| Character | Broadway (1956) | Broadway (1981) |
|---|---|---|
| Eliza Doolittle | Julie Andrews | Nancy Ringham |
| Henry Higgins | Rex Harrison | Rex Harrison |
| Alfred P. Doolittle | Stanley Holloway | Milo O'Shea |
| Mrs. Higgins | Cathleen Nesbitt | Cathleen Nesbitt |
Who was the original cast of my Fair Lady?
Cast (in credits order) verified as complete. Audrey Hepburn. ... Eliza Doolittle. Rex Harrison. ...
What is summary of the story of my Fair Lady?
The movie My Fair Lady tells love story between a flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, and a phonetic professor, Henry Higgins. The movie was made in chronological order. Eliza Doolittle, played by Audrey Hepburn, was a poor girl with “low-class” accent. She wanted to learn formal English in order to get a better job in a flower store.
Can you find facts about my Fair Lady?
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of its big-screen debut on Oct. 21, 1964, here are some fascinating facts. My Fair Lady was based on Pygmalion, a play by George Bernard Shaw, which opened 100 years ago in New York and London.
Who is the actress in my Fair Lady?
Eliza Doolittle, Audrey Hepburn’s character in My Fair Lady, was 21 years old. Audrey Hepburn played Eliza Doolittle, while Henry Higgins is played by Rex Harrison, with Stanley Holloway, Gladys Cooper, and Wilfrid Hyde-White in supporting roles.
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What is the movie My Fair Lady about?
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical comedy drama film adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw 's 1913 stage play Pygmalion. With a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by George Cukor, the film depicts a poor Cockney flower-seller named Eliza Doolittle who ...
When will My Fair Lady be released?
In 2019, the film was given a limited theatrical re-release through Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events on February 17 and 20 as part of TCM Big Screen Classics. My Fair Lady currently holds a 95% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 60 reviews, with an average rating of 8.6/10.
What is Eliza's ambition?
Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her accent makes that impossible ("Wouldn't It Be Loverly"). The following morning, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, seeking lessons. Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all the attendant expenses if Higgins succeeds.
How much did My Fair Lady cost?
With a production budget of $17 million, My Fair Lady was the most expensive film shot in the United States up to that time. The film was re-released in 1971 and earned rentals of $2 million in the United States and Canada. It was re-released again in 1994 after a thorough restoration.
Where does Higgins meet Freddy?
Higgins partly conceals a grin behind his hand. At Ascot, she meets Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young, upper-class man who becomes infatuated with her ("On the Street Where You Live").
Is My Fair Lady a classic?
It's a classic not because a group of stuffy film experts have labeled it as such, but because it has been, and always will be, a pure joy to experience.".
Did Harrison ever perform "You Did It"?
The stanzas of "You Did It" that come after Higgins says "She is a princess" were originally written for the stage, but Harrison hated the lyrics and refused to perform the song unless the lyrics were omitted, as they were in most Broadway versions. However, when Cukor threatened to leave the production if the omitted lyrics were not restored for the film version, Harrison obliged. The omitted lyrics end with the words "Hungarian rhapsody" followed by the servants shouting "Bravo" three times, to the strains of Liszt 's "Hungarian Rhapsody", before the servants sing "Congratulations, Professor Higgins."
Who wrote the lyrics to My Fair Lady?
Get a Britannica Premium subscription and gain access to exclusive content. Subscribe Now. The play My Fair Lady, adapted by Alan Jay Lerner (book and lyrics) and Frederick Loewe (music) from the 1913 play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, opened on Broadway in 1956 and won six Tony Awards, including best musical.
What was the movie My Fair Lady adapted from?
My Fair Lady, American musical film, released in 1964, that was adapted from the long-running Broadway musical of the same name and proved to be a great popular and critical success.
Who plays Eliza's father in My Fair Lady?
He accepts £5. Impressed by his approach to ethics, Higgins recommends him to a wealthy American who is studying morality. Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady.
