My Fair Lady 1964

The Film:

This the second of the four Oscar-winning musicals of the 60s. It's not a personal favourite - although it is definitely one of Andy's favourites!

We're definitely now getting to the point where there are an increasing number of films that I already know pretty well. I've seen this one many times, although not for several years now. It's not a go-to film for a rainy Sunday or when I'm feeling ill (like stuff with Fred, Bing, Gene, Judy or Doris tend to be) but it is definitely a classic Bank Holiday treat sort of a film.

I've always felt a little ambivalent towards Audrey Hepburn in this film. When I was young, my Dad had the original West End soundtrack on vinyl, so I am just as familiar with Julie Andrews singing these songs as I am with Marni Nixon's versions (for it was she - not Audrey!). I still feel slightly cheated out of a Julie version of this on film. However, history played out differently and I'm grateful for that, because we got Mary and Maria instead and the world is a better place for that!

I do wonder if I've been unfair on Audrey because of this - so I'm hoping to put Julie Andrews to one side and be more impressed by her this time round.

The Ceremony:

April 5th 1965 at Santa Monica Auditorium - and hosted by Bob Hope - for the fourteenth time!

It was the first time that an award was given for Best Make Up and also the first (and, to date, only) time that three films were nominated for twelve or more awards Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady and Becket.

It was also the first time that none of the acting awards went to Americans (three Brits and a French-Russian). This didn't happen again until 2007 (two Brits, one French and one Spanish).

It was an elaborate and star-studded event with many big stars taking part, including many from the "Golden Age". The highlight was a performance by Judy Garland: a tribute medley of Cole Porter songs. Here it is:

Other Notable Winners That Night:

Funny how things turn out.....

The producers of My Fair Lady took on lots of the Broadway cast when they were putting the film together. However, the story goes that they didn't want to risk the lead to a relative unknown like Julie Andrews - they wanted a star instead. Julie went on to make Mary Poppins instead and did what her replacement had done several years earlier, winning Best Actress with her film debut. (Audrey didn't even get nominated)

Rex Harrison won Best Actor - up against such heavyweights as Burton, O'Toole, Peter Sellers and Anthony Quinn. He was very good as Henry Higgins - but I'm not sure he was *that* good.

Anyway, My Fair Lady won eight and Mary Poppins won five - which didn't leave very much for anyone else. Clearly, the Academy that year really loved people dancing on the cobbles of Edwardian London!

Best Song:

With no original songs in My Fair Lady we get some more Mary Poppins. Despite the universally-acknowledged strangeness of Dick Van Dyke's cockney accent, this song is wonderful. I had it on a "Best of Disney" LP when I was very little and the record used to jump at a certain point in this song. It still sounds strange when it doesn't jump.....

Dubbing Alert! 

Marni actually playing Eliza on Broadway

This was the third of Marni's most famous dubbing jobs (after The King and I and West Side Story) and the second of her three appearances in Oscar winners (the third is on its way!). In a similar scenario to that with Natalie Wood a few years earlier, it wasn't that Audrey couldn't sing, it was just that she couldn't sing that particular part that strongly. There are a couple of the "character" songs that still have a bit of Audrey in them - you can spot the join in "Just You Wait" - but it's mainly Marni that you can hear, including a cockney Marni in "Wouldn't It Be Loverly".

It's getting a bit obvious that I'm a big fan of Marni Nixon. (She's also the mother of Andrew Gold so, for better or worse, we have her to partially thank for the Golden Girls theme and Building a Bridge to Your Heart....!)

We also need to pay tribute to Bill Shirley here - who made wet Freddy slightly less wet by giving a bit of oomph to "On The Street Where You Live", dubbing for Jeremy Brett.


What We Could/Should Have Been Watching:

The other musical of 1964 set in Edwardian London!

