classic movies

My Fair Lady 50th Anniversary Release Review

| Rachel's Reviews

my fair ladyToday I had the treat to see the musical classic My Fair Lady on the big screen!  It is a specially remastered edition and even included the intermission.  It’s amazing how with a great film 3 hours goes by without me even noticing it; whereas, I’ve sat for 1 hour films and been very antsy.  I hadn’t seen My Fair Lady for a little while but I listen to the music quite often.  Let’s just say it was even better than I remembered it.

My Fair Lady was of course based on the Lerner and Loewe Broadway musical, which in turn was based on the George Bernard Shaw play Pygmalion.   It is basically a variation on Cinderella with the homely girl finding out she really is a princess (which British nobility and genteelness basically is).  We’ve seen it in Princess Diaries, What a Girl Wants and many other films.   While the plot may not be groundbreaking it is executed with such warmth, humor and charm it made me smile from beginning to end.

my fair lady3Rex Harrison was famous for playing Henry Higgins on Broadway and his live singing with the speech singing style is proof of that kind of nightly performance you get on Broadway.  Some people may see Higgins as a bit of a pig but I think the movie knows he is a pig and for the most part Eliza is up to the challenge and certainly doesn’t back down to his bullish ways.  While watching Higgins I kept thinking of Sherlock Holmes or Sheldon Cooper, these characters we see from time to time who are selfish but kind of in an innocent way.  They see their world as making the most sense and everyone else should just come around to their genius.

my fair lady7I guess if you don’t know Henry Higgins is a professor of the science of speech.  One day he meets a Cockney flower girl named Eliza Doolittle played by Audrey Hepburn. She overhears Higgins boast he could teach her to be a duchess at a ball, so the next day she makes a proposal to him to pay for lessons.  This starts Higgins, Doolittle and their friend Colonel Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) on a 6 month struggle to change the way Eliza speaks.

my fair lady6Eventually Eliza  is tested out at the Ascot Raceway where she can’t help but be a little competitive.  The costumes by Cecil Beaton during this segment and the ball later on are some of the greatest in movie history.   Cecil Beaton not only won Oscar for Costume Design but also for Art Direction which is also outstanding.

my fair lady4Notice Eliza is the only one with any color to her hat.

The hats alone are works of art.

my fairl lady6George Cukor does a fine job directing the film with an ease and flow and an incredible attention to detail.  Henry Stradling’s cinematography and the art direction make each scene a joy to watch whether it is a street in London, Ascot or the Ball.   George Groves weaving sound mixing of Harrison’s live singing with the dubbed singing of Hepburn and others is also remarkable.  My Fair Lady still holds the record I believe for 8 academy award wins.

my fair lady9Some people were upset at the time Julie Andrews wasn’t chosen to pay Eliza but with Hepburn winning an Oscar for playing a princess in Roman Holiday the choice made sense and I think she is lovely in the part (as I’m sure Andrews would have been but then we might not have gotten her in Mary Poppins!).  Marni Nixon does the dub work for Hepburn and what a pro she is.  To think she is the same singer for Deborah Kerr in The King and I and Natalie Wood in West Side Story it is pretty amazing.

my fair lady5The music is so divine.  Wouldn’t it Be Loverly, The Rain in Spain, I Could Have Danced All Night, On the Street Where You Live, Show Me, I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face, are all completely lovely and I found myself singing to myself as I exited the theater. I think my favorite is I Could Have Danced All Night.  It’s actually a very difficult song with a full octave range and some very high notes!

The only songs I could do without are sung by Stanley Holloway as Eliza’s dopey father, a character I could also do without. Holloway is a good singer and you can see his Broadway background but the character is such a lazy bum I don’t really find it that charming.

my fair lady10The ending isn’t my favorite.  I would rather they went with the ending of the original play but I don’t hate it so much to ruin the film.  I think with Higgins singing I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face moments before it feels more acceptable that he does love her and may treat her well.

my fair lady8For Sherlock Holmes fans we get to see a young Jeremy Brett as Freddy Hill.  He isn’t a super developed character but there is a charm to Brett’s performance. I like him and Hepburn in Show Me.

my fair lady11One critic said of My Fair Lady “the film’s charm is undeniable”.  I agree!  That is probably apparent from the framed poster I have in my living room. 😉

my fair lady111It’s certainly one of my favorite old school musicals and one definitely worth checking out.  Meanwhile I will keep singing the songs to myself! 🙂

The special release I saw is available for pre-order right now on Amazon with all kinds of special features. I know I have it on pre-order!

