Search - My Fair Lady [Special Edition] on DVD

MPAA Rating: G Content Advisory: Excellent For Children Movie Release: 1964 DVD Release: 02/03/2004 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV - Closed Captioned Edition: Dual Layered,Restored/Remastered Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 2 Number of Discs: 2 Run Time: 2 hrs 53 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 57 Genres: Musical, Musical Comedy, Musical Romance See Also: My Fair Lady, My Fair Lady

At one time the longest-running Broadway musical, My Fair Lady was adapted by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe from the George Bernard Shaw comedy Pygmalion. Outside Covent Garden on a rainy evening in 1912, dishevelled cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn) meets linguistic expert Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison). After delivering a musical tirade against "verbal class distinction," Higgins tells his companion Colonel Pickering (Wilfred Hyde-White) that, within six months, he could transform Eliza into a proper lady, simply by teaching her proper English. The next morning, face and hands freshly scrubbed, Eliza presents herself on Higgins' doorstep, offering to pay him to teach her to be a lady. "It's almost irresistable," clucks Higgins. "She's so deliciously low. So horribly dirty." He turns his mission into a sporting proposition, making a bet with Pickering that he can accomplish his six-month miracle to turn Eliza into a lady. This is one of the all-time great movie musicals, featuring classic songs and the legendary performances of Harrison, repeating his stage role after Cary Grant wisely turned down the movie job, and Stanley Holloway as Eliza's dustman father. Julie Andrews originated the role of Eliza on Broadway but producer Jack Warner felt that Andrews, at the time unknown beyond Broadway, wasn't bankable; Hepburn's singing was dubbed by Marni Nixon, who also dubbed Natalie Wood in West Side Story (1961). Andrews instead made Mary Poppins, for which she was given the Best Actress Oscar, beating out Hepburn. The movie, however, won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor for Harrison, and five other Oscars, and it remains one of the all-time best movie musicals. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Audrey Hepburn - Eliza Doolittle
Rex Harrison - Prof. Henry Higgins
Stanley Holloway - Alfred P. Doolittle
Wilfrid Hyde-White - Col. Pickering
Gladys Cooper - Mrs. Higgins

After the successful re-releases of Singin' in the Rain and Unforgiven, Warner continues their outstanding two-disc sets with this 1964 Best Picture winner, My Fair Lady, and the results are no less spectacular. The restored 2.35:1 anamorphic image from 1994 is a sight to behold. Instances of scratches and specks are easily forgiven, as the majority of the transfer is simply breathtaking. Colors are vividly reproduced, and detail, especially with the use of deep-focus photography, is marvelous to look at. The 5.1 English Dolby Digital track is equally impressive. While the surrounds are used more for environment than effect, the sound is still effective in every manner. Dialogue, including the wonderful music and songs from Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe, are impeccably reproduced and distortion-free. The sole supplement on the first disc is an exceptional scene-specific commentary track from production designer Gene Allen, Marni Nixon (who was the singing voice for Audrey Hepburn), and preservationists Robert A. Harris and James C. Katz. Much of this track discusses the extensive restoration of the original print and may not interest the casual viewer, but the insights are nonetheless interesting from an historical perspective. Unwisely, though, the film's audio is a touch too loud, occasionally drowning out the participants; otherwise, it's a significant commentary, worthy of listening.

The remainder of the supplements, which are on the second disc, are equally worth looking into, although they do contain some repetition. They are broken up into five segments, "More Loverly Than Ever," "The Production," "The Awards," "The Comments," and "The Trailers of Lerner and Loewe." "More Loverly Than Ever" is an hour-long documentary that goes into detail about the production of this film, with significant points about the 1994 restoration. Fans of this classic will not want to miss this, as everything is covered, beginning to end. "The Production" has a number of individual segments, including the 1963 production dinner, interviews with Hepburn, Rex Harrison, and Jack Warner, some audio of director George Cukor working with actress Bina Rothschild, and alternate versions of Hepburn's vocals for "Wouldn't It Be Loverly" and "Show Me," which are also in the documentary. "The Awards" section includes Rex Harrison's Golden Globe acceptance speech, as well as Warner accepting his statue at the 37th Academy Awards. "The Comments" is far briefer, as director Martin Scorsese and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber make additional comments (they are also heard extensively in the documentary) about the film and restoration in general. Finally, if that all wasn't enough (and there is plenty more, but space here is fairly limited!), "The Trailers of Lerner and Loewe" includes Brigadoon, Camelot, Gigi and the 1964 and 1994 re-release trailers for this film. Fans that purchased the original DVD of My Fair Lady will want to make an upgrade, as this disc offers everything that anyone could every want for this musical classic. ~ Trent Fordham, All Movie Guide