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Year	1964
Rating	7.0 / 10 803 votes

My Fair Lady (1964)
Director(s)	George Cukor
Producer(s)	Producer: Jack L. Warner 1964 Jack L. Warner
Top Genres	Drama, Family, Musical, Romance
Top Topics	Based on Play, Book-Based, England, Professors, Rags to Riches, Romance (Musical), Socialites, Teachers

My Fair Lady Featured Cast See Full Cast »

Audrey Hepburn(as Eliza Doolittle)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Audrey Hepburn
(as Eliza Doolittle)

Rex Harrison(as Professor Henry Higgins)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Rex Harrison
(as Professor Henry Higgin...)

Stanley Holloway(as Alfred P. Doolittle)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Stanley Holloway
(as Alfred P. Doolittle)

Wilfrid Hyde-White(as Colonel Hugh Pickering)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Wilfrid Hyde-White
(as Colonel Hugh Pickering)

Gladys Cooper(as Mrs. Higgins)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Gladys Cooper
(as Mrs. Higgins)

Theodore Bikel(as Zoltan Karpathy)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Theodore Bikel
(as Zoltan Karpathy)

Mona Washbourne(as Mrs. Pearce)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Mona Washbourne
(as Mrs. Pearce)

Isobel Elsom(as Mrs. Eynsford)

My Fair Lady

Released
1964

Isobel Elsom
(as Mrs. Eynsford)

My Fair Lady Overview:

My Fair Lady (1964) was a Drama - Family Film directed by George Cukor and produced by Jack L. Warner.

The film was based on the musical of the same name written by Alan Jay Lerner performed at the Mark Hellinger Theatre, NY, & Broadhurst Theatre, NY & Broadway Theatre, NY from Mar 15, 1956 - Sep 29, 1962.

SYNOPSIS

Lerner and Loewe's Broadway success comes to the screen with a ravishing Hepburn in the title role made famous onstage by Julie Andrews and Harrison repeating the character of Dr. Henry Higgins. The now-familiar story of the Cockney market girl who conquers society as well as her mentor's heart is beautifully realized by Cukor, assisted by sets and costumes designed by famed photographer Cecil Beaton (the Ascot Races sequence is a virtual runway fashion show of Beaton's glamorous handiwork), and the invisible Marni Nixon as Hepburn's singing voice. Memorable songs include: "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face," "The Rain in Spain Stays Mainly in the Plain," and "You Did It!" among many others. This quintessential film musical was based on Shaw's 1913 play, Pygmalion. The 30th anniversary video includes a fully restored print, the original theatrical trailer, promotional film, and CBS news footage of the star-studded premiere.

(Source: available at Amazon AMC Classic Movie Companion).

Academy Awards 1964 --- Ceremony Number 37 (source: AMPAS)

Award	Recipient	Result
Best Actor	Rex Harrison	Won
Best Supporting Actor	Stanley Holloway	Nominated
Best Supporting Actress	Gladys Cooper	Nominated
Best Art Direction	Art Direction: Gene Allen, Cecil Beaton; Set Decoration: George James Hopkins	Won
Best Cinematography	Harry Stradling	Won
Best Costume Design	Cecil Beaton	Won
Best Director	George Cukor	Won
Best Film Editing	William Ziegler	Nominated
Best Music - Scoring	Andre Previn	Won
Best Picture	Jack L. Warner, Producer	Won
Best Writing	Alan Jay Lerner	Nominated

My Fair Lady BlogHub Articles:

Silver Screen Standards: Eliza’s Voice in My Fair Lady (1964)

By Jennifer Garlen on Aug 10, 2021 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Silver Screen Standards: Eliza’s Voice in My Fair Lady (1964) The socio-economic and geographical markers of dialect loom large in George Bernard Shaw’s influential play, Pygmalion, its 1938 film adaptation, and the splashy musical version that stars Audrey Hepburn as the fair lady of its ti... Read full article

Win Tickets to see “TCM Big Screen Classics: My Fair Lady” (Giveaway runs now through Feb 2)

By Annmarie Gatti on Jan 21, 2019 From Classic Movie Hub Blog

Win tickets to see “My Fair Lady” on the Big Screen! In Select Cinemas Nationwide Sun Feb 17 and Wed Feb 20 “Aowh, wouldn’t it be lover-ly.” CMH continues with our 4th year of our partnership with Fathom Events - with the 2nd of our 14 movie ticket giveaways for 2019, courtesy of F... Read full article

My Fair Lady (1964)

By Beatrice on Apr 29, 2018 From Flickers in Time

My Fair Lady Directed by George Cukor Written by Alan Jay Lerner from a play by George Bernard Shaw 1964/USA Warner Bros. Repeat viewing/Netflix rental One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die Beautiful music, great acting, gorgeous production values. Who could ask for anything more? Prof... Read full article

