Pygmalion

During an evening in Covent Garden, Professor Higgins is mistaken for a policeman by passers-by, provoking protests from Eliza Doolittle. Higgins and Pickering discuss language and social class as the crowd disperses. Higgins boasts that with his method, Eliza could pass as a duchess if she learns to speak properly.

The next morning, Eliza arrives at Higgins' house to request elocution lessons. Colonel Pickering is impressed by her resolve and makes a bet to cover all expenses if Higgins can prove his boast. Higgins accepts, setting up the experiment to transform Eliza's speech and prospects.

Eliza is prepared for lessons with a bath overseen by Mrs. Pearce while Higgins and Pickering prepare for the test. Alfred Doolittle, Eliza's father, arrives to demand compensation for losing his daughter. Higgins offers £10, but Doolittle accepts only £5, explaining he wants just enough for a drunken weekend.

After weeks of internship, Eliza attends an at-home gathering hosted by Mrs. Higgins. She speaks with a refined accent but fills her conversation with slang and profanity, shocking the guests. Freddy Eynsford-Hill is captivated by her, while Mrs. Higgins laments that her son and Pickering treat Eliza as a plaything rather than a person.

Weeks of coaching culminate in an embassy reception where Higgins fears exposure by Count Aristid Karpathy, a former pupil who can discern origins from speech. Eliza manages to deceive Karpathy, convincing him that she is a Hungarian princess rather than a native speaker. The tension of potential discovery drives the final polish of her elocution.

Higgins and Pickering celebrate their perceived success, selfishly neglecting Eliza's contribution and feelings. She quarrels with Higgins, throws his slippers at him, and decides to seek refuge at Mrs. Higgins's home. The rift between teacher and student widens at this moment.

The following morning, Higgins learns that Eliza is staying with Mrs. Higgins. Alfred Doolittle arrives to protest how Higgins has disrupted his life, only to reveal the bequest from an American millionaire that would force him into respectability. Doolittle now plans to marry his unwed partner and seeks support from Eliza, Pickering, and Mrs. Higgins.

Higgins presses Eliza to return to his script, but she resists, declaring that she would rather marry Freddy, a charming but penniless suitor. She also warns that she could use her elocution skills to teach others and gain economic independence, rather than relying on Higgins or her former circumstances.

With the wedding of Doolittle's partner approaching, the group leaves to attend the ceremony, highlighting the social changes and upheavals that have accompanied Eliza’s transformation. The wedding becomes a backdrop to the evolving relationships among the characters. Eliza's stance remains independent even as the others prepare for the event.

Higgins returns home after a long walk and plays a recording of Eliza's first visit, only to be startled by her present, real self at the study door. She quotes her earlier self, mocks him, and asks where his slippers are. The moment leaves their future relationship ambiguous and unsettled.

Freddy Eynsford-Hill continues to pursue Eliza, seeking another chance to see her after the social upheavals and the embassy events. Eliza weighs romance against her own burgeoning sense of independence and agency. The dynamic between them adds a future-tense tension to the resolution.

The film closes without a definitive resolution: Higgins and Eliza stand on unequal footing, yet they have moved closer in understanding. The ending suggests potential collaboration or further clashes, leaving their fate deliberately open to interpretation. The audience is left with a sense of possibility rather than closure.