George Bernard Shaw on Film (Criterion Collection: Eclipse Series 20)

George Bernard Shaw's "Major Barbara" (1941) offers a pointed look at capitalism and social "do-gooders," starring Rex Harrison as a teacher smitten with heiress-turned-Salvation Army worker Wendy Hiller. Robert Morley co-stars as Hiller's father, owner of a munitions factory and target of his daughter's anti-business crusades. With Deborah Kerr, Robert Newton. Claude Rains and Vivien Leigh are "Caesar and Cleopatra" (1945) in an epic adaptation of Shaw's witty look at life in Ancient Egypt, politics, and the romance between the stalwart Roman commander and the seductive Queen of the Nile. With Flora Robson, Stewart Granger, Ernest Thesiger; co-scripted by Shaw. Travel back to Ancient Rome in "Androcles and the Lion" (1952), the filmed adaptation of Shaw's classic fable of a stalwart slave who removes a thorn from a lion's paw and gains a friend. But will their friendship carry them through a bout at the Colosseum? Alan Young, Jean Simmons, and Victor Mature star. 5 3/4 hrs. total on three discs. Standard; Soundtrack: English Dolby Digital mono.