My Fair Lady Discussion

[Lazario]

Why would Paramount even bother releasing a single disc edition of MY FAIR LADY, when Warners pretty much topped themselves with their gorgeous double set? Better yet, why don't Paramount wise up and release a Blu-ray instead?

I just checked Amazon.com and... well, Warner Bros. (the current winners of the Golden A**hole Award) have put that gorgeous Double Set out of print. I guess this time it's because they sold the movie to Viacom-Paramount or whatever. Thank God it's not because they want to make it 3-disc or something worse. At least with Paramount, unless it's Friday the 13th - they won't re-release it 6 or 7 times a piece. And after all, they have such a big Audrey Hepburn collection anyway...

[pinkrenata]

Despite being a Hepburn fan, I've never been able to get into <i>My Fair Lady</i>. While I can appreciate it, something never quite works and Audrey just isn't suited to play Eliza, fake-sounding dub or not.

The bright pink cover art for the new release is appalling. It's exactly what they did for the <i>Breakfast At Tiffany's</i> release a while back. Packaging classic films as tacky chick flicks makes me mad.

[Escapay]

I just checked Amazon.com and... well, Warner Bros. (the current winners of the Golden A**hole Award) have put that gorgeous Double Set out of print. I guess this time it's because they sold the movie to Viacom-Paramount or whatever.

From wiki: (bold is my emphasis)

The head of CBS put up the money for the original Broadway production in exchange for the rights to the cast album (through Columbia Records). When Warner bought the film rights in February 1962 for the then-unprecedented sum of $5 million, it was agreed that the rights to the film would revert to CBS seven years after its release.

The first video release was by MGM/CBS Home Video in 1981, and was re-released by CBS/Fox Video in 1984, 1986, 1991, and 1994.

Warner owned the film's original copyright, but it was renewed by CBS due to the 1972 rights reversion. From 1998-2008, Warner owned the DVD rights to the film (under license from CBS), while CBS Television Distribution owns the television rights. This made My Fair Lady the only theatrical film whose ancillary rights are owned by CBS that was not distributed by CBS Home Entertainment.

A VHS release by Paramount Pictures in 2001 is currently out of print. However, Paramount obtained DVD rights in 2009 and will re-release the film on October 6, 2009.

It's like how Disney licenced out some films to Anchor Bay, and when that licence expired, AB had to discontinue their releases. Disney then re-released the titles under their own name. A few of the Disney re-releases were improvements to the Anchor Bay one (The Black Hole), most were pretty much the same thing (The Happiest Millionaire), and some were not as good as the Anchor Bay version (The Watcher in the Woods).

And after all, they have such a big Audrey Hepburn collection anyway...

And I'm still waiting for the bastards to give SE treatment to the two "lesser" titles they own of hers, War and Peace and Paris When It Sizzles.

albert

[David S.]

Nice thread. It's very timely for me, since I just saw My Fair Lady at a local "classic film series" screening a few days ago. It wasn't the first time I have seen the film, but it's fresh in my mind now, and I was reminded of how good it is. It's definitely a movie I can appreciate more as I get older. (BTW, it was projected onto the "big screen" from a DVD, using an "upscaling projector", and looked fantastic!)

I think my personal favorite song and number in the entire film to me is Ascot Gavotte. I love something about the waltz-like Victorian sound to the song, and how ironic in general the lyrics are to the stone faced spectators and the way they sing it. Overall, I also love the black and white costumes, choregraphy, and just the whole deadpan expressions of the actors in the scene. I think they mentioned it best on the making of feature, that it's like a stiff and proper Victorian portrait come to life.

Yes, I got a kick out of the whole stone-faced, deadpan aspect. That sequence perfectly captured a kind of jaded ennui of people being somewhere because it was expected of them to be somewhere and "be seen", rather than due to having any passion for the races.

Which made Eliza's enthusiastic ("Come On Dover...") line all the more memorable and funny.

Sorry for the geek-like rambling, I'm just so happy to finally have this version now. Does anyone else have this as one of their favorite movie musicals or any favorite particular songs or scenes?

Musically, it's a tough call... there are so many good ones. I really like "Wouldn't It Be Loverly", "The Rain In Spain", "I Could Have Danced All Night", and "The Street Where You Live", to name a few.

Lyrically, I'd probably have to go with "An Ordinary Man", but I should stress that I am not a "mysogynist"!

[UmbrellaFish]

The Princess of Wales made her first public appearance today since the announcement of her cancer diagnosis. Her outfit immediately reminded me of My Fair Lady and the dress Audrey Hepburn wore as Eliza Doolittle to Ascot! I am glad Kate is well enough to go out into public again.

Article and pictures here: https://people.com/trooping-the-colour- ... as-8663968

Fun fact: the costume designer for My Fair Lady was Cecil Beaton. Beaton was also a photographer and favored by the Queen Mother. He was also a notorious snob and was very mean to Julie Andrews during the Broadway run of My Fair Lady…