My Fair Lady (1964)
January 18, 2023 9:13 AM - Subscribe
[TRAILER] Pompous phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself to transform a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society. His subject turns out to be the lovely Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), who agrees to speech lessons to improve her job prospects. Higgins and Eliza clash, then form an unlikely bond -- one that is threatened by an aristocratic suitor (Jeremy Brett).
Also starring Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne, Isobel Elsom, John Holland, Colin Kenny, Bert Stevens, Frank Baker, Marjorie Bennett, Betty Blythe, Arthur Tovey, Marni Nixon, Al Bain, William Beckley, Lillian Kemble-Cooper, Henry Daniell, Brendan Dillon.
Directed by George Cukor. Screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner. Based on the Lerner & Loewe musical, My Fair Lady, which was itself based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.
94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
JustWatch listing.
Also starring Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne, Isobel Elsom, John Holland, Colin Kenny, Bert Stevens, Frank Baker, Marjorie Bennett, Betty Blythe, Arthur Tovey, Marni Nixon, Al Bain, William Beckley, Lillian Kemble-Cooper, Henry Daniell, Brendan Dillon.
Directed by George Cukor. Screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner. Based on the Lerner & Loewe musical, My Fair Lady, which was itself based on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.
94% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
JustWatch listing.
1. An utterly perfect movie.
2. Yes, we need Alfred P. Doolittle! Besides being a remarkable character, his role provides insight into Eliza's upbringing.
posted by davidmsc at 10:56 AM on January 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
2. Yes, we need Alfred P. Doolittle! Besides being a remarkable character, his role provides insight into Eliza's upbringing.
posted by davidmsc at 10:56 AM on January 18, 2023 [7 favorites]
Yes, because he's got 2 great songs.
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 4:40 PM on January 18, 2023 [10 favorites]
posted by still_wears_a_hat at 4:40 PM on January 18, 2023 [10 favorites]
We definitely need Eliza's father! Not only for the songs (which are great) but also because he defines one boundary of Eliza's life, Higgins being the other, and Freddie Eynesford-Hill being the vacuous-but-cute third. (Seriously, young-and-dapper Jeremy Brett in this is just uffff.)
MFL is one of my favorite musicals, because Audrey Hepburn is just loverly in it, and Eliza Doolittle is one of the most feminist characters in a not-very-feminist genre. (Show Me is about as sexually liberated as you can get until the end of the Hays Code. It's also hilarious because Freddie tries to "show her" but keeps running into fences, puddles, and a freaking trash can! what a pretty doofus.)
That said, I really really hate the ending where Eliza comes back to Higgins, and it's supposed to be a good thing? After that incredible speech she gets where she calls him out on the way he used and abused her? I saw this on stage last year, and they modified it where Eliza walks off stage, leaving Higgins alone with his dumb slippers.
posted by basalganglia at 5:36 PM on January 18, 2023 [8 favorites]
MFL is one of my favorite musicals, because Audrey Hepburn is just loverly in it, and Eliza Doolittle is one of the most feminist characters in a not-very-feminist genre. (Show Me is about as sexually liberated as you can get until the end of the Hays Code. It's also hilarious because Freddie tries to "show her" but keeps running into fences, puddles, and a freaking trash can! what a pretty doofus.)
That said, I really really hate the ending where Eliza comes back to Higgins, and it's supposed to be a good thing? After that incredible speech she gets where she calls him out on the way he used and abused her? I saw this on stage last year, and they modified it where Eliza walks off stage, leaving Higgins alone with his dumb slippers.
posted by basalganglia at 5:36 PM on January 18, 2023 [8 favorites]
Why we need Alfred P. Doolittle:
-- That role was written for Stanley Holloway. He and Rex Harrison are the only actors in major roles who were in the original Broadway production. Harrison can't really sing, but Holloway is an old music-hall turn and it shows.
-- In a film about the signifiers of social class, you need working-class representation. Granted, Alfred Doolittle moves out of his social class too, being sent on the lecture tour by Higgins; but he remains a Cockney, and his two songs celebrate Cockney-ness.
Also, holy shit I had forgotten that Sherlock Holmes was Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Young Jeremy Brett gives a decent performance, though his songs (like most of Hepburn's) are dubbed.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:37 PM on January 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
-- That role was written for Stanley Holloway. He and Rex Harrison are the only actors in major roles who were in the original Broadway production. Harrison can't really sing, but Holloway is an old music-hall turn and it shows.
