High production value, great cast, catchy tunes - there's a reason this musical was so popular and is considered by many to be a classic today. The power of the music is undeniable, with songs like "I Could Have Danced All Night" leading the way. Audrey Hepburn is wonderful, even if she does lean in to that Cockney accent a wee heavily, and had her singing voiced dubbed (a mistake if you ask me). The costumes are a lot of fun to behold, and the supporting cast, including the visiting colonel (Wilfrid Hyde-White) and Liza's father (Stanley Holloway), provide necessary distraction from the main story, which is a little simple for 170 minutes. In fact, the father