31 Days of Oscar Blogathon 2015 (Week 3: The Crafts) : My Fair Lady and the Outstanding Costumes of Cecil Beaton

By The Wonderful World of Cinema on Feb 18, 2015 From The Wonderful World of Cinema

I have to say that Cecil Beaton is my favourite photographer, but he was also an incredible costume designer. He created the costumes of 14 movies: Kipps, Dangerous Moonlight, On Approval, The Young Mr. Pitt, Anna Karenina (1948), An Ideal Husband, Beware of Pity, Dandy Dick, The Truth about Women... Read full article

My Fair Lady (1964)

By 4 Star Film Fan on Jan 19, 2014 From 4 Star Films

Adapted from the play Pygmalion, originally written by George Bernard Shaw, My Fair Lady stars Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. It follows a speech therapist (Harrison) as he tries to win a bet with an old acquaintance that he can pass off a poor flower girl as a duchess. He takes Eliza Doolitt... Read full article

See all My Fair Lady articles

My Fair Lady Quotes:

Professor Henry Higgins: Damn, damn, damn, damn!

— From: My Fair Lady

Lady at Ball: That young woman with Colonel Pickering, find out who she is.
Zoltan Karpathy: With pleasure!

— From: My Fair Lady

Professor Henry Higgins: There even are places where English completely disappears; in America they haven't used it for years.

— From: My Fair Lady

Professor Henry Higgins: I've learned something from your idiotic notions, I confess that; humbly and gratefully.

— From: My Fair Lady

Eliza Doolittle: The difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she is treated.

— From: My Fair Lady

See more quotes from My Fair Lady...

My Fair Lady Facts

According to actress Nancy Olson, who was married to lyricist Alan Jay Lerner at the time he was writing the musical, Lerner and Frederick Loewe had the most trouble writing the final song for Henry Higgins. The two writers had based the whole concept of the musical around the notion that Higgins was far too intellectual a character to emotionally sing outright, but should speak his songs on pitch, more as an expression of ideas. However, both composer and lyricist knew that Higgins would need a love song towards the end of the story when Eliza has abandoned him. This presented an obvious problem: how to write an emotional song for an emotionless character. Lerner suffered bouts of insomnia trying to write the lyrics. One night, Olson claims, she brought him a cup of tea to soothe his nerves. As she entered his study, Lerner thanked her and said "I guess I've grown accustomed to you...I've grown accustomed to your face." According to Olson, his eyes suddenly lit up, and she sat down and watched him write the entire song in one sitting, based on the idea that although Higgins couldn't "love" Eliza in the traditional sense, he would surely notice the value she represented as part of his life.

U.S. television viewers had something of a Rex Harrison film-fest on Thanksgiving Week, 1973. Doctor Dolittle aired on Thanksgiving Eve on ABC-TV, followed by My Fair Lady on NBC-TV on Thanksgiving Day. This was the U.S. commercial TV premiere of both films, and was probably not a coincidence.

Robert Coote was nominated for the 1962 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actor in a Musical for "My Fair Lady" for his role as Colonel Pickering and recreated that role in the 1976 Broadway revival.

Musical theater writers Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II had attempted to adapt George Bernard Shaw's "Pygmalion" as a musical long before Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, but had abandoned the project as unadaptable. Rodgers and Hammerstein felt that Shaw's style of writing intellectual dialog and the emotionless character of Henry Higgins did not lend themselves to a musical. Lerner and Lowe overcame these problems by leaving Shaw's dialogue largely intact, and working under the notion that Higgins must be played by a great actor, not a great singer. Thus, they wrote the role especially for Rex Harrison, and adopted the idea that Higgins should not sing outright, but talk on pitch, less an expression of emotions than ideas.

Stanley Holloway originated the role of Alfie Dolittle on Broadway, but it was thought that a better known actor would be more suited for the film version.

See All Related Facts >>

My Fair Lady (1964)

Jack L. Warner

My Fair Lady Featured Cast See Full Cast »

Audrey Hepburn (as Eliza Doolittle)

Rex Harrison (as Professor Henry Higgin...)

Stanley Holloway (as Alfred P. Doolittle)

Wilfrid Hyde-White (as Colonel Hugh Pickering)

Gladys Cooper (as Mrs. Higgins)

Theodore Bikel (as Zoltan Karpathy)

Mona Washbourne (as Mrs. Pearce)

Isobel Elsom (as Mrs. Eynsford)

SYNOPSIS

Academy Awards 1964 --- Ceremony Number 37 (source: AMPAS)

Audrey Hepburn
(as Eliza Doolittle)

Rex Harrison
(as Professor Henry Higgin...)

Stanley Holloway
(as Alfred P. Doolittle)

Wilfrid Hyde-White
(as Colonel Hugh Pickering)

Gladys Cooper
(as Mrs. Higgins)

Theodore Bikel
(as Zoltan Karpathy)

Mona Washbourne
(as Mrs. Pearce)

Isobel Elsom
(as Mrs. Eynsford)