Who played the flower girl in My Fair Lady?
Audrey Hepburn. …in the motion picture musical My Fair Lady (1964). Although Hepburn gave an admirable performance as the Cockney flower girl who is transformed into an elegant lady, many viewers had trouble accepting Hepburn in a role they felt belonged to Julie Andrews, who had created the part onstage.….
Why does Eliza come to Higgins' home?
The following morning Eliza arrives at Higgins’s home, seeking elocution lessons in order to gain employment at a flower shop. Pickering declares that he will pay for such lessons if Higgins can make good on his claim. Higgins agrees to help Eliza, who moves into his home.
Storyline
Pompous phonetics Professor Henry Higgins (Sir Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself to transform a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society.
Did you know
When Audrey Hepburn (Eliza Doolittle) was first informed that her voice wasn't strong enough and that she would have to be dubbed, she walked out. She returned the next day and, in a typically graceful Hepburn gesture, apologized to everybody for her "wicked behavior."
Who is the girl in My Fair Lady?
The plot of the play revolves around the central character Eliza Dolittle who is a cockney flower girl. She takes speech lessons from professor Henry Higgins, a phonetician, so that she may pass as a lady. The critics have also called it the perfect musical. A lot of people are still confused about the ending of My Fair Lady movie ...
What is the musical My Fair Lady based on?
It has been translated and performed in several languages. The musical is based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 play Pygmalion. The most popular version of it is the 1964 movie of the same name starring Audrey Hepburn in the lead role.
What happens to Eliza Doolittle at the end of My Fair Lady?
Eliza Doolittle feels insulted in the My Fair Lady ending because she does not get any credit for her success. She packs up and leaves Higgins house. She also tells Higgins that she no longer needs him. However, she comes back to his house in the final moments of the play.
Overview
Production
CBS head William S. Paley financed the original Broadway production in exchange for the rights to the cast album (through Columbia Records). Warner Bros. bought the film rights in February 1962 for the then-unprecedented sum of $5.5 million plus 47¼% of the gross over $20 million. It was agreed that the rights to the film would revert to CBS seven years following release.
Plot
In London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society ("Why Can't the English?"). At the Covent Garden fruit-and-vegetable market one evening, he meets Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself a phonetics expert who had come from India to see him. Higgins boasts he could teach even Eliza Doolittle, the young flower seller woman with a strong Cockney accent, to speak so well he could …
Cast
• Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle
• Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins
• Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Hugh Pickering
Musical numbers
1. "Overture" – played by orchestra
2. "Why Can't the English Learn to Speak?" – performed by Rex Harrison, Wilfrid Hyde-White and Audrey Hepburn
3. "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" – performed by Audrey Hepburn (dubbed by Marni Nixon) and chorus
Release
The film had its premiere at the Criterion Theatre in New York on Wednesday, October 21, 1964, with its regular run starting the following day with a $500,000 advance.
My Fair Lady was released in Ultra HD Blu-ray on May 25, 2021 by CBS' sister company and current rights holder, Paramount Home Entertainment.
My Fair Lady was released for digital download, as well as to stream on HBO Max, on November …
Reception
With a production budget of $17 million, My Fair Lady was the most expensive film shot in the United States up to that time. The film was re-released in 1971 and earned rentals of $2 million in the United States and Canada. It was re-released again in 1994, this time by 20th Century Fox, after a thorough restoration. In 2019, the film was given a limited theatrical re-release through Turner Classic Movies and Fathom Events on February 17 and 20 as part of TCM Big Screen Clas…
Restoration
The film was restored in 1994 by James C. Katz and Robert A. Harris, who had restored Spartacus three years earlier. The restoration was commissioned and financed by CBS, to which the film rights reverted from Warner Bros. in 1971. CBS would later hire Harris to lend his expertise to a new 4K restoration of the film for a 2015 Blu-ray release, working from 8K scans of the original camera negative and other surviving 65mm elements.