somehow he did convince shaw to give him the rights to his plays, beginning with "pygmalion" (1938), which was an enormous international hit, both critically and financially. pascal followed up "pygmalion" with "major barbara" (1941) which he directed as well as produced. "major barbara" was filmed in london during the bombing by the nazis. during air raids the crew and cast had to dodge into bomb shelters. pascal never stopped the production and the movie was completed on schedule. but pascal became more and more extravagant, finally losing his credibility with "caesar and cleopatra" (1945) which was the most expensive british movie ever made at that time and a terrible financial and critical flop, although it is more highly regarded today. pascal famously insisted on importing sand from egypt to achieve the right cinematic colors for this extravaganza. shaw had become more difficult to work with also. after the success of "pygmalion", which was shortened in its transition from stage to screen, as plays generally are, he increasingly refused to let his plays be cut. the result was that "major barbara" and "caesar and cleopatra" were not only filmed virtually complete, but with additional scenes by shaw himself. each of the two movies ran over two hours.