The Irony in My Fair Lady (1964), or the Triumph of the Aristocracy.

[SadPanda]

5 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

Interesting....I've never heard that before,  that Henry Higgins was gay !  However, it might explain the absolute lack of chemistry between him and Eliza; and I mean whoever is playing those parts, not just the "My Fair Lady" version. *   It's impossible to imagine Henry and Eliza kissing, let alone anything else.

*  Of course, neither Leslie Howard nor Rex Harrison were gay, as far as I've ever heard.  No, it's the character of H.H. you're talking about, I know.  Still, did you read that somewhere, or do you infer it from the story itself?

Maybe TikiSoo assumes  all aristocrats are gay?

[misswonderly3]

32 minutes ago, txfilmfan said:

The current version of Chicago on Broadway, for example, is different from the Gwen Verdon/Chita Rivera version, and more successful.

What do you mean,  "the current version of Chicago on Broadway..."  ??  Has NYC opened up its theatres?  I thought theatres were still closed due to covid...they certainly are in Ontario.  Just interested...

edit:  ps:  I'm heartbroken because I had tickets to see "Chicago" at the Stratford Festival  (in Ontario) this summer, and of course it's been cancelled, along with all their other productions.

[txfilmfan]

5 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

What do you mean,  "the current version of Chicago on Broadway..."  ??  Has NYC opened up its theatres?  I thought theatres were still closed due to covid...they certainly are in Ontario.  Just interested...

The one that's been running in NY since the late 90s.  It was still running when the theaters were closed.  Even though theaters are closed, its status is still "running" as the producers haven't shut down the production (unlike, say Frozen, which has officially closed.)

As an FYI, Broadway has already stated that no productions will restart until 2021 at the earliest.

[Hibi]

13 minutes ago, Swithin said:

 

LOL.

[Hibi]

54 minutes ago, Princess of Tap said:

I have to get back on my soapbox about the mess that became Gypsy.

What was probably Ethel Merman's greatest performance on Broadway was ripped off by Rosalind Russell, whose husband reportedly bought this property for her.

Then Things changed rapidly.

And by 1968 they actually let a person--

who was not Hollywood beautiful

 who was not a sure thing Hollywood box-office --

have a shot at her own  Broadway Smash Hit  starring role.

And the result was Barbra Streisand won the Oscar  for Funny Girl.

 But it's not so funny how Julie Andrews and Ethel Merman got shut out.

Yeah, Frederick Brisson, or as some called him, The LIZARD OF ROZ! (LOL)

[slaytonf]

39 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

That's really interesting, I've never heard that before.  However, I do have to ask - -  how do you know that?  How could anyone living today know that?  Since there were no recordings of any kind two hundred years ago, how can anyone know how people spoke then??

I know from The Story of English.  I fact I watched the sreies again before starting this thread to confirm my memory of it.  That was only part of one segment, but I didn't mind watching the whole series.

[misswonderly3]

24 minutes ago, slaytonf said:

I know from The Story of English.  I fact I watched the sreies again before starting this thread to confirm my memory of it.  That was only part of one segment, but I didn't mind watching the whole series.

I've heard of the book. in fact I know someone who owns the book, maybe I'll borrow it from her. As for the series, I remember wanting to watch it when it aired ( twenty years ago??) but for some reason never did.  I'd love to see it, I'm extremely interested in etymology.

[slaytonf]

21 minutes ago, misswonderly3 said:

I've heard of the book. in fact I know someone who owns the book, maybe I'll borrow it from her. As for the series, I remember wanting to watch it when it aired ( twenty years ago??) but for some reason never did.  I'd love to see it, I'm extremely interested in etymology.

It's on YT, though you have to hunt around to get all the complete shows.  And *gasp!* it's more like 35 years ago.

[Swithin]

1 hour ago, Hibi said:

Yeah, Frederick Brisson, or as some called him, The LIZARD OF ROZ! (LOL)

Immortalized in the Comden/Green lyrics to "Drop that Name" from Bells Are Ringing.

