It is strange to me that My Fair Lady has built up so much acclaim over the years. It's charming enough in its own witty way, but there is so much lacking here it is hard to believe that some people really consider it one of the best musicals of all time. In fact, the only reason I gave it a 7 and not a 6 is because of Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. Their charm alone is enough to elevate it to classic status, and perhaps that is why the movie has lasted so long and so high up in the ranks.
Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle, a dirt poor flower girl who meets Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) on the street one evening when he severely criticizes her pronunciation of the English language. The song at this point in the story, "Why Can't the English," is one of the best in the play, but in the movie it is strangely boring and flat. It seems to me to be a directorial problem- he didn't know what to do with it so therefore he did nothing. It so happens that Professor Higgins meets the esteemed Col. Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) on that same night on the same street, and the Col. makes a bet with the Professor that he cannot make a lady out of Ms. Doolittle. And so follows many a song and clever banter.
Audrey Hepburn is wonderful as Eliza, there's no question about that. Julie Andrews, the original Eliza on Broadway, probably could have done as well if not better with the role, but that's Hollywood for you. Hepburn finds key differences and similarities between her lower-class self and her expertly trained but misused self to make Eliza a very real person. Rex Harrison, as stuffy as he makes Professor Higgins, is quite funny and sympathetic. Even when we are aware that he is a big, if well-educated, jerk, we want him to realize his faults and go to Eliza. Despite his skill with this role, his winning Best Actor seems a little much simply because there's not much true acting in the performance, but perhaps he didn't have much competition. And there's no denying how entertaining he is as a chauvinistic pig.
Besides the two leads, nothing else is impressive about the movie. Stanley Holloway's (Eliza's dad) numbers, like "Why Can't the English," are some of the best songs in the play, but just aren't much fun on screen. The best sequences in the movie come when Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison perform either together or solo.
It's depressing that one of the best musicals onstage just comes across as dull in the movies. Hollywood didn't mess it up with Fiddler on the Roof or Guys and Dolls- so why mess it up with My Fair Lady?
Audrey Hepburn is Eliza Doolittle, a dirt poor flower girl who meets Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) on the street one evening when he severely criticizes her pronunciation of the English language. The song at this point in the story, "Why Can't the English," is one of the best in the play, but in the movie it is strangely boring and flat. It seems to me to be a directorial problem- he didn't know what to do with it so therefore he did nothing. It so happens that Professor Higgins meets the esteemed Col. Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) on that same night on the same street, and the Col. makes a bet with the Professor that he cannot make a lady out of Ms. Doolittle. And so follows many a song and clever banter.
Audrey Hepburn is wonderful as Eliza, there's no question about that. Julie Andrews, the original Eliza on Broadway, probably could have done as well if not better with the role, but that's Hollywood for you. Hepburn finds key differences and similarities between her lower-class self and her expertly trained but misused self to make Eliza a very real person. Rex Harrison, as stuffy as he makes Professor Higgins, is quite funny and sympathetic. Even when we are aware that he is a big, if well-educated, jerk, we want him to realize his faults and go to Eliza. Despite his skill with this role, his winning Best Actor seems a little much simply because there's not much true acting in the performance, but perhaps he didn't have much competition. And there's no denying how entertaining he is as a chauvinistic pig.
Besides the two leads, nothing else is impressive about the movie. Stanley Holloway's (Eliza's dad) numbers, like "Why Can't the English," are some of the best songs in the play, but just aren't much fun on screen. The best sequences in the movie come when Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison perform either together or solo.
It's depressing that one of the best musicals onstage just comes across as dull in the movies. Hollywood didn't mess it up with Fiddler on the Roof or Guys and Dolls- so why mess it up with My Fair Lady?