There were some big hitters nominated this year - and the Best Picture list matches the Best Director list exactly. Of the other four films, I've not seen the Burton/O'Toole "Becket" (which had twelve nominations overall) but I'm sure it was lavish, worthy and probably very good. Zorba the Greek is one I have seen - and really liked. I should probably watch it again sometime.

If I was a bit cooler, or still in my 20s and pretending to be hip and clever, then my vote would go to Dr Strangelove (etc...) which is very funny, very clever and I'm really pleased it was nominated (as were Kubrick and Sellers).

However, I'm a shameless musicals fan and this year was the battle of the Edwardians. I think I'm ok with My Fair Lady winning the big one (especially as Julie got her Oscar!) but I'd have Mary Poppins as a close second. In terms of a film that has stood the test of time there are very few in any genre that can touch it - I know people in their 50s, 40s, 30s, 20s, teens and younger who claim this as their favourite childhood film and still watch it regularly. We've got more than 50 years to go to find out if Frozen has the same staying power!


Our Verdict:

Tying with Dick van Dyke for dodgiest cockney accent of 1964 -
but she does it with far more charm!

By George, I think they've got it!

 This is a tough one to critique - partly because I know it well, but also because if I'm not careful all I'm going to do is compare the whole thing to the original Pygmalion, and/or Audrey to Wendy Hiller and Julie Andrews. And really, this film needs to stand or fall on its own merits or failings.

The Julie stuff I've already mentioned so I'll just get Pygmalion out of my system and carry on. The 1938 film of Pygmalion is brilliant. It won George Bernard Shaw an Oscar, making him the only person to have won both an Oscar and an Academy Award until Bob Dylan joined him a couple of years ago. Leslie Howard and Wendy Hiller are both brilliant as Henry and Eliza - and no one playing those roles in My Fair Lady is ever going to be able to match up, even though they are saying many of the same lines. Pygmalion is a comedy-drama, a character study and a social commentary. My Fair Lady is first and foremost a musical. It depends what you want - and I'm glad we have both. But the knowledge of Howard and Hiller's performances does slightly take the edge of Harrison and Hepburn for me (probably unfairly, but there you go!)

All togged up for a night on the town

What My Fair Lady does - and does really well - is provide a lavish and enjoyable feast for the senses. It looks wonderful and it sounds wonderful. It's a nice easy thing to watch without ever being trite. It's visually stunning (and you can see the money right there on the screen) without compromising on the subtler layers of the story. The four key leads (Harrison, Hepburn, Holloway and Hyde-White) are all very at ease with their characters and yet play them with the hidden depths (or suggested hidden depths) that Shaw originally gave them - in this sense, Freddy is the only real disappointment, but I'm going to blame Lerner and Lowe for that, rather than Jeremy Brett.

A bit of authentic London wit and charm.

I definitely need to give Audrey more credit than I usually do. It's not her fault that Julie Andrews wasn't considered - and it's not her fault that her voice wasn't up to it. And it's unfair to just say that she looked the part and leave it at that. Dodgy cockney accent notwithstanding, Audrey acts the part of Eliza very well. She is clever, funny, satirical, dramatic when she needs to be - and totally sympathetic. There is as much about gender politics as there is about the class system in Pygmalion - and this transfers across well to My Fair Lady, partly because of the way Audrey plays Eliza. She will not be talked down to, she will not be treated as property and she expects and demands respect from Higgins. The character could so easily have become a clothes-horse who mugs a lot and sings a bit, waiting to hit the big lines where they count. But Audrey is better than this. I'm glad Julie won her Oscar, but Audrey should have been nominated!

Unlike Andy, I'm never going to see this as one of my favourites - but it's a great film. It deserved its award - even up against Mary Poppins. I enjoyed watching it again, and I'm sure it won't be the last time. The time flew by (it's nearly three hours long - only 30 mins shorter than Lawrence of Arabia, which just goes to show how far time is subjective when watching a film....) and it was time well spent. Which is just as well, because there's another three hours of Musical coming up next time!