Next, I went to the to-watch shelf and picked out PYGMALION on Criterion. I've had this for a couple of years but hadn't watched it. Of course, I kept missing the music from MY FAIR LADY, but it's nice to be able to see the story played out in 90 minutes or so.
The Criterion liner notes brag that this is a lustrous new transfer, but the materials they had to work with must have been near destruction since the film has very few places where it isn't damaged in some way with dirt, scratches and water marks all over the place. At several points, it's obvious they had to go to a very grainy 16mm print to find some missing scenes because the sound and picture don't match what comes before or after.
What a shame that such a masterpiece was allowed to deteriorate so horrendously.