Picture 37: My Fair Lady (1964)

Shaken by Tom Jones (1963), we have no choice now but to put the past behind us, regroup and refocus. It’s going to be okay.

1964 and time for one of the most famous musicals of all time. The magnificent Audrey Hepburn appears as Eliza Doolittle, a flower seller with a strong cockney accent. She happens to come across linguistics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) in early 20th century Covent Garden. For egocentric reasons, Professor Higgins makes it his mission to transform Eliza into a lady with an upper-class accent. Eliza agrees in the hope that her flower selling turnover can improve if she broadens her societal reach. Professor Higgins’ metric for success is managing to pass Eliza off as a duchess at an embassy ball in 6 months’ time. The premise for the 3 hour film is born.

My Fair Lady boasts a respectable song collection that can warm the heart. Audrey is a generational talent and one of the most natural screen presences you will ever see. She is flanked by the more than competent supporting actors Rex Harrison and Stanley Holloway as the film adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's stage play Pygmalion vibrantly comes to life.

However, despite its promising premise, it doesn’t quite manage to entertain as well as you might expect. It slips to a disappointing 6/10 and the bottom half of the table.

Rating: 6/10

Reflections:

1.     Human beings are often painfully superficial when they form opinions of others.

2.    With the right focus, people can successfully implement phenomenal transformations in short time periods.

Oscar Best Picture Rankings:

1. Casablanca (1943)

2. The Apartment (1960)

3. Rebecca (1940)

4. Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

5. Ben-Hur (1959)

6. Lost Weekend (1945)

7. All About Eve (1950)

8. Hamlet (1948)

9. How Green Was My Valley (1941)

10. Gone With the Wind (1939)

11. West Side Story (1961)

12. Mrs. Miniver (1942)

13. All Quiet on the Western Front (1930)

14. Wings (1928)

15. Mutiny on the Bounty (1935)

16. You can’t take it with you (1938)

17. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)

18. On the Waterfront (1954)

19. The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957)

20. Marty (1955)

21. Cimarron (1931)

22. Grand Hotel (1932)

23. An American in Paris (1951)

24. From Here to Eternity (1953)

25. It Happened One Night (1934)

26. My Fair Lady (1964)

27. Gentleman’s Agreement (1947)

28. Cavalcade (1933)

29. The Life of Emile Zola (1937)

30. Going My Way (1944)

31. The Great Ziegfeld (1936)

32. All the King’s Men (1949)

33. Gigi (1958)

34. Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

35. The Greatest Show on Earth (1952)

36. The Broadway Melody (1929)

37. Tom Jones (1963)

Previous or current ranking leaders are in bold.

With credit and thanks to the patrons of the Best Picture Film Club:

Dr Sophie Bloomfield

Dr Caspar Briault

Dr Kate Diomede

Dr Fionnuala Durrant

Dr Hannah Morrison

Dr Meera Radia