Thursday, December 25, 2014

50 years ago: My Fair Lady, one of Broadway and Hollywood's most successful musicals

My Fair Lady


Released: December 25, 1964


Studio: Warner Bros.


Genre: musical/romance/comedy


Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 72.00 Worldwide: ?


Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 589.27 Worldwide: 1015.95

Directing: George Cukor


Screenwriting: Alan Jay Lerner, Frederick Loewe


Starring: Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Theodore Bikel


Review:

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe crafted one of Broadway’s most successful musicals of all time out of George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play Pygmalion and then adapted the screenplay to be one of Hollywood’s most successful films of all time.

Rex Harrison repeated his Tony Award-winning Broadway performance of Henry Higgins, an arrogant linguistics professor, for the screen and was awarded again, this time with an Oscar for Best Actor. He bets he can transform Eliza Doolittle (Hepburn), “a lowly, unrefined flower girl into a sophisticated, elite woman,” VD “just by teaching her to speak properly.” A98 Higgins ends up falling for his street-urchin-pupil-turned-proper-lady by the end.

The ”lushly produced” VD is marked by “terrific tunes” VD including “I Could Have Danced All Night,” and “Wouldn’t It Be Lovely,” and “The Rain in Spain.”


Sources:

Awards/Honors/Lists:


Dave’s Movie Database Lists:


Dave’s Movie Database Genre Lists:


Box Office:


Oscars:

Wins: 8 – including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Harrison), Best Color Cinematography, Best Color Art Direction/Set Decoration, Best Sound, Best Score, Best Color Costume Design

Nominations: 12 – including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (Holloway), Best Supporting Actress (Cooper), Best Film Editing


Other Awards:


Other Lists/Honors:


First posted 5/29/2023.

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