Wednesday, March 15, 2006

50 years of My Fair Lady

OK, here's a good thing that happened on the Ides of March. Fifty years ago today My Fair Lady premiered on Broadway. It ran for 2,717 performances, by the way. As much as I appreciate Audrey Hepburn, she was no Julie Andrews where Eliza was concerned. Fie on Jack Warner for denying generations the chance to see Julie's landmark performance!

Give it up for Julie, Rex, and the gang today. Flip through your LPs until you get to the iconic album cover with Al Hirschfield's drawing and, with a little bit of luck, you'll get to enjoy one of the most perfect cast recordings of all time. Loverly!

6 comments:

chux said...

You are right there - it was a travesty to deny Julie Andrews the role!!! As an Englishmen, hearing that dodgy cockney accent she gave and worse still she didn't even sing herself, make my blood boil. It makes me want to get out on the streets and sing 'Any old Iron' in protest. :)

Nah maybe not, but it was a madness to make the film unnessarily complicated like that. And history has shown that it would not have made the movie any less popular. Look at Julie Andrews in 'Thoroughly Modern Millie' or bigger still 'Mary Poppins'!

you certainly love your movies and famous people Mary - thanks for the great reminders!

Anonymous said...

Okay I admit it. I'm the one person on earth who hates MFL. I'm sorry, but there's just no reason she should be with him in the end. He sucks.

MaryB said...

Well, of course, Mary Poppins is the best! But believe it or not, there's talk of remaking the film Mary Poppins, as well as the Sound of Music. A pox on the houses of the movie moguls considering this.

And, Jen, certainly they changed the ending - just a product of its time. But that doesn't lessen the brilliance of the score and dialogue, not to mention the performances, in my book.

chux said...

Just think of how good it could have been if they had used the right lead though!!!

Anonymous said...

Mary, yes, the performances and music are good! Didn't mean to disparage them. I have a flaw when it comes to getting behind a story if I really dislike a character they mean for me to like.

Speaking of using Julie Andrews in the movie, I was always really sorry they didn't make Camelot with Burton, Andrews, and Goulet instead of the atrocious movie they did make. Richard Harris was brilliant, but... ick.

MaryB said...

Yeah - movie Camelot was a disaster, too. As I understand it Julie Andrews was offered the role, but Richard Burton wasn,t and she refused to do it without him.