Review of My Fair Lady (1964) by Stuart K — 08 May 2012

Based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion and turned into a musical play by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe. This big screen musical had alot going for it, and it came from a time when grand epic musicals could do well and win Oscars.

This looks beautiful, has two good lead performances and instantly memorable songs. Set in Victorian London, it has Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), who specialised in phonetics, placing a wager with acquaintance, Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White), that he can turn common Cockney flowergirl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) into a duchess for an embassy ball.

So begin many weeks of training, and eventually, Eliza's voice goes from Cockney into a very polished, posh English accent. But, not everything goes to plan, Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Jeremy Brett) falls for Eliza, unaware for her true background of Covent Garden, and Eliza soon finds out Henry didn't care about what he was creating, or did he?? The direction by George Cukor is grand and colourful, he gets the best from his actors, (also featuring Stanley Holloway and Theodore Bikel), and the music, arranged for the screen by Andre Previn is lush and beautiful.

It's a pity you don't get grand musicals like this anymore. But, the leads from Hepburn and Harrison are enjoyable.