My Fair Lady

Another favorite musical of mine. I can watch this anytime and often do. This is such a classic musical crafted from the original play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. My Fair Lady was released in 1964 starring Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.

Rex Harrison plays an arrogant phonetics professor Henry Higgins who teaches "gutter snipe," Eliza Doolittle a flower girl, proper English. Higgins believes in his skill so much that he bets his friend Col. Pickering that he can turn Eliza into a flower girl and also present her as a princess at the Annual Embassy Ball.

Besides it's wonderful actors and story line, the scenery is beautiful. The flowers shown in the overture scene are shades of pink and white peonies. This movie is full of luxury from the furnishings, cars and beautiful dresses worn by the women in high society. My favorite scene that show the beauty of My Fair Lady is the derby scene. Almost every woman is wearing an extremely large hat that could put any royal to shame and the tightest fitted dresses even the Kardashians wouldn't wear.

Another aspect I love about this scene is the precision these people have of not to get in the way of each other, that is until Henry arrives. And notice his attire, he is wearing a brown suit, very improper for this setting. He sticks out like a sore thumb.

What would be a musical without the music. My Fair Lady has a wonderful soundtrack: http://www.allmusic.com/album/my-fair-lady-original-soundtrack-mw0001836185

 

Some of my favorite scenes include:

I admire Rex Harrison for faking out the public in singing. All Harrison is really doing is pronouncing his words in a sing song voice, but he does it so well with a comedic touch.

I've said it before in an earlier post, but this is not Hepburn's actual voice. Most of the songs sung by Doolittle are dubbed by Marni Nixon. This is a great catchy song. This song is about wanting a better life and for some of us, the bare necessities that most people take for granted. By end of this clip, Eliza decides to take Higgins up on his offer of teaching her phonetics.

Another scene that Eliza sings in is "I Could Have Danced All Night." This is the happiest that we ever seen her. She pronounces something correctly after Higgins provides some encouragement. She finally does something right and is happy with her accomplishment.

The last 20 minutes of My Fair Lady are some of the best scenes. Eliza stands up to Higgins and takes credit for her own work in "Without You." Then the final scene of Higgins singing "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," Henry finally realizes how much he cares for Eliza once she leaves.

No wonder this won so many awards, eight to be exact. If you haven't seen this film it's a must see.