My Fair Lady(1964)

Name: My Fair Lady
Director: George Cukor
Genre: Drama, Family, Musical, Romance
Released: Oct 21, 1964
Cast: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper

Warner Bros.

G
2h 50m

Release Date: Oct 21, 1964

In 1910s London, snobbish phonetics professor Henry Higgins agrees to a wager that he can make a crude flower girl, Eliza Doolittle, presentable in high society.

Official Website

Note: Showing 6/13/21 & 6/16/21

Release Details

Original Release | Oct 21, 1964 | Limited

2019 Re-release | Feb 17, 2019 | Moderate

2023 Re -release (60th Anniversary) | Feb 4, 2024 | Limited

View Advanced Data

Box Office Results

All Releases (3)
Total US & Canada:
$72,560,711
Total International
$117,192
Total Worldwide:
$72,684,726

Total US & Canada:
$72,000,000
Total International
$2,771
Total Worldwide:
$72,009,594

Current Showtimes

orround

Wed Aug 26
Thu Aug 27
Fri Aug 28
Sat Aug 29
Sun Aug 30
Mon Aug 31
Tue Sep 1

Director & Top Cast

George Cukor
Director

Audrey Hepburn
Actor

Rex Harrison
Actor

Stanley Holloway
Actor

Wilfrid Hyde-White
Actor

Gladys Cooper
Actor

Jeremy Brett

Actor

Theodore Bikel

Actor

Mona Washbourne

Actor

Isobel Elsom

Actor

John Holland

Actor

Elizabeth Aimers

Actor

Helen Albrecht

Actor

John Alderson

Actor

Mary Alexander

Actor

Gertrude Astor

Actor

LaWana Backer

Actor

Walter Bacon

Actor

Technical Specifications

Sound Mix: Dolby Surround 7.1

Aspect Ratio: 2.20 : 1

Other Details

Country of Origin: United States

Language: English

Summaries

Plot Summary

Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), an arrogant, irascible professor of phonetics, boasts to a new acquaintance, Colonel Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White), that he can teach any woman to speak so "properly" that he could pass her off as a duchess. The person whom he is shown thus teaching is one Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), a young woman with a horrendous Cockney accent who is selling flowers on the street. After overhearing this, Eliza finds her way to the professor's house and offers to pay for speech lessons, so that she can work in a flower shop. Pickering is intrigued and wagers that Higgins cannot back up his claim; Higgins takes Eliza on free of charge as a challenge to his skills.Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle (Stanley Holloway), a dustman, arrives three days later, ostensibly to protect his daughter's virtue, but in reality simply to extract some money from Higgins, and is bought off with £5. Higgins is impressed by the man's genuineness, natural gift for language and especially his brazen lack of morals (Doolittle explains, "Can't afford 'em!").Eliza goes through many forms of speech training, such as speaking with marbles in her mouth and trying to recite the sentence "In Hertford, Hereford, Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen" without dropping the 'h', and to say "The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain" rather than "The rine in spine sties minely in the pline". At first, she makes no progress (due to Higgins's harsh approach to teaching), but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are exhausted and about to give up, Higgins softens his attitude and gives an eloquent speech about the beauty and history behind the English language. Eliza tries one more time and finally "gets it"; she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper class accent.Higgins takes her on her first public appearance to Ascot Racecourse, where she makes a good impression with her stilted, but genteel manners, only to shock everyone by a sudden and vulgar lapse into Cockney; "C'mon Dover, move your bloomin' arse!". Higgins, who dislikes the pretentiousness of the upper class, partly conceals a grin behind his hand, as if to say "I wish I had said that!"The bet is won when Eliza successfully poses as a mysterious lady of patently noble rank at an embassy ball, despite the unexpected presence of a Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins. Higgins's callous treatment of Eliza afterwards, especially his indifference to her future prospects, leads her to walk out on him, leaving him mystified by her ingratitude. When she is gone however, he comes to the horrified realization that he has "grown accustomed to her face." Putting aside his resentment about the intrusion on his life and toward women in general, Higgins finds Eliza the next day and attempts to talk her into coming back to him. During a testy exchange, Higgins's ego gets the better of him, and his former student rejects him.Higgins makes his way home, stubbornly predicting that Eliza will be ruined without him and come crawling back. However, his bravado collapses and he is reduced to playing old phonograph recordings of her voice lessons. To Higgins' great delight, Eliza chooses that moment to return to him.

Storyline

Pompous phonetics Professor Henry Higgins (Sir Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself to transform a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society. His subject turns out to be the lovely Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), who agrees to speech lessons to improve her job prospects. Higgins and Eliza clash, then form an unlikely bond, one that is threatened by aristocratic suitor Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Jeremy Brett). — Jwelch5742 Gloriously witty adaptation of the Broadway musical about Professor Henry Higgins (Sir Rex Harrison), who takes a bet from Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilford Hyde-White) that he can transform unrefined, dirty Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) into a lady, and fool everyone into thinking she really is one, too. He does, and thus young aristocrat Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Jeremy Brett) falls madly in love with her. But when Higgins takes all of the credit and forgets to acknowledge her efforts, Eliza angrily leaves him for Freddy, and suddenly Higgins realizes he's grown accustomed to her face and can't really live without it. — Tommy Peter A chance meeting between two noted British linguists, Professor Henry Higgins (Sir Rex Harrison) and Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilford Hyde-White), leads to a wager that will test Higgins' skills. After they hear a cockney flower girl caterwaul in the street, Higgins proposes to transform the girl, Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), into a refined Victorian lady with an aristocratic accent. After some hesitation, Eliza agrees to become their test case. — alfiehitchie