"Barney Baruch
And King Farouk, 
Alistair Cooke
And Debbie and Eddie,
Lucille Ball
And Lauren Bacall, 
Hedy Lamarr, 
Roz Russell and Freddie."

[Swithin]

On 7/24/2020 at 6:28 PM, misswonderly3 said:

What do you mean,  "the current version of Chicago on Broadway..."  ??  Has NYC opened up its theatres?  I thought theatres were still closed due to covid...they certainly are in Ontario.  Just interested...

edit:  ps:  I'm heartbroken because I had tickets to see "Chicago" at the Stratford Festival  (in Ontario) this summer, and of course it's been cancelled, along with all their other productions.

I worked a couple of times with Peter Howard, who arranged the dance music for Chicago.  The last time I saw him, we were at the New Dramatists lunch. We left together and walked past the theater where Chicago was playing. Peter looked up at the marquee and said, "Thank God for Chicago!" Lovely, sweet, talented man. One of the icons of the old Broadway.

[Dargo]

Saaay, maybe if Harrison would've worn this T-shirt instead of that three-piece suit in this thing, Tiki might not have jumped to the conclusion she did?...

 

 

 

(...hey, just a suggestion here, that's all)

[Swithin]

1 minute ago, Dargo said:

Saaay, maybe if Harrison would've worn this T-shirt instead of that three-piece suit in this thing, Tiki might not have jumped to the conclusion she did?...

(,,,hey, just a suggestion here, that's all)

In my experience, the two words are synonymous. But here's an interesting article -- one of many:

https://lithub.com/digging-in-to-the-queer-subtext-of-my-fair-lady/

 

[Dargo]

8 minutes ago, Swithin said:

In my experience, the two words are synonymous. But here's an interesting article -- one of many:

https://lithub.com/digging-in-to-the-queer-subtext-of-my-fair-lady/

 

Thanks for the link to this interesting article, Swithin. Good read.

(...I had never before heard the story about Harrison indignantly sending a nude picture of himself to W-B and Cukor after being asked to do a screen test...I LOL at that)

[Hibi]

28 minutes ago, Swithin said:

Immortalized in the Comden/Green lyrics to "Drop that Name" from Bells Are Ringing.

"Barney Baruch
And King Farouk, 
Alistair Cooke
And Debbie and Eddie,
Lucille Ball
And Lauren Bacall, 
Hedy Lamarr, 
Roz Russell and Freddie."

LOL!

[Hibi]

34 minutes ago, Swithin said:

In my experience, the two words are synonymous. But here's an interesting article -- one of many:

https://lithub.com/digging-in-to-the-queer-subtext-of-my-fair-lady/

 

Interesting article. Thanks.

[slaytonf]

1 hour ago, Swithin said:

 

https://lithub.com/digging-in-to-the-queer-subtext-of-my-fair-lady/

 

As far as I have seen over the years, there is a gay subtext to everything, and someone or another has written something about it.

[Bethluvsfilms]

As far as  the Best Actress of 1964 goes, my vote would not have gone to either Audrey Hepburn or Julie Andrews (Andrews made a great Mary Poppins but it wasn't an Oscar worthy performance IMO).

Both great actresses, but neither of them could touch Kim Stanley in SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON.

[Swithin]

17 minutes ago, Bethluvsfilms said:

As far as  the Best Actress of 1964 goes, my vote would not have gone to either Audrey Hepburn or Julie Andrews (Andrews made a great Mary Poppins but it wasn't an Oscar worthy performance IMO).

Both great actresses, but neither of them could touch Kim Stanley in SEANCE ON A WET AFTERNOON.

I agree with you. It was a very competitive year. I think Rex Harrison  was not the best choice. He was competing with Anthony Quinn as Zorba; Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove; Richard Burton as Beckett, and Peter O'Toole as Henry II in Beckett. Any of those gents deserved it over Rex. The Supporting categories were also very competitive.

[Davehat]

On 7/23/2020 at 8:31 AM, hamradio said:

That movie had the oldest oscilloscope I've ever seen.  Since it used TV technology, must had cost a fortune in 1938! 

