![]() So Warner ended up giving the role to Holloway.įor Henry Higgins, the stage's most famous phonetician, he originally sought Cary Grant. He wanted James Cagney for the juicy supporting role of Alfred Doolittle, the leading lady's father, but Cagney had recently retired and, though he often performed Doolittle's songs at parties, had no intention of going back into battle with his former boss. Committed to a large budget for the film (it would end up costing $17 million), Warner decided to guarantee the investment by pursuing an all-star cast, initially rejecting the show's original stars: Rex Harrison, Julie Andrews and Stanley Holloway. The latter was hardly an issue given the time lavished on assembling just the right production package. He also stipulated that Warner hire Cecil Beaton to supervise all design aspects and hold the film's release until after the Broadway production had closed. Finally he accepted a then record $5.5 million from Warner, along with 50 percent of the film's gross once it passed the $20 million mark. The rights were controlled by CBS, but Chairman Bill Paley wouldn't even entertain movie offers for five years. Warner had fallen in love with the musical version of George Bernard Shaw's classic Pygmalion when he had seen its New York opening in 1956. The result, despite some controversy about the casting, was the last great musical of the studio era and the highest-grossing film in Warners' history to that time. studio head Jack Warner personally produced a film - My Fair Lady. In 1964, for one of the few times in his career, Warner Bros. Pearce), Barbara Pepper (Doolittle's Dance Partner), Moyna MacGill (Lady Boxington), Betty Blythe (Ad Lib at Ball), Alan Napier (Ambassador), Henry Daniell (Prince Gregor of Transylvania). Higgins), Jeremy Brett (Freddy Eynsford-Hill), Theodore Bikel (Zoltan Karparthy), Isobel Elsom (Mrs. ![]() Henry Higgins), Stanley Holloway (Alfred P. ![]() In the process, the relationship between teacher and student grows from a mutual dislike to something more profound and unexpected.īased on the musical play by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe and the play Pygmalion by George Bernard ShawĬast: Audrey Hepburn (Eliza Doolittle), Rex Harrison (Prof. Higgins invests all of his time and energy in Eliza's transformation with the final goal of passing her off as an aristocrat at the season's biggest social event. Pickering accepts the wager and Eliza agrees to the challenge because she desires to improve her station in life. Phonetics professor Henry Higgins bets a colleague, Colonel Pickering, that he can transform Eliza Doolittle, a Cockney street vendor, into a duchess simply by teaching her to speak proper English. Songs : "Why Can't the English?" (Higgins), "Wouldn't It Be Loverly?" (Eliza and chorus), "I'm an Ordinary Man" (Higgins), "With a Little Bit of Luck" (Alfred Doolittle, Harry, Jamie), "Just You Wait" (Eliza), "The Servant's Chorus" (servants), "The Rain in Spain" (Eliza, Higgins, Pickering), "I Could Have Danced All Night" (Eliza and maids), "Ascot Gavotte" (chorus), "On the Street Where You Live" (Freddie), "The Embassy Waltz" (instrumental), "You Did It" (Pickering, Higgins, servants), "Show Me" (Eliza), "The Flower Market" (instrumental), "Get Me to the Church on Time" (Doolittle, chorus), "A Hymn to Him" (Higgins), "Without You" (Eliza), "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" (Higgins). As he sits listening to recordings of her voice made during her diction lessons, Eliza quietly enters the room through the door behind him. Sitting alone in his study, Higgins realizes that he cannot be happy without Eliza. Higgins finds Eliza at his mother's, but they quarrel and he returns home. She is paid court by Freddie Eynsford-Hill, a young admirer. ![]() Finding her father preparing to marry, Eliza seeks refuge with Higgins' mother. After the affair, Higgins and Pickering congratulate each other on Eliza's transformation, completely ignoring her and her part in the process. A few months later, Eliza is a greater success at the season's biggest social event. Her first public appearance at the Ascot horseraces is a dubious success. With Pickering's help, Higgins begins a complete transformation of Eliza. ![]() The next day Eliza arrives at Higgins' house, prepared to pay for diction lessons so that she may realize her dream of obtaining a position in a shop. Colonel Pickering, another language enthusiast, quiets the argument, and Higgins boasts to him that after training Eliza for 3 months he could pass her off as a duchess. Phonetics professor Henry Higgins gets involved in an altercation with Cockney flowergirl Eliza Doolittle as he is taking notes on her speaking accent outside of London's Covent Garden in 1912. ![]()
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