My Fair Lady
Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison star in this beautiful classic film as Eliza Doolittle and Professor Higgins. Higgins boastfully makes a bet with Colonel Pickering that he can turn the cockney, dirty, and very unrefined Eliza Doolittle into a lady just by teaching her how to speech properly. After her transformation and approving performance in the aristocratic society Eliza is fed up with Higgins’ arrogant ways and leaves him for the more youthful and romantic Freddy Eynsford-Hill. Higgins suddenly finds himself in a quite uncomely situation, missing a face he has become quite accustom to.
Paramount Perfection
Paramount is on a roll with the restorations. This is once again an absolutely outstanding restored film. The clarity is beyond amazing. It is almost impossible to believe this film was originally released in 1964. Everything from the coloration to sound is outstanding. I have been waiting forever for this film to be released in high definition and I am extremely glad to tell you it was definitely worth the wait. This gorgeous classic is an absolute must have in high definition.
I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I have seen it countless times and still enjoy watching it. The songs along with Rex Harrison make the film. I adore Audrey Hepburn and the film wouldn’t have been the same without her as the female lead, but Harrison is spectacular. The songs added just the right touch needed to make it a timeless classic. Everyone of them are unforgettable and beautifully written. I do sadly realize Audrey did not perform most of the vocal for the musical parts. She did however tirelessly record hundreds of track, but unfortunately she did not posses the vocal abilities to perform the songs to the entirety in which they were originally written. Her range was just not high enough to accommodate the almost opera like musical. Producer Jack L. Warner felt it was needed to bring in Marni Dixon to dub most, but not all of Audrey’s singing.
Audrey’s acting was superb. Her yet to be refined, screeching voice was absurdly painful to the ears early on in the film, yet perfection for her role of Eliza. She really seemed like she enjoyed her role. Rex Harrison was as comfortable on film as on stage. He won awards for both the play and film. Fellow stage performer Stanley Holloway whom played Alfred P. Doolittle (Eliza’s father) performed brilliantly. His famous, ‘Get me to the Church on Time,’ is an outstanding classic. Wilfrid Hyde-White is not to be forgotten as he played the role of Colonel Pickering to perfection. He was incredibly endearing and kept old Higgins grounded. The all star cast was perfection all around.
Pretty much everything about the film is outstanding. The costumes are beautiful, the writing is beautiful, the acting is beautiful, the songs are beautiful, its all just beautiful! An incredibly entertaining film worth watching over and over again.
Special Features
– More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of My Fair Lady Then and Now
– Vintage Featurettes, Footage and Audio
– Alternate Audrey Hepburn Vocals
– Show Me Galleries
– Comments on A Lady
– Trailers
– Feature Audio Commentary (Gene Allen, Marni Nixon, Robert A. Harrison and James C. Katz)
The special features included on this disc are quite interesting and unlike most features seem on modern Blu-rays and DVDs. There is a great deal of vintage footage to look through and sound tracks to listen to. The commentary is definitely interesting, but I recommend watching the film though once before adding commentary. The details of preparations for the film are astonishing. The efforts put into this film are very admirable.