My Fair Lady

Movie Review: My Fair Lady

Year of Release: 1964
Country of Origin: USA
Director: George Cukor
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper

Plot outline: A misogynistic and snobbish phonetics professor agrees to a wager that he can take a flower girl and make her presentable in high society (IMDb).

Adapted from Lerner and Loewe's stage musical of the same name, based in turn on the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, My Fair Lady is the most intelligent musical ever made. It's not only extravagant in sets, but also deep in meaning. It's a musical with a brain as well as a heart. It's a treat for the mind as well as the senses. Even sceptics of musicals will enjoy it. Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins is a very interesting character. He holds himself in high regard, and to everyone else he's insulting and insensitive. And what makes him fascinating is he knows that he is like that. He treats Audrey Hepburn's Eliza Doolittle poorly, but no more poorly than he treats anyone else, including Eliza's father, his own friend Col. Pickering and even his own mother, therefore, giving Eliza equality with everyone else despite her lower class origins. Rex Harrison brilliantly pulls it all off and makes Higgins likable without betraying the character. Audrey Hepburn magically brings her sweetness, naive charm and juvenile pettishness which all prove what a talented actress she really is, e.g. watch her expression at the Ascot scene when she realises her opportunity to demonstrate her new-found mastery of the English tongue ... it's utterly sweet and hilarious. Her transformation from a flower-selling guttersnipe to a lady of high society is believable. Stanley Holloway is lovable as playfully mischievous Alfred Doolittle. Wilfrid Hyde-White is convincing as proper and understanding Col. Pickering. Gladys Cooper is impeccable as no non-sense mother of big bully Higgins. The script and dialogue are wonderful. The songs are unforgettable. Because of its theatrical origins there is an unavoidable stage-bound look to some scenes, e.g. the morning after the play scene where actors enter the scene in layers and freeze until the action is turned on and the Ascot scene - its black and white palate and stylized look add variety to the movie. Overall, My Fair Lady is romantic, but not sentimental - the word "love" is never mentioned at all and the two leads never even kiss. Two most stunning scenes are: 1) the Ascot scene which is beautifully surreal and 2) the Embassy Ball scene which is the climax where Eliza, now an enchanting lady of high society, charms everyone with her style and beauty. I must confess, she is breathtaking in every move and every syllable she utters. The ball gown designed by Cecil Beaton is without peer in modern cinema. The scene is lavishly elegant. With the dazzling splendour that director George Cukor offers: the designer's eye for detail, the painter's flair for colour, the artist's imagination and the delicacy of handling, My Fair Lady garnered twelve Oscar nominations and took eight statuettes for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Harrison), Best Music, Best Costume Design, Best Cinematography, Best Art Decoration and Best Sound. It's one of my personal favourites.

My judgement: **** out of 4 stars