MY
FAIR LADY ($27) is unquestionably a spectacular motion picture
experience- a big, lavish, overproduced musical that rightfully took home
eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor,
Best Cinematography (Color), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Color),
Best Costume Design and Best Sound for 1964. Unfortunately, since its
release, decades of neglect had allowed the film elements for this crown
jewel of the cinema to fall into a state of disrepair, which required
Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz to fully restore MY FAIR LADY
back in 1994. I can remember my absolute delight of having experienced MY
FAIR LADY on the big screen of New York's Ziegfeld Theater after its
restoration. Not only did MY FAIR LADY appear fresh and vibrant
once again, but one could also be rendered awestruck by the beauty of
Cecil Beaton’s production design and costumes, not to mention leading
lady Audrey Hepburn.
MY
FAIR LADY is the cinematic adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe Broadway
smash, which itself was a musical reworking of George Bernard Shaw’s
play Pygmalion. The plot of MY FAIR LADY follows
phoneticist Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), who boasts that that
he can take a cockney flower girl and teach her to speak English so well
that he will be able to pass her off as a duchess at the upcoming Embassy
Ball. As one might expect, said Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle
(Audrey Hepburn), shows up on Higgins’ doorstep wanting to learn how to
speak proper English, and better her station in life. What follows is the
amusing and arduous process of transforming an English murdering
"draggle-tailed guttersnipe" into a proper speaking lady.
Although
fans of the original stage production of MY FAIR LADY were
disappointed when Julie Andrews was passed over for the role of Eliza
Doolittle, Audrey Hepburn makes a marvelous Eliza and she looks utterly
spectacular in the period gowns of Cecil Beaton. Professor Higgins is
perhaps the role for which Rex Harrison is best remembered; which should
come as no surprise as Harrison did take home both a Tony Award and an
Academy Award for his vivid portrayals of the character on stage and
screen. Other delights in the cast of MY FAIR LADY include Wilfrid
Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne
and a scene stealing turn by Stanley Holloway as Eliza’s father-
moralist Alfred P. Doolittle.
Warner
Home Video has made MY FAIR LADY available on DVD in a 2.20:1 wide
screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
The presentation appears very similar to that of the previous DVD release,
although this disc offers visual improvements over the earlier DVD edition
of MY FAIR LADY. General sharpness and definition remain very good,
although there are more subtle details in the image of the new DVD, which
allows one an even greater appreciation of the film’s rich settings and
costumes. Colors appear more confidently rendered, with greater stability
and a bit more vibrancy. Blacks are velvety, whites are very clean and the
picture produces an excellent grayscale- check out the meticulous
qualities of the production design and costumes during Ascot Gavotte
sequence. Digital compression artifacts are always well concealed on this
cleanly authored DVD.
The
Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack would appear to be identical to that
of the previous edition, which is fine, since it was a pretty great
rendering of this restored vintage soundtrack. Transcribed from the
restored six-channel sound elements, the track has a very strong and broad
forward soundstage, which provides excellent stereo imaging for the
exquisite musical numbers. As for the rear channels, they primarily
provide musical fill, however, there is a bit of split surround activity
during Ascot Gavotte, with the panning of the sound effects placing
one in the middle of the musical number’s horse race. While the fidelity
of these forty-year-old recordings do have some limitations, the musical
numbers themselves still sound wonderful, which is certain to please fans
of this delightful film. Although the dialogue is always completely
intelligible, some may quibble that the voices don’t sound as clean and
natural as they do on modern recordings. A French monaural soundtrack has
also been encoded into the DVD, as have English, Spanish and French
subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as the excellent array of supplement materials
that have been spread across both discs of this set. Starting things off
on disc one, is a running audio commentary with restoration team leaders
Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz, plus art director Gene Allen and
singer Marni Nixon (who provided much of Audrey Hepburn’s singing).
While this commentary had already appeared on the previous DVD release, it
is an excellent track filled with technical detail on the restoration of MY
FAIR LADY, as well as insight into the making of the film.
Moving
onto disc two, we find the majority of the supplemental programming. More
Loverly Than Ever: My Fair Lady Through The Ages is a nearly hour
long documentary that revisits the original production, and covers the
restoration process in extensive detail. During the program, one gets to
see clips of the film prior to its restoration, but since they are pan and
scan, one isn’t likely to get the full impact. In the Production
section one will find the 1963 Production Kickoff Dinner a
twenty-three minute program that combines footage of the dinner with
interviews members of the cast and crew. Another feature is an audio
passage of director George Cukor providing direction to Baroness Bina
Rothschild. Also featured is footage of the film’s Los Angeles premiere.
