My Fair Lady (film) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids My Fair Lady
Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold; original illustration by Bob Peak
Directed by	George Cukor
Produced by	Jack L. Warner
Screenplay by	Alan Jay Lerner
Starring	Audrey Hepburn Rex Harrison Stanley Holloway Wilfrid Hyde-White Gladys Cooper Jeremy Brett Theodore Bikel
Music by	Frederick Loewe
Cinematography	Harry Stradling
Editing by	William H. Ziegler
Studio	Warner Bros.
Distributed by	Warner Bros.
Release date(s)	October 21, 1964 (1964-10-21)
Running time	170 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$17 million
Money made	$72.7 million

My Fair Lady is a famous American musical film from 1964. It's a fun story that mixes comedy and drama. The movie is based on a popular stage musical from 1956, which itself was inspired by a play called Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw.

The film tells the story of Eliza Doolittle, a poor flower seller from London. She speaks with a very strong Cockney accent. She meets Professor Henry Higgins, a proud expert in how people speak. He makes a bet that he can teach Eliza to speak "proper" English. If he succeeds, she could pass as a lady from high society.

Audrey Hepburn plays Eliza Doolittle, and Rex Harrison plays Professor Henry Higgins. Many other talented actors are in the film too. My Fair Lady was a huge success. It was the highest-earning film of 1964. It also won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director.

In 1998, the American Film Institute called it one of the greatest American films ever. Later, in 2006, it was ranked among the top movie musicals. The film was chosen in 2018 for the United States National Film Registry. This means it's considered very important for its culture, history, or beauty.

The Story of My Fair Lady

Eliza's Transformation Journey

The story begins in London. Professor Henry Higgins is a phonetics expert, meaning he studies human speech sounds. He believes that how you speak affects your chances in life. One evening, at a market, he meets Eliza Doolittle, a young flower seller. She has a very strong Cockney accent.

Higgins boasts to his friend, Colonel Hugh Pickering, that he could teach Eliza to speak so well she could pretend to be a duchess at a fancy ball. Eliza dreams of working in a flower shop, but her accent makes it hard. The next morning, she bravely goes to Higgins' home, asking for speech lessons.

Pickering is curious and offers to pay for everything if Higgins can really do it. Higgins agrees, but he's not very kind to Eliza at first.

Challenges and Breakthroughs

Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle, a dustman, soon finds out where his daughter is. He visits Higgins, pretending to worry about Eliza. Really, he just wants some money. Higgins is surprised by Alfred's honesty and his way with words.

Eliza finds Higgins' teaching methods very tough. She feels like she's not making any progress. But just when everyone is about to give up, Eliza finally understands! She suddenly starts speaking with a perfect, upper-class accent. She is incredibly happy about her breakthrough.

Testing Her New Skills

For a practice run, Higgins takes Eliza to the Ascot Racecourse, a fancy horse race. She makes a good first impression. But then, she gets excited and shouts in her old Cockney accent, shocking everyone! Higgins tries to hide a smile. At Ascot, she meets Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young man who falls in love with her.

Next, Higgins takes Eliza to an embassy ball for her final test. She dances with a foreign prince. A phonetics expert named Zoltan Karpathy, who was trained by Higgins, is also there. He tries to figure out if Eliza is truly high-born. After dancing with her, he declares she must be a Hungarian princess!

Eliza's Independence

After the ball, Eliza's hard work is barely noticed. All the praise goes to Higgins. He also treats her without much care, especially about her future. This makes Eliza very upset, and she decides to leave him. She throws his slippers at him before she goes.

Outside, Freddy is still waiting for her. Eliza is annoyed because he only talks and doesn't do anything. She tries to go back to her old life, but she no longer fits in. She meets her father, Alfred, who has become rich thanks to Higgins. Alfred is now stuck with "middle-class morality," which he doesn't like.

Eliza visits Higgins' mother, who is angry at her son's rude behavior. The next day, Higgins realizes Eliza is gone and searches for her. He finds her at his mother's house. Higgins tries to convince Eliza to come back. He gets angry when she says she might marry Freddy and work for Karpathy.

Higgins goes home, sure that Eliza will return. But then he realizes how important she has become to him. He feels lonely and misses her. He plays a recording of her voice. Suddenly, Eliza reappears at his door and turns off the gramophone. Higgins asks, "Eliza, where the devil are my slippers?"

Main Actors

• Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle
• Rex Harrison as Professor Henry Higgins
• Stanley Holloway as Alfred P. Doolittle
• Wilfrid Hyde-White as Colonel Hugh Pickering
• Gladys Cooper as Mrs. Higgins
• Jeremy Brett as Freddy Eynsford-Hill
• Theodore Bikel as Zoltan Karpathy
• Mona Washbourne as Mrs. Pearce, Higgins' housekeeper
• Isobel Elsom as Mrs. Eynsford-Hill
• John Holland as the Butler

Musical Songs in the Film

The film is a musical, so it has many songs! Here are some of the famous ones:

Rex Harrison's way of delivering his songs, which was more like talking than singing, is a famous example of a style called sprechstimme.

How the Film Was Made

Cinematographer Harry Stradling with Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle on the film set.

The company Warner Bros. bought the rights to make the film in 1962. They paid a very large amount of money for it at the time.

Song Order and Changes

The movie kept almost the same order of songs as the stage play. One small change was for the song "With a Little Bit of Luck." In the play, it was split into two parts, but in the film, it's sung all at once.

One musical piece from the play, called "Busker Sequence," was left out of the movie. However, you can still hear parts of it when Eliza is in the rain at Covent Garden. Most songs in the film were performed completely, but some small parts or verses were left out to save time.

Singing Voices

Audrey Hepburn's singing voice was not used for most of her songs. Instead, a singer named Marni Nixon sang for her. However, you can still hear some of Hepburn's own voice in parts of "Just You Wait."

Interestingly, Rex Harrison, who played Professor Higgins, did not pre-record his songs. He preferred to talk-sing them differently each time. So, the sound team used a special wireless microphone on him during filming. This was one of the first times this technology was used in a movie! The sound team even won an Academy Award for their work.

Intermission Placement

In the stage play, the break (intermission) happened after the big embassy ball. In the movie, the intermission comes before the ball, as Eliza, Higgins, and Pickering are leaving for the event.

Art and Design

The film's art directors, Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton, and George James Hopkins, won an Academy Award for Best Production Design. Cecil Beaton also designed the amazing costumes. Higgins' library was inspired by a very fancy room in a French castle.

Film Release

The movie first opened in New York City on October 21, 1964. It was a very popular film right away. You can now watch My Fair Lady on Ultra HD Blu-ray, which was released in 2021.

Awards and Recognitions

My Fair Lady won many important awards!

Soundtrack Album

The film's music was released as a soundtrack album. It includes all the songs from the movie, performed by the Warner Bros. Studio Orchestra.

Sales and Certifications

The soundtrack album for My Fair Lady sold millions of copies worldwide. It received several awards for its sales. For example, in the United States, the original cast album was certified Platinum three times.

Images for kids

• 

  Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold;
  original illustration by Bob Peak

• 

  Cinematographer Harry Stradling with Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle on the film set.

See also

In Spanish: My Fair Lady (película de 1964) para niños

• List of American films of 1964