My Fair Lady (1964)
- kbroer
- Jan 12, 2024
- 3 min read
Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison
Directed by George Cukor
Music by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe
Available to stream on Amazon Prime
Our next film features Rex Harrison in the role for which he is most famous, both on stage and on screen. In this hit musical version of George Bernard Shaw's play "Pygmalion," Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) transforms the life of Eliza Doolitle (Audrey Hepburn) from flower seller to elegant lady.
Why we love it: Rex Harrison and Audrey Hepburn are both fantastic, the costumes and sets are perfect, and the music is delightful. An absolutely wonderful musical.
Fun facts:
Adapted from the 1956 stage musical for which Rex Harrison won a Tony Award for Best Actor. In 1965 Harrison won the Academy Award for Best Actor, making him one of only ten people to win both awards for the same role.
Producer Jack Warner didn't want to use any of the original stage actors in the film. He wanted Cary Grant to play the part of Professor Higgins, James Cagney to play Alfred P. Dolittle, and Audrey Hepburn for Eliza Dolittle. Cary Grant turned down the role supposedly saying, "Not only will I not play Higgins, but if you don't use Rex Harrison, I won't even go to the film." Julie Andrews had made the role of Eliza Dolittle famous on stage, but Jack Warner would not cast her in the film because she had never appeared in a movie before. He wanted a leading lady who was already an established star. Even if Audrey Hepburn had turned down the role, it still wouldn't have gone to Julie Andrews. Warner's next choice of actress was Elizabeth Taylor.
When Audrey accepted the role, she thought she would be doing the singing and she spent weeks working with a voice coach and recording the songs in the studio. About halfway through filming, director George Cukor told her that they were going to dub her voice. They did use some of her vocals for the lower parts of the songs, but most of the singing was done by Marni Nixon, who had dubbed Deborah Kerr's voice in The King and I and Natalie Wood's in West Side Story. There was a lot of bad publicity about Audrey Hepburn being cast instead of Julie Andrews and then Audrey not even doing her own singing. Audrey Hepburn wasn't even nominated for an Academy Award, while Julie Andrews won the Academy Award for Best Actress in her first film Mary Poppins.
Rex Harrison refused to prerecord his songs and lip-sync back to them as was the standard practice. The sound department devised a small, wireless microphone for him to wear so he could sing his numbers live during filming.
The film was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won 8 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Harrison, Best Art Direction, and Best Costume Design for Cecil Beaton
Audrey Hepburn presented the Best Actor award at the 1965 Oscars, and Rex Harrison very graciously included her in his acceptance speech, saying they should split the award and thanking his "two fair ladies."
For articles and reviews from the time, go to the Fan Magazine Reviews page.
Featured cocktail:
Gin and Dubonnet
Dubonnet consists of a red wine base to which herbs, spices, sugar, and a small amount of quinine have been added. It was first sold in France in 1846
Dubonnet can be served on its own, usually chilled or on the rocks, and also can be use used in a variety of mixed drinks.
A classic pre-dinner cocktail, Gin and Dubonnet (also called a Dubonnet Cocktail), became popular beginning in the late 1920s. Both Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, and her daughter Queen Elizabeth II were famous for enjoying Gin and Dubonnet as a pre-lunch drink. Their preferred recipe called for 2/3 Dubonnet and 1/3 gin. This classic version has equal parts of the two ingredients.
1½ oz (45 ml) Dubonnet
1½ oz (45 ml) gin
Pour ingredients into a mixing glass with ice. Stir and strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with a lemon twist.
Comments