-- In a film about the signifiers of social class, you need working-class representation. Granted, Alfred Doolittle moves out of his social class too, being sent on the lecture tour by Higgins; but he remains a Cockney, and his two songs celebrate Cockney-ness.
Also, holy shit I had forgotten that Sherlock Holmes was Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Young Jeremy Brett gives a decent performance, though his songs (like most of Hepburn's) are dubbed.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:37 PM on January 18, 2023 [4 favorites]
I'm going to be stubborn and dig in:
Yes, we need Alfred P. Doolittle! Besides being a remarkable character, his role provides insight into Eliza's upbringing.
How does it do that? I'm serious.
he defines one boundary of Eliza's life, Higgins being the other, and Freddie Eynesford-Hill being the vacuous-but-cute third.
How is his presence a "boundary"? Could his absence not have also been a boundary, as well as a timesaver?
In a film about the signifiers of social class, you need working-class representation.
Eliza isn't herself a representation of the working class?
...Also, I'm kind of meh on his songs too, but I'm chalking that up to my own taste just being quirky and it ain't a hill I'd die on.
I really really hate the ending where Eliza comes back to Higgins, and it's supposed to be a good thing? After that incredible speech she gets where she calls him out on the way he used and abused her? I saw this on stage last year, and they modified it where Eliza walks off stage, leaving Higgins alone with his dumb slippers.
That's actually pretty much the way Shaw ended Pygmalion, the play on which this was based. Her coming back was something the musical added to give it a Happy Ending (tm).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:12 PM on January 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
Yes, we need Alfred P. Doolittle! Besides being a remarkable character, his role provides insight into Eliza's upbringing.
How does it do that? I'm serious.
he defines one boundary of Eliza's life, Higgins being the other, and Freddie Eynesford-Hill being the vacuous-but-cute third.
How is his presence a "boundary"? Could his absence not have also been a boundary, as well as a timesaver?
In a film about the signifiers of social class, you need working-class representation.
Eliza isn't herself a representation of the working class?
...Also, I'm kind of meh on his songs too, but I'm chalking that up to my own taste just being quirky and it ain't a hill I'd die on.
I really really hate the ending where Eliza comes back to Higgins, and it's supposed to be a good thing? After that incredible speech she gets where she calls him out on the way he used and abused her? I saw this on stage last year, and they modified it where Eliza walks off stage, leaving Higgins alone with his dumb slippers.
That's actually pretty much the way Shaw ended Pygmalion, the play on which this was based. Her coming back was something the musical added to give it a Happy Ending (tm).
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 12:12 PM on January 19, 2023 [3 favorites]
I got into musicals some during the pandemic, including watching some of the classics. I saw this on the big screen for my first viewing at a rerelease. It was wonderful!
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:50 AM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:50 AM on January 20, 2023 [1 favorite]
Eliza isn't herself a representation of the working class?
Eliza changes the signifiers of her social class during the film, and when she leaves Higgins and tries to go back to Covent Garden, she finds that the change is deep-rooted enough that she no longer fits into her former life.
The other characters represent the compass points between which Eliza moves:
the working class (Alfred)
the upper class (Freddy and the Eynsford-Hills; the Ascot chorus)
and the upper-middle class (Higgins, Pickering).
(Mrs Pearce and the servants exist between classes: workers skilled at moving in their employers' milieu.)
So Alfred has to be there (I think, anyway) as a reminder of where Eliza came from.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:44 PM on January 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Eliza changes the signifiers of her social class during the film, and when she leaves Higgins and tries to go back to Covent Garden, she finds that the change is deep-rooted enough that she no longer fits into her former life.
The other characters represent the compass points between which Eliza moves:
the working class (Alfred)
the upper class (Freddy and the Eynsford-Hills; the Ascot chorus)
and the upper-middle class (Higgins, Pickering).
(Mrs Pearce and the servants exist between classes: workers skilled at moving in their employers' milieu.)
So Alfred has to be there (I think, anyway) as a reminder of where Eliza came from.
posted by Pallas Athena at 5:44 PM on January 20, 2023 [3 favorites]
Harrison can't really sing,
That’s an understatement.
posted by Melismata at 4:26 PM on January 22, 2023
That’s an understatement.
posted by Melismata at 4:26 PM on January 22, 2023
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Did we really need Eliza's father in this?
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:50 AM on January 18, 2023 [1 favorite]