~~ My Fair Lady ~~

This is a wonderful endearing film, a story of rags to riches, based on the original story of a cockney flower girl Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw. The Screenplay and Lyrics were done by Alan Jay Lerner he is also responsible for the stage musical before the film concept was taken on. Warner Bros paid a whopping $5 million for the film rights.

~~ The Film ~~

The film starts off in an Edwardian setting with all the gentry dressed in their finery coming out of the theatre on the wet cold night, you have the street sellers packing up and covering up their wares from the rain. This is the scene where we first meet five of our cast; it is one of the most important scenes as it sets the storyline. It is where our dear Eliza Doolittle a cockney flower girl meets the arrogant Professor Henry Higgins. It is quite comical hearing cockney at its most coarse; Professor Higgins is an expert on the English Language and also runs elocution lessons. I have to smile at one comment Higgins says, he calls Eliza 'a squashed cabbage leaf'.

Eliza approaches Professor Higgins and asks him to teach her to talk more genteel so that she could sell flowers in a shop, and get her own little place to live. Professor Higgins decides after an argument with his friend Colonel Pickering that he bets that he could turn Eliza into a lady and convince those at the forthcoming ball held in 6 months time at Buckingham Palace that she is a lady of stature.

We sit through and watch Eliza's struggle and her transformation from a street girl to a lady, this in itself has some extremely funny moments, like the time the maids try to give Eliza her first ever bath, I think the screams were probably heard 3 streets away, lol. We also get to know more about Professor Higgins and his approach to life, he sings a very catchy song that tells us exactly what kind a man he is : ).

I am going to leave the film now, as I will write little snippets with the cast and song titles to follow. Plus, I would not want to spoil the film for you.

~~ The Cast ~~

Audrey Hepburn - Eliza Doolittle - she played this part wonderfully, she is such and elegant and versatile actress. Sadly although she was nominated for an Oscar for this part she lost to Julie Andrews, who played Eliza on the stage, but was turned down by Warner Bros for the film version. Audrey Hepburn got the biggest payout ever at the time for her part as Eliza Doolittle $1 million flat fee.

Rex Harrison

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