Oscilloscopes use cathode ray tubes which have existed since the late 1800s.    It is Not television technology.  Oscilloscopes simply display the Alternating Electricity on the screen.  The “raygun” bounces up and down with varying voltage.  It’s very simple.

- Television technology was much more difficult than oscilloscopes.  It needed to encode an image, modulate the image as an electrical signal, and then decode the signal as a picture on the cathode tube.  Not an easy task.

Early television broadcasts of the 1930s were a pathetic 60 scanlines resolution.  Later when Hitler broadcast the 1936 Olympics, it was 180 scanlines.    (Compared to 480 scanlines on standard television or 1080 scanlines HD television.)

[Bethluvsfilms]

11 hours ago, Swithin said:

I agree with you. It was a very competitive year. I think Rex Harrison  was not the best choice. He was competing with Anthony Quinn as Zorba; Peter Sellers as Dr. Strangelove; Richard Burton as Beckett, and Peter O'Toole as Henry II in Beckett. Any of those gents deserved it over Rex. The Supporting categories were also very competitive.

Total agreement with you there. Rex, good as he was, was probably the least deserving of the nominees.

It's too bad that it couldn't have been Burton or O'Toole who won that year, neither man won any competitive Oscars despite later nominations (though O'Toole did get an Honorary one many years later).

[chaya bat woof woof]

First of all, I do not know about other posters, but I remember performances/films/etc. rather than who won the Oscar (especially lately).

As far as Chicago that started playing after the movie hit, it probably did not require the dancing prowess required by Bob Fosse.  I think Melanie Griffith, among others, starred in it.  However, both Bebe N. and Ann Reinking (who was involved with Fosse after Verdon) were both dancers.  Fosse used Reinking in All That Jazz (Roy S. was great in that playing against type).

I like the movie Gypsy but I only remember Ethel Merman on film in There's No Business Like Show Business (or something like that), where Donald O'C. and Marilyn M. hook up.  In Gypsy, I like the way the song "Let Me Entertain You" morphs, eventually becoming a stripper song.

Finally, I believe Judy Holliday did not like working with Vincent Minelli on Bells Are Ring (for which, I believe, she won a Tony Award).

Peter O'Toole played the Henry II in Beckett and Lion in Winter.

[Swithin]

18 minutes ago, chaya bat woof woof said:

Finally, I believe Judy Holliday did not like working with Vincent Minelli on Bells Are Ringing (for which, I believe, she won a Tony Award).

Judy did win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical that year. To further the irony, the other nominees were Julie Andrews for My Fair Lady and Ethel Merman for Happy Hunting. Sydney Chaplin won Supporting Actor for Bells Are Ringing over Stanley Holloway and Robert Coote both nominated for  My Fair Lady.

And to further the connection with this thread, Rosalind Russell was nominated for Best Dramatic Actress that year, for Auntie Mame. The winner was Margaret Leighton for Separate Tables.

My Fair Lady won six awards, including Best Musical; also Rex Harrison for Best Actor in a Musical.

(Actually, the acting category titles that year were "Distinguished..." not "Best.")

 

 

 

 

[Allhallowsday]

On 7/23/2020 at 10:44 AM, hamradio said:

"My Fair Lady" is a remake of "Pygmalion" (1938)

Well that's debatable. 

[jamesjazzguitar]

10 minutes ago, Allhallowsday said:

Well that's debatable. 

Calling My Fair Lady a "remake" isn't debatable at all,  but just non factual.      My Fair Lady is a musical adaptation of the Shaw play,   Pygmalion,  as well as a movie version of the play , My Fair Lady that was a major hit on Broadway.

I.e.  any so called links between the two films,  Pygmalion and My Fair Lady,  pale in comparison to any links between either of the  plays.

E.g.  Producers,  director, screenwriters could have made the film My Fair Lady without ever seeing the film,  Pygmalion.    That would NOT be possible with either of the plays (especially the play My Fair Lady).

PS:  I know you're aware of this,  but sadly others just love to call everything "remakes"! 

 

 

[Allhallowsday]

33 minutes ago, jamesjazzguitar said:

Calling My Fair Lady a "remake" isn't debatable at all,  but just non factual. 

Uhm... Okay.