The Show Me Galleries includes production photos, costume
sketches and architectural plans. A separate feature offers a series of
posters and lobby cards that are shown is slideshow fashion, with a Rex
Harrison radio interview providing audio content.
Also
in the Production section is The Fairest Fair Lady,
a nine-minute making of featurette that gives one a brief glimpse as to
what went into the film’s first class production. Carried over from the
original DVD release are alternate versions of Wouldn’t It Be
Loverly and Show Me with Audrey Hepburn’s original
vocals. Personally, I think the studio made a big mistake by not retaining
Ms. Hepburn’s vocals for Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, since
her performance brings more of an emotional impact to the song, plus her
voice is more appropriate to cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle than
singer Marni Nixon. However, Nixon’s vocals are more befitting the
refined version of Eliza and work better for the song Show Me
than do Ms. Hepburn’s. One last thing on the subject of Ms. Hepburn’s
vocals, it would have been nice if they could have been offered as a
listening option for the movie itself, instead of only being available as
a supplement.
The
Awards section offers snippets from the Academy Award
ceremonies in which MY FAIR LADY was a big winner, plus Rex
Harrison’s acceptance speech from the Golden Globes. Another brief
feature section called Comments, offers interview footage of
Martin Scorsese and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who speak for a little more than
a minute each on such subjects as film preservation and the stage version
of MY FAIR LADY. Lastly, The Trailers Of Lerner & Loewe
provides theatrical trailers for MY FAIR LADY (for both original
1964 release and 1994 restoration re-release), plus BRIGADOON
(which could use its own 16:9 enhanced Special Edition DVD release), CAMELOT
and GIGI.
MY
FAIR LADY is indeed a beautiful gem of a movie musical that has
received new sparkle, thanks to its restoration in 1994. This Special
Edition DVD release adds even more luster with its improved video
presentation and the additional supplemental content. If you have the
original DVD, this is worthwhile upgrade. If you don’t have a copy of MY
FAIR LADY this is the disc to get. Either way, the Special Edition of MY
FAIR LADY is absolutely recommended.
MY
FAIR LADY ($27) is unquestionably a spectacular motion picture
experience- a big, lavish, overproduced musical that rightfully took home
eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor,
Best Cinematography (Color), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Color),
Best Costume Design and Best Sound for 1964. Unfortunately, since its
release, decades of neglect had allowed the film elements for this crown
jewel of the cinema to fall into a state of disrepair, which required
Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz to fully restore MY FAIR LADY
back in 1994. I can remember my absolute delight of having experienced MY
FAIR LADY on the big screen of New York's Ziegfeld Theater after its
restoration. Not only did MY FAIR LADY appear fresh and vibrant
once again, but one could also be rendered awestruck by the beauty of
Cecil Beaton’s production design and costumes, not to mention leading
lady Audrey Hepburn.
MY
FAIR LADY is the cinematic adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe Broadway
smash, which itself was a musical reworking of George Bernard Shaw’s
play Pygmalion. The plot of MY FAIR LADY follows
phoneticist Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), who boasts that that
he can take a cockney flower girl and teach her to speak English so well
that he will be able to pass her off as a duchess at the upcoming Embassy
Ball. As one might expect, said Cockney flower girl, Eliza Doolittle
(Audrey Hepburn), shows up on Higgins’ doorstep wanting to learn how to
speak proper English, and better her station in life. What follows is the
amusing and arduous process of transforming an English murdering
"draggle-tailed guttersnipe" into a proper speaking lady.
Although
fans of the original stage production of MY FAIR LADY were
disappointed when Julie Andrews was passed over for the role of Eliza
Doolittle, Audrey Hepburn makes a marvelous Eliza and she looks utterly
spectacular in the period gowns of Cecil Beaton. Professor Higgins is
perhaps the role for which Rex Harrison is best remembered; which should
come as no surprise as Harrison did take home both a Tony Award and an
Academy Award for his vivid portrayals of the character on stage and
screen. Other delights in the cast of MY FAIR LADY include Wilfrid
Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett, Theodore Bikel, Mona Washbourne
and a scene stealing turn by Stanley Holloway as Eliza’s father-
moralist Alfred P. Doolittle.
Warner
Home Video has made MY FAIR LADY available on DVD in a 2.20:1 wide
screen presentation that has been enhanced for playback on 16:9 displays.
