2h 50min | Drama, Family, Musical | 21 October 1964 | Color, WS
Director: George Cukor
Stars: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett.
Hermes Pan ... choreographer
~23 songs in the Soundtracks.
Much, much too long. I'm surprised Warner let Cukor do that again, referring to A Star is Born ('54).
I don't like RH, and Higgins is not likeable either. So I really don't understand and don't like that she returns to him, and especially not his reaction to her arrival.
I do like some of the songs, and the fancy gowns and hats, despite their lack of color. I liked the dubbed singing voice of JB (b. '33), and the way he was made gangly by some physical obstacles he had. He looks amazingly young here.
WH is always welcome, and plays the more civilized of the 2 barbarians experimenting on a human. By the way, Higgins teaching technique seemed very poor. He rarely broke things down for her to avoid doing her normal pronunciations, and often had her endlessly repeating what she already did "wrong."
GC has been playing these matrons for a couple of decades+ now, and plays Higgins's mother, who doesn't like him much. I liked her for that.
I couldn't get through the c.track with the restoration team, Marnie Nixon, and the film's art director. In fact, I fell asleep and it made me dream of a situation where I couldn't get people to shut up. When I woke up, I heard the film's dialog was almost as loud as the commentators.
Warner, dir. Cukor; 7
