Details
Movie Description
A priceless classic, MY FAIR LADY has become one of the most popular musicals of all time. Based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play PYGMALION, the film swept the Academy Awards. Cecil Beaton's lavish sets and costumes and Lerner and Loewe's winning score became the background for George Cukor's striking mix of styles that ranged from the fantastic to the abstract in his telling of the tale of a waif who's educated into being a lady. Egotistical linguist Professor Henry Higgins (Oscar-winning Rex Harrison) bets his friend, Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White), that he can transform Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) in time for an important society ball. His gamble could pay off--but the spirited Eliza is more of a handful than the Professor could have predicted. As she slowly becomes more refined, and less reliant upon him, Higgins realizes, to his confusion, that he can't live without her. The film was nominated for 12 Oscars and won eight, including Best Picture and Director.
Synopsis
An insufferably arrogant linguist, Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), bets a colleague that he can transform a flower-selling Cockney guttersnipe into a regal lady. His quarry, the irrepressible Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), accepts his offer for diction lessons in good faith, hoping to improve her station with a career as a shopgirl. This quintessential musical, scored by Lerner and Loewe, was based on the 1913 play PYGMALION by George Bernard Shaw, and virtually swept the Academy Awards, winning, among others, Best Picture, Director, and Actor (Harrison).
Film Notes
Theatrical release: October 21, 1964.
Filmed at the Warner Bros. Studios.
One of the most expensive musicals ever, the estimated budget was $17 million.
Jack Warner reportedly paid $5.5 million to the Shaw estate for the rights to the musical; additionally, the owners of the stage property were to receive 47.5% of all proceeds after the first $20 million.
The Broadway musical MY FAIR LADY was staged by Moss Hart, produced by Herman Levin, and starred Julie Andrews, Rex Harrison, and Stanley Holloway.
Warner didn't want to cast Julie Andrews in the film because she wasn't known enough in the U.S. at the time.
Vincente Minelli was the studio's first choice for director.
MY FAIR LADY was named Best Film by the New York Film Critics and one of the 10 Best Films of the Year by the National Board of Review.
Marni Nixon, who dubbed Audrey Hepburn's singing voice, had previously dubbed Natalie Wood's singing voice in WEST SIDE STORY and Deborah Kerr's in THE KING AND I. Many speculated that Hepburn was passed over for an Academy Award nomination because she did not do her own singing.
The voice for Jeremy Brett, who played Freddie Eynsford-Hill, was supplied by Bill Shirley.
Dr. Peter Ladefoged from UCLA served as phonetics advisor.
Actor Wilfrid Hyde-White served as "Ascot" advisor.
Cecil Beaton's screen credit reads Costumes, Scenery, and Production Designer, which in actuality referred to his work for the stage version of MY FAIR LADY. For the film, he was responsible for Costumes, Makeup and Hair.
George Bernard Shaw's straight play PYGMALION was adapted for the screen in 1938, starring Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller.
Industry Reviews
"...One of the most joyous musicals ever written....Cukor's film is a pleasure to behold..."
Chicago Sun-Times - Roger Ebert (09/23/1994)
"...Glorious....Features [Beaton's] astounding costumes, [Cukor's] stately direction, the best-loved, most hummable of all Broadway scores and a sublime cast headed by [Harrison and Hepburn]..."
New York Times - p.C13 - Janet Maslin
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