The presentation appears very similar to that of the previous DVD release,
although this disc offers visual improvements over the earlier DVD edition
of MY FAIR LADY. General sharpness and definition remain very good,
although there are more subtle details in the image of the new DVD, which
allows one an even greater appreciation of the film’s rich settings and
costumes. Colors appear more confidently rendered, with greater stability
and a bit more vibrancy. Blacks are velvety, whites are very clean and the
picture produces an excellent grayscale- check out the meticulous
qualities of the production design and costumes during Ascot Gavotte
sequence. Digital compression artifacts are always well concealed on this
cleanly authored DVD.
The
Dolby Digital 5.1 channel soundtrack would appear to be identical to that
of the previous edition, which is fine, since it was a pretty great
rendering of this restored vintage soundtrack. Transcribed from the
restored six-channel sound elements, the track has a very strong and broad
forward soundstage, which provides excellent stereo imaging for the
exquisite musical numbers. As for the rear channels, they primarily
provide musical fill, however, there is a bit of split surround activity
during Ascot Gavotte, with the panning of the sound effects placing
one in the middle of the musical number’s horse race. While the fidelity
of these forty-year-old recordings do have some limitations, the musical
numbers themselves still sound wonderful, which is certain to please fans
of this delightful film. Although the dialogue is always completely
intelligible, some may quibble that the voices don’t sound as clean and
natural as they do on modern recordings. A French monaural soundtrack has
also been encoded into the DVD, as have English, Spanish and French
subtitles.
Full
motion video, animation and sound serve to enhance the DVD's interactive
menus. Through the menus, one has access to standard scene selection and
set up features, as well as the excellent array of supplement materials
that have been spread across both discs of this set. Starting things off
on disc one, is a running audio commentary with restoration team leaders
Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz, plus art director Gene Allen and
singer Marni Nixon (who provided much of Audrey Hepburn’s singing).
While this commentary had already appeared on the previous DVD release, it
is an excellent track filled with technical detail on the restoration of MY
FAIR LADY, as well as insight into the making of the film.
Moving
onto disc two, we find the majority of the supplemental programming. More
Loverly Than Ever: My Fair Lady Through The Ages is a nearly hour
long documentary that revisits the original production, and covers the
restoration process in extensive detail. During the program, one gets to
see clips of the film prior to its restoration, but since they are pan and
scan, one isn’t likely to get the full impact. In the Production
section one will find the 1963 Production Kickoff Dinner a
twenty-three minute program that combines footage of the dinner with
interviews members of the cast and crew. Another feature is an audio
passage of director George Cukor providing direction to Baroness Bina
Rothschild. Also featured is footage of the film’s Los Angeles premiere.
The Show Me Galleries includes production photos, costume
sketches and architectural plans. A separate feature offers a series of
posters and lobby cards that are shown is slideshow fashion, with a Rex
Harrison radio interview providing audio content.
Also
in the Production section is The Fairest Fair Lady,
a nine-minute making of featurette that gives one a brief glimpse as to
what went into the film’s first class production. Carried over from the
original DVD release are alternate versions of Wouldn’t It Be
Loverly and Show Me with Audrey Hepburn’s original
vocals. Personally, I think the studio made a big mistake by not retaining
Ms. Hepburn’s vocals for Wouldn’t It Be Loverly, since
her performance brings more of an emotional impact to the song, plus her
voice is more appropriate to cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle than
singer Marni Nixon. However, Nixon’s vocals are more befitting the
refined version of Eliza and work better for the song Show Me
than do Ms. Hepburn’s. One last thing on the subject of Ms. Hepburn’s
vocals, it would have been nice if they could have been offered as a
listening option for the movie itself, instead of only being available as
a supplement.
The
Awards section offers snippets from the Academy Award
ceremonies in which MY FAIR LADY was a big winner, plus Rex
Harrison’s acceptance speech from the Golden Globes. Another brief
feature section called Comments, offers interview footage of
Martin Scorsese and Andrew Lloyd Webber, who speak for a little more than
a minute each on such subjects as film preservation and the stage version
of MY FAIR LADY. Lastly, The Trailers Of Lerner & Loewe
provides theatrical trailers for MY FAIR LADY (for both original
1964 release and 1994 restoration re-release), plus BRIGADOON
(which could use its own 16:9 enhanced Special Edition DVD release), CAMELOT
and GIGI.
MY
FAIR LADY is indeed a beautiful gem of a movie musical that has
received new sparkle, thanks to its restoration in 1994. This Special
Edition DVD release adds even more luster with its improved video
presentation and the additional supplemental content. If you have the
original DVD, this is worthwhile upgrade. If you don’t have a copy of MY
FAIR LADY this is the disc to get. Either way, the Special Edition of MY
FAIR LADY is absolutely recommended.
