My Fair Lady
 

I've watched this movie since I was just a kid --- to show how young, I saw it for the first time on HBO, but after the first hour-and-a-half there was a 15-minute intermission. Not 15 minutes filled with commercials or anything visual, no! A marquee sign that said "Intermission!" And, least I forget, a big buzz sound throughout it all. Sheesh!

I'm not a gay man (I swear) - but I love this movie. I once read that you're a gay man if, a) you have a picture of your cat in a frame; b) if you have a favorite musical. F-you, mo'fo's! I have both a) and b), thank you very much. I have my cat Rocky framed, and I love My Fair Lady.

The ending gets me particularly. Higgins returns to his home (apparently void of Pickering and various housekeepers, unless they're asleep), missing Eliza Dolittle immensely. He sulks in the room, puts on the old victrola with Eliza's voice when she first met him, and sits to listen. Behind him walks in the lovely Eliza (Audrey Hepburn), unseen. She mutters something, out of tune with the victrola, and Higgins (Rex Harrison) raises his head, ready to reel towards her. He wants to grip her, hold her, hug her, kiss her, embrace her and whisper and shout sweet nothings to her --------- but he conducts himself appropriately, and in a dignified manner, demands to know where his slippers are.

I believe that this is the most cinematic perfect ending there ever was, mainly because it is the most unexpected ending there ever was! You see, true love is not like it is in the movies (we all know that), and this movie shows you that this is so. By Higgins acting like his regular self, holding back his emotions, it shows that he is being "regular." Real life, men act "regular." Most women expect the dashing, "Freddie"-type, to fawn over them, to shower them with emotion, and the such, but in reality, men act just like Professor Higgins -- brash, critical, but solid. You know that his bark is worse than his bite, and such are the beings called Men. We are Higgins, true-and-true, and good women like Eliza Dolittle recognize that.

Bravo! My one and only question................why didn't Julie Andrews reprise her role as Eliza Dolittle in the film version of My Fair Lady, since she did the role in the theater before the film version? Was she committed elsewhere?

Re: My Fair Lady
 

The producers of My Fair Lady refused to give Julie the part. She'd never appeared in a theatrical movie and they were afraid she wasn't a big enough name. She got her revenge by doing Mary Poppins the same year and getting the Academy Award (and I think the Academy gave her a lot of sympathy). Audrey Hepburn wasn't even nominated for MFL (again, I think the Academy was "punishing" her for taking Julie's part because Audrey certainly deserved at least a nomination). But Julie was reportedly heartbroken by not getting the Eliza part which she deserved.

BTW, another heterosexual male here who also loves this movie. One of the greatest musicals ever.

http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Fair_Lady

Re: My Fair Lady
 

A) Not only in a frame, but it's a heart-shaped frame, baby!
B) West Side Story is not only my favorite musical, but my favorite movie. Don't worry, MFL is in my top 10 musicals.

Now tell me where you read that so I can hit the writer with my purse.

http://charliegoose.homestead.com/files/goose.jpg Honk!

Re: Re: My Fair Lady
 

Audrey Hepburn wasn't nominated for the Oscar because she didn't sing. Someone else sang while she lipsynced. Rex Harrison did sing his own songs, that was why he was considered for the Oscar, and ultimately, won.

Re: Re: Re: My Fair Lady
 

I, of course, know Hepburn didn't sing but I don't think that in any way disqualified her for an acting nomination. She was marvelous, better than Andrews in Mary Poppins, IMO.

Deborah Kerr's singing in The King and I was also dubbed by Marni Nixon and Kerr was nominated. I stand by my opinion that many members of the Academy snubbed Hepburn for taking the part they felt belonged to Andrews. I think Andrews deserved the role but that was no reason to hold it against Hepburn for taking it.

Well now, we could hardly call Harrison's work "singing", can we? ;)

Yes I know, he was "talking in pitch", and performed it himself, and yes, created the definitive Henry Higgins in perhaps his most endearing role, and... crap, here comes Soda Monkey.

I LOOOOVE this film. :up:

A great film. I don't have a cat, I have a number of favourite musical, and I'm proud to say that I'm all straight. :D

I also like My Fair Lady very much and I'm not a gay person. I think there are people who think one is gay just because they enjoy certain type of movies. For example, once I told a person that I enjoyed the movie, Dirty Dancing. He then said I must be gay because the only male who enjoy the movie are gay.

I have two cats and love musicals. Straight as an arrow. Flaming hetero. Except for those four guys and the llama.

Don't believe me? I'll break you with my bare hands!!! :mad: :mad: :mad:

Hmm .... in addition to musicals, I like most westerns, war movies, action, thrillers, horror flicks and sci-fi. I'm also a big baseball fan.

Sure hope all this doesn't make people think I'm straight.

This is one of my favorite musicals (mainly because of Harrison's great performance..) It does drag towards the end though. Also, I don't understand this ending. Is it saying that Henry will never change and will always treat Eliza so poorly?

I like the movie, but I kind of wish Eliza would blow Henry off at the end...he doesn't really deserve her.

Re: Re: Re: My Fair Lady
 

As I understand it, Audrey sang but the producers/director/whatever higher up *******s decided to dub her voice over.

you rented the dvd right? its pretty good. full commentary, a song with audreys original voice and other special features:)

good stuff! and the transfer is quite good to boot! i saw it the first time on dvd and was happy i didn't watch it on one of those horrible pan and scam tv broadcasts:)

its amazing how good these old 70mm restored movies look on dvd and in their original aspect ratio:)

and yes i'm hetero. i dont' really like any other audrey movies either., but this ones good. i even bought it after i rented it. its ussually priced pretty good for a feature filled dvd too.

its quite nice seeing old movies on good feature filled dvds. lets you understand the movies in the context of their time and stuff thanks to the special features/ commentary.

They gave it a try but Hepburn's voice simply wasn't good enough. If you listen to the tracks of her singing on the DVD, it's pretty clear the right choice was made. Still, I maintain that doesn't detract one bit from her marvelous performance.

yea, her voice doesn't cut it. its just that they hushed up the dub that was a controversy .

Its a good movie.