Review:

**** (out of ****)

Starring:

Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, WIlfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne, Isobel Elsom

Director:

George Cukor

Screenplay:

Alan Jay Lerner (Play Pygmalion by Bernard Shaw)

Length:

170 min.

MPAA Rating:

Approved (PCA #20570)

Bets between friends have led to many historical successes and failures. My Fair Lady shows us what happens when a wager develops into a deeper relationship between teacher and student.

Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) loves language. He believes that much of the nuances and grandeur of the spoken word is lost on the unrefined. When his friend Col. Hugh Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) bets that he cannot fool society snobs into believing a woman from the streets is one of them, he gladly takes the challenge and chooses his protégé.

With a fantastic, heavy Cockney accent, Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), after much coercion, is selected to become his test subject. As he works with her on her diction, he slowly begins develop an affection for the girl in spite of their glaring differences in age and backgrounds.

Through clever phrases such as ‘the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain’, Eliza slowly develops into a linguistically talented woman. To complete the transformation, she is given new clothes and a new look in hopes that she can pass for a refined lady.

It is at a horse race that he chooses to expose her to the element he wants desperately to accept her. Prof. Higgins nearly finds success until her rambunctious nature releases itself in the heat of excitement surrounding the equine tournament.

Believing he may have failed and growing angry with her failures, a rift begins to develop between the two which eventually explodes in tempers causing them to part ways. Meanwhile, Eliza has caught the attention of awkward young aristocrat Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Jeremy Brett) who loves her in spite of her flaws.

My Fair Lady also looks deeply into the semi-romantic relationship between Eliza and Henry. Though they are trainer and pupil, there is a chemistry and bond that connects them to one another. And, although they have had a lover-like spat, they ultimately realize their affections for one another.

Hepburn is mesmerizing as the sheepish girl Eliza. Her transition in mannerisms and speech patterns are amazing and, had Julie Andrews not turned in an equally impressive performance in Mary Poppins, there is little doubt that Hepburn would have won her second Academy Award for Best Actress. Harrison, however, did win the coveted prize. He was sufficiently bossy and doting, bringing the character life that might have been absent in different hands. However, there is nothing revelatory or overwhelmingly impressive about his performance.

Director George Cukor handles the material admirably, keeping the film from drowning under a nearly three hour length. The music is captivating but features a few songs that are a touch on the annoying side. ‘With a Little Bit of Luck’, while catchy, rides your brain like a bad headache. After the first chorus, you find yourself hoping that it will not have second or a third.

My Fair Lady is one of half-a-dozen musicals that captured the Best Picture prize at the Oscars. It is typical of the awards-worthy work that graced the screen during this period. Punctuated with lavish costumes and vivid sets, Lady is every bit the entertainment spectacle one might expect.

-Wesley Lovell (November 20, 2006)