Overall Grade-  A (not an A+ just because the Dad stuff isn’t my favorite)

My youtube review

Hit Me with Your Best Shot: Sunset Boulevard

| Rachel's Reviews

sunset17This weeks choice for Hit Me with Your Best Shot movie club is the classic Billy Wilder directed and written film Sunset Boulevard.

If you haven’t seen it the film stars Gloria Swanson and William Holden in a film noir drama about a struggling writer who gets involved with a delusional star from the silent movies named Norma Desmond.  Most movies are about not giving up hope and achieving your dreams (even if it ends tragically).  Sunset Boulevard on the other hand is a bit of a cautionary tale of when those dreams become obsessions and keep you from living a full life. Great Expectations is mentioned in the beginning and in many ways they are similar.  Both stories have a male protagonist who dreams of greatness and women who can’t let go of lost dreams.

Today watching Sunset Boulevard reminded me of a guy I knew when I was about 25.  He believed he was destined to play in the NBA.  He actually had a vision from God that it was his calling.  Unfortunately he had not been good enough to make the college team at UofU.  Nevertheless, he would give these motivational speeches about the power of a dream and all.  It not actually happening didn’t seem to phase him much like Norma Desmond. On one hand this kind of vain ambition may seem charming but on the other it seems like a lot of wasted energy when new perhaps better dreams could be fulfilled.

Anyway, in classic noir style the film tells you the grim results of the crime with brooding narration at the onset.  This allows us to focus entirely on characters because the plot has already been spelled out.

Because it is so character driven a movie like Sunset Boulevard depends entirely upon the strength of the actors for its success.  Luckily in this case Holden and especially Swanson are up to the task.  It’s a cliche to say but Swanson is mesmerizing in every scene.  One gets the impression Norma Desmond would be proud of the leading lady portraying her!

That’s not to take anything away from Wilder or cinematographer John F Seitz because their work is very strong. What they do enhances the great efforts of the actors making it all work together nearly flawlessly.

For example, one thing I noticed while looking for a shot is the way Wilder makes Norma feel both large and small depending on the moment.

Gloria Swanson it turns out is only 4’11” (William Holden is 5 ’11” which would normally be short but a foot taller than his costar in this case).

When he needs Norma to feel powerful over Joe she has buns in her hair or they are sitting.  Here are some examples:

sunset3 sunset13 sunset14 sunset15But when Norma is losing control we see her being looked down on or seeming as tiny as Swanson really was.

sunset8
All the doors in the house are massive and dwarf Norma.
sunset9
Norma looks so tiny next to this giant ship bed
sunset4
All the reporters looking down on her as she makes her grand exit.

sunset7 sunset11 sunset12Before I give my shot I will say that Sunset Boulevard is one of the few classics I would love to see a remake on.  The reason why is I love the musical version by Andrew Lloyd Webber (definitely his most underrated).  The music is very strong and I can see Meryl Streep eating up the part of Norma Desmond.  (Norma’s only 50 after all!).

Glenn Close is also iconic in the role as can be seen in one of the best songs

Can’t you just see that being a great movie?

Best Shot-

In this shot Joe is finally leaving Norma.  He spills the beans on all that Max has been doing to prop up her delusions of grandeur but she seems to be oblivious to all he is saying.  He is telling her “there is no shame in being 50 except when you are trying to be 25”.  Instead of paying heed she is giving a performance almost as if there is a spotlight over her head.  Look at the way her hands are at her throat like a Shakespearean actor doing Hamlet.  It’s almost as if she expects applause.

sunset18Then she says “I’m the greatest star of them all”.  He leaves and says goodbye and she says “No one ever leaves a star.  That’s what makes them a star”.  Once having tasted the greatness of being adored and loved Norma mentally cannot handle being small (she even says ‘I’m big. It’s the pictures that got small’).

Madness for Norma is a better alternative than being abandoned.