My Fair Lady Overview:

My Fair Lady (1964) was a Drama - Family Film directed by George Cukor and produced by Jack L. Warner.

The film was based on the musical of the same name written by Alan Jay Lerner performed at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, NY, & Broadhurst Theatre, NY & Broadway Theatre, NY from Mar 15, 1956 - Sep 29, 1962.

SYNOPSIS

Lerner and Loewe's Broadway success comes to the screen with a ravishing Hepburn in the title role made famous onstage by Julie Andrews and Harrison repeating the character of Dr. Henry Higgins. The now-familiar story of the Cockney market girl who conquers society as well as her mentor's heart is beautifully realized by Cukor, assisted by sets and costumes designed by famed photographer Cecil Beaton (the Ascot Races sequence is a virtual runway fashion show of Beaton's glamorous handiwork), and the invisible Marni Nixon as Hepburn's singing voice. Memorable songs include: "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," "The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain," and "You Did It!" among many others. This quintessential film musical was based on Shaw's 1913 play, Pygmalion. The 30th anniversary video includes a fully restored print, the original theatrical trailer, promotional film, and CBS news footage of the star-studded premiere.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

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Academy Awards 1964 --- Ceremony Number 37 (source: AMPAS)

AwardRecipientResult
Best ActorRex HarrisonWon
Best Supporting ActorStanley HollowayNominated
Best Supporting ActressGladys CooperNominated
Best Art DirectionArt Direction: Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton; Set Decoration: George James HopkinsWon
Best CinematographyHarry StradlingWon
Best Costume DesignCecil BeatonWon
Best DirectorGeorge CukorWon
Best Film EditingWilliam ZieglerNominated
Best Music - ScoringAndre PrevinWon
Best PictureJack L. Warner, ProducerWon
Best WritingAlan Jay LernerNominated
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BlogHub Articles:

Silver Screen Standards: Eliza?s Voice in My Fair Lady (1964)

By Jennifer Garlen on Aug 10, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Silver Screen Standards: Eliza?s Voice in My Fair Lady (1964) The socio-economic and geographical markers of dialect loom large in George Bernard Shaw?s influential play, Pygmalion, its 1938 film adaptation, and the splashy musical version that stars Audrey Hepburn as the fair lady of its title.... Read full article


Win Tickets to see ?TCM Big Screen Classics: My Fair Lady? (Giveaway runs now through Feb 2)

By Annmarie Gatti on Jan 21, 2019 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Win tickets to see ?My Fair Lady? on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Feb 17 and Wed Feb 20 ?Aowh, wouldn’t it be lover-ly.? CMH continues with?our?4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events?- with the 2nd?of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of Fathom Events... Read full article


My Fair Lady (1964)

By Beatrice on Apr 29, 2018 From Flickers in Time

My Fair Lady Directed by George Cukor Written by Alan Jay Lerner from a play by George Bernard Shaw 1964/USA Warner Bros. Repeat viewing/Netflix rental One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Beautiful music, great acting, gorgeous production values. ?Who could ask for anything more? Profe... Read full article


31 Days of Oscar Blogathon 2015 (Week 3: The Crafts) : My Fair Lady and the Outstanding Costumes of Cecil Beaton

By The Wonderful World of Cinema on Feb 18, 2015 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

I have to say that Cecil Beaton is my favourite photographer, but he was also an incredible costume designer. He created the costumes of 14 movies:?Kipps, Dangerous Moonlight, On Approval, The Young Mr. Pitt, Anna Karenina (1948), An Ideal Husband, Beware of Pity, Dandy Dick,?The Truth about Women,?... Read full article


My Fair Lady (1964)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jan 19, 2014 From 4 Star Films

Adapted from the play?Pygmalion, originally written by George Bernard Shaw,?My Fair Lady?stars Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. It follows a speech therapist (Harrison) as he tries to win a bet with an old?acquaintance?that he can pass off a poor flower girl as a duchess. He takes Eliza Doolittle (H... Read full article


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Quotes from

Eliza Doolittle: [singing] Lot's of chocolates for me to eat! / Lot's of coal makin' lots of heat / Warm face, warm hands, warm feet / Oh, wouldn't it be lovely?


Professor Henry Higgins: I've grown accustomed to her face.


Eliza Doolittle: I ain't done nothin' wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I've a right to sell flowers if I keep off the kerb. I'm a respectable girl: so help me, I never spoke to him 'cept so far as to buy a flower off me.


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Facts about

Despite intensive vocal training during pre-production, and constant practicing until her final re-recording during the post-production, most of Audrey Hepburn's own singing was omitted from the finished product. The only significant song in which Audrey's own vocals were largely retained is "Just You Wait", where her voice can be heard in two thirds of the number. Audrey also rendered the brief "Just You Wait" reprise all on her own, nailing the dramatic, emotional intensity of the song in a way that Marni Nixon would never have been able to. Audrey Hepburn also did the opening to some of the songs on her own, including the lines 'Bed, bed, I couldn't go to bed!' and 'Sleep, sleep, I couldn't sleep tonight!' in the introductory verse of "I Could Have Danced All Night".
Musical theater writers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had attempted to adapt George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" as a musical long before Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, but had abandoned the project as unadaptable. Rodgers and Hammerstein felt that Shaw's style of writing intellectual dialog and the emotionless character of Henry Higgins did not lend themselves to a musical. Lerner and Lowe overcame these problems by leaving Shaw's dialogue largely intact, and working under the notion that Higgins must be played by a great actor, not a great singer. Thus, they wrote the role especially for Rex Harrison, and adopted the idea that Higgins should not sing outright, but talk on pitch, less an expression of emotions than ideas.
Most of Audrey Hepburn's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, despite Hepburn's lengthy vocal preparation for the role. A dubber was required because Eliza Doolittle's songs were not transposed down to accommodate Audrey Hepburn's "low-mezzo voice" (as Marni Nixon referred to it), the way Guenevere's songs were transposed down to accommodate Vanessa Redgrave's limited vocal range in 'Camelot (1967)'. Audrey Hepburn sang most of "Just You Wait", as well as the reprise to the song, herself, showcasing her ability to sing perfectly at ease when the songs were set in a reasonable tessitura. Audrey also sang one or two lines, elsewhere in the score, such as 'Sleep, sleep, I couldn't sleep tonight!' in "I Could Have Danced All Night". Thus, the claim that Marni Nixon dubbed all of Audrey Hepburn's singing (as asserted by such people as syndicated columnist Hedda Hopper), is false.
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