My Fair Lady

Overview

At one time the longest-running Broadway musical, My Fair Lady was adapted by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe from the George Bernard Shaw comedy Pygmalion. Outside Covent Garden on a rainy evening in 1912, dishevelled cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) meets linguistic expert Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison). After delivering a musical tirade against "verbal class distinction," Higgins tells his companion Colonel Pickering (Wilfred Hyde-White) that, within six months, he could transform Eliza into a proper lady, simply by teaching her proper English. The next morning, face and hands freshly scrubbed, Eliza presents herself on Higgins' doorstep, offering to pay him to teach her to be a lady. "It's almost irresistable," clucks Higgins. "She's so deliciously low. So horribly dirty." He turns his mission into a sporting proposition, making a bet with Pickering that he can accomplish his six-month miracle to turn Eliza into a lady. This is one of the all-time great movie musicals, featuring classic songs and the legendary performances of Harrison, repeating his stage role after Cary Grant wisely turned down the movie job, and Stanley Holloway as Eliza's dustman father. Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza on Broadway but producer Jack Warner felt that Andrews, at the time unknown beyond Broadway, wasn't bankable; Hepburn's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who also dubbed Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961). Andrews instead made Mary Poppins, for which she was given the Best Actress Oscar, beating out Hepburn. The movie, however, won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Harrison, and five other Oscars, and it remains one of the all-time best movie musicals.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/06/2009
UPC:	0097368719644
Original Release:	1964
Rating:	G
Source:	Paramount
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[Wide Screen]
Sound:	[Dolby Digital Stereo]
Language:	English
Time:	2:52:00

Special Features

Closed Caption; Audio commentary; Vintage featurettes, footage and audio; Alternate Audrey Hepburn vocals; Posters and lobby cards with Rex Harrison radio interview; Comments on a lady; Trailers

