father, a wealthy munitions manufacturer of wartime supplies. I happened to have the play on hand and referred back to it as I wasn't sure Shaw's meanings survived the rather tedious verbosity of the movie, which sags despite a great cast (Wendy Hiller, Rex Harrison, Robert Morley, etc.). Shaw seems to be saying that when religion and capitalism fight it out, capitalism will always win as it provides jobs and shelter for the poor, whereas all religion can do is to concentrate on saving their souls. To Shaw, a man's soul is best saved when his belly is full and his future is secured. Ultimately, the girl decides it's better to labor in her father's vast factory, where she can save souls while working within the system. I believe Shaw was something of a Utopian Socialist. He called this play a "Discussion in Four Acts" and that's pretty much what the movie seemed to be.