My Fair Lady (1964)
92%RT Audience Score: 90%
Awards & Nominations: Won 8 Oscars
25 wins & 13 nominations total
George Cukor’s elegant, colorful adaptation of the beloved stage play is elevated to new heights thanks to winning performances by Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison.
My Fair Lady is the perfect movie for anyone who loves a good musical. The colors are so vibrant and the music is so catchy, you’ll be humming the tunes for days. And let’s not forget about Audrey Hepburn’s amazing performance as Eliza – she’s the real star of the show. Plus, who doesn’t love a good rags-to-riches story? It’s like Cinderella, but with more singing and less glass slippers. Trust me, you won’t regret watching this classic film.
Production Company(ies)
Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney Pictures,
Distributor
Warner Bros. Pictures
Release Type
Filming Location(s)
Stage 16, Warner Brothers Burbank Studios – 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA
MPAA / Certificate
G
Year of Release
1964
-
Color:Color
-
Sound mix:Dolby Surround 7.1
-
Aspect ratio:2.20 : 1
-
Runtime:2h 50m
-
Language(s):English
-
Country of origin:United States
-
Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Oct 21, 1964 Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 4, 2003
Genre(s)
Musical
Keyword(s)
Worldwide gross: $72,632,653
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $787,505,758
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 149
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 85,878,491
US/Canada gross: $72,560,711
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $786,725,741
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 33
US/Canada opening weekend: $354,764
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $3,846,461
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,140
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $17,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $184,319,274
Production budget ranking: 142
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $99,255,929
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $503,930,555
ROI to date (est.): 178%
ROI ranking: 691
Rex Harrison – Professor Henry Higgins
Stanley Holloway – Alfred P. Doolittle
Wilfrid Hyde-White – Colonel Hugh Pickering
Gladys Cooper – Mrs. Higgins
Jeremy Brett – Freddie Eynsford-Hill
Director(s)
George Cukor
Writer(s)
Alan Jay Lerner
Producer(s)
James C. Katz, Jack L. Warner
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 8 Oscars
25 wins & 13 nominations total
Academy Awards
All Critics (89) | Top Critics (33) | Fresh (84) | Rotten (5)
What an enchanting picture My Fair Lady turns out to be. Awash with color and sound, it does for the wide screen what the original in its pristine state did for the musical stage.
February 9, 2022
Claudia Cassidy
Chicago Tribune
TOP CRITIC
Of course what everyone wants to know first is, does Audrey Hepburn make a glowing, lovely Eliza as did her predecessor, Julie Andrews? She does.
February 9, 2022
Marjory Adams
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
I’ve recently added My Fair Lady to my list of favorite films!
February 9, 2022
Carol Stamy
Orlando Sentinel
TOP CRITIC
Hail to My Fair Lady. Long may she reign, and may she find place on one of Prof. Higgins’s towering bookshelves for the Oscar she will undoubtedly win.
February 9, 2022
Myles Standish
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
Two outstanding stars of the original, Rex Harrison, as Professor Henry Higgins, and Stanley Holloway, as the dust-man philosopher, Alfred Doolittle, repeat their roles with even greater persuasion.
February 9, 2022
Henry T. Murdock
Philadelphia Inquirer
TOP CRITIC
Good as are Holloway, Bikel, Jeremy Brett as a suitor; Gladys Cooper as Rex’s mother; Hyde-White and others, the film is a joint personal triumph for Harrison and Audrey Hepburn.
February 9, 2022
George Bourke
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
Hollywood has done right by our Eliza. With My Fair Lady, they have produced a film which has success clearly stamped on every foot of celluloid.
March 7, 2022
Felix Barker
Liverpool Echo
The truth of the matter is that, given a good production, My Fair Lady is impossible not to like; and the film is not simply a “good production.” It is an exceedingly wise and resourceful transformation of a magnificent stage show to the screen.
February 9, 2022
R.H. Gardner
Baltimore Sun
Just get yourself a ticket, for this is as nearly perfect a movie as Hollywood has ever crafted.
February 9, 2022
Stanley Eichelbaum
San Francisco Examiner
We are moved at the end in a profoundly romantic way, thanks in equal part to Mr. Loewe, Mr. Leaner and the incomparable Rex.
February 9, 2022
Kenneth Tynan
Observer (UK)
Audrey Hepburn was robbed… From the opening scene, [she] shows time and again why she should have been nominated for an Academy Award as best actress of the year.
February 9, 2022
Howard Pearson
Deseret News (Salt Lake City)
Having seen the original Broadway production eight years ago, Warner Brothers’ multi-million dollar transference in Technicolor to the Super Panavision 70 screen is worth every nickel spent.
February 9, 2022
Jack Marsters
Montreal Gazette…
Plot
Pompous phonetics Professor Henry Higgins (Sir Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself to transform a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society. His subject turns out to be the lovely Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), who agrees to speech lessons to improve her job prospects. Higgins and Eliza clash, then form an unlikely bond, one that is threatened by aristocratic suitor Freddy Eynsford-Hill (Jeremy Brett).
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Rex Harrison’s singing in the film is described as more spoken in rhythm than actual singing.
George-Cukor.jpg
