My Fair Lady (1964)

 George Cukor's "My Fair Lady"


Based on the George Bernard Shaw 1913 stage play "Pygmalion," the 1964 film "My Fair Lady" features an additional musical component. It centers on poor Cockney flower-selling named Eliza who takes up a phonetics professor, Henry, on a wager that he can turn her into a 'proper lady.' Starring Audrey Hepburn as Eliza and Rex Harrison as Henry, "My Fair Lady" was a critical and commercial success. Only fellow musical "The Sound of Music" bested it at the American box office.

Clocking in at almost three hours, this technicolor spectacle emits a certain aura of enchantment. Hepburn is dastardly charming as always, making the central character a hellhound to root for. It's color, its performances, and its charismatic composition make it an enticing option for entertainment. 

That being said, hidden underneath all its pomp and circumstance lies a tiny sliver of thematic import. Namely, some vague concepts revolving around class, gender, and social norms. However, these thematic points emit from the film more like water slowly dripping from a faucet: too slow to compete with its theatrics and not enough to feel your thirst quenched.

Despite its inability to push its thesis beyond its simple graces, it works as its intended. A crowd-pleaser to be certain, but "My Fair Lady" won't be ruminating in my head days afterward. That being said, its charm remains all the same.





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