My Fair Lady - 2 Disc Special Edition
"Apart from the wonders of its words and music, 'My Fair Lady' is a visual triumph. Cukor made use above all of Cecil Beaton, a photographer and costume designer, who had been production designer on only one previous film ('Gigi,' 1958). He and cinematographer Harry Stradling, who both won Oscars, bring the film a combination of sumptuousness and detail, from the stylization of the famous Ascot scene to the countless intriguing devices in Higgins' book-lined study." "What distinguishes 'My Fair Lady' above all is that it actually says something. It says it in a film of pointed words, unforgettable music and glorious images, but it says it. Bernard Shaw's 'Pygmalion' was a socialist attack on the British class system, and on the truth (as true when the film was made as when Shaw wrote his play) that an Englishman's destiny was largely determined by his accent. It allowed others to place him, and to keep him in his place." "Eliza's escape from the 'lower classes,' engineered
by Higgins, is a revolutionary act, dramatizing how 'superiority' was
inherited, not earned. It is a lesson that resonates for all societies,
and the genius of 'My Fair Lady' is that it is both a great
entertainment and a great polemic. It is still not sufficiently appreciated
what influence it had on the creation of feminism and class-consciousness
in the years bridging 1914 when 'Pygmalion' premiered, 1956
when the musical premiered, and 1964 when the film premiered. It was
actually about something." ------Roger Ebert DVD - 2 Disc Special Edition
Curator's Comments: Read Roger Ebert's essay on this DVD Classic. Director: George Cukor Country: U.S.A.
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