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Rex Harrison	Henry Higgins
Audrey Hepburn	Eliza Doolittle
Stanley Holloway	Alfred Doolittle
Wilfrid Hyde-White	Col. Hugh Pickering
Gladys Cooper	Mrs. Higgins
Jeremy Brett	Freddie Eynsford-Hill
Theodore Bikel	Zoltan Karpathy
Mona Washbourne	Mrs. Pearce
Isobel Elsom	Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
John Holland	Butler
Veronica Rothschild	Queen of Transylvania,Queen of Transylvania
Henry Daniell	Prince of Transylvania,Ad Libs at Ascot,Ad Lib at Ascot
Alan Napier	Ambassador
Jack Greening	George
Moyna MacGill	Lady Boxington
John Alderson	Jamie
John McLiam	Harry
Ben Wrigley	Costermonger
Clive Halliday	Costermonger
Richard Peel	Costermonger
Eric Heath	Costermonger
James O'Hara	Costermonger
Kendrick Huxham	Elegant Bystander
Frank Baker	Elegant Bystander
Walter Burke	Main Bystander
Queenie Leonard	Cockney Bystander
Laurie Main	Hoxton Man
Maurice Dallimore	Selsey Man
Owen McGiveney	Man at Coffee Stand
Marjorie Bennett	Cockney With Pipe
Britannia Beatey	Daughter of Elegant Bystander,Daughter of Elegant Bystander
Beatrice Greenough	Grand Lady
Hilda Plowright	Bystander
Dinah Anne Rogers	Maid,Policeman
Lois Battle	Maid
Jacqueline Squire	Parlor Maid
Gwendolyn Watts	Cook
Eugene Hoffman	Juggler
Kai Farrelli	Juggler
Raymond Foster	Cockney
Joe Evans	Cockney
Marie Busch	Cockney
Mary Alexander	Cockney
William Linkie	Cockney
Henry Sweetman	Cockney
Andrew Brown	Cockney,Ad Libs at Church
Samuel Holmes	Cockney
Thomas Dick	Cockney
William Taylor	Cockney
James Wood	Cockney
Goldie Kleban	Cockney
Elizabeth Aimers	Cockney
Joy Tierney	Cockney
Lenore Miller	Cockney
Donna Day	Cockney
Corinne Ross	Cockney
David Robel	Cockney
Iris Bristol	Flower Girl
Alma Lawton	Flower Girl
Gigi Michel	Toff
Sandy Steffens	Toff
Sandy Edmundson	Toff
Marlene Marrow	Toff
Carol Merrill	Toff
Sue Bronson	Toff
Lea Genovese	Toff
Ron Whelan	Algernon/Bartender
Roy Dean	Footman
Charles Fredericks	King
Lillian Kemble-Cooper	Lady Ambassador
Barbara Pepper	Doolittle's Dance Partner
Ayllene Gibbons	Fat Woman at Pub
Ben Wright	Footman at Ball
Oscar Beregi Jr.	Greek Ambassador
Buddy Bryan	Prince
Grady Sutton	Ascot Type
Orville Sherman	Ascot Type
Harvey Dunn	Ascot Type
Barbara Morrison	Ascot Type
Natalie Core	Ascot Type
Helen Albrecht	Ascot Type
Diana Bourbon	Ascot Type
Colin Campbell	Ascot Gavotte
Marjory Hawtrey	Ad Libs at Ascot
Paulle Clark	Ad Libs at Ascot
Betty Blythe	Ad Lib at Ball
Nick Navarro	Dancer
Tom Cound	Footman
William Beckley	Footman
Geoffrey Steele	Taxi Driver
Jennifer Crier	Mrs. Higgins' Maid
Patrick O'Moore	Man,Man
Michael St. Clair	Bartender
Brendan Dillon	Leaning Man
Olive Reeves-Smith	Mrs. Hopkins
Miriam Schiller	Landlady
Elzada Wilson	Ad Libs at Church
Jeanne Carson	Ad Libs at Church,Ad Lib at Church
Buddy Shea	Ad Libs at Church
Jack Goldie	Ad Libs at Church
Sid Marion	Ad Libs at Church
Stanley Fraser	Ad Libs at Church
George Pelling	Ad Libs at Church
Colin Kenny	Ad Libs at Church
LaWana Backer	Ad Libs at Church
Monika Henreid	Ad Libs at Church
Anne Dore	Ad Libs at Church
Pauline Drake	Ad Libs at Church
Shirley Melline	Ad Libs at Church
Wendy Russell	Ad Libs at Church
Clyde Howdy	Ad Libs at Church
Nick Wolcuff	Ad Libs at Church
Martin Eric	Ad Libs at Church
John Mitchum	Ad Libs at Church
Phyllis Kennedy	Cockney/Ad Lib at Church
Major Sam Harris	Guest at Ball
Jack Raine	Extra
Walter Bacon	Ball Guest
Al Bain	Cockney
Tex Brodus	Ascot Extra
Bea Marie Busch	Cockney
Oscar Beregi	Greek Ambassador
Robert Coote	Actor
Bill Shirley	Freddy [singing]
Marni Nixon	Eliza [singing]
Frederick Loewe	Composer
André Previn	Composer

Technical Credits

Alan Jay Lerner

George Bernard Shaw

George Cukor	Director
Alan Jay Lerner	Screenwriter
Jack L. Warner	Producer,Producer
George Bernard Shaw	Screenwriter
Jay Cox	Special Effects
Francis J. Scheid	Sound Effects
Murray Spivack	Sound Effects
George Groves	Sound Effects
James C. Katz	Producer
David Behle	Sound Effects
Herman Levin	Producer
Linwood Dunn	Special Effects

Editorial Reviews

My Fair Lady is one of the screen's joyous achievements, an elegant musical filled with adult characters who think before they speak. Exquisitely produced by Warner Bros, it represents the zenith of the movie musical as an art form and as popular entertainment. Rex Harrison leads an impeccable cast, and, yes, that's Marni Nixon singing for Audrey Hepburn, but Hepburn is perfectly cast otherwise. The major star of the film is perhaps set designer/costume designer Cecil Beaton, whose visual contributions immediately impacted European and U.S. fashion trends. One of the best-looking movies ever made, My Fair Lady took eight Oscars, including Best Picture. Hepburn failed to be nominated in the Best Actress category, which was won by Julie Andrews for Mary Poppins, in what many observers saw as backlash against Andrews' not being cast in the movie after originating the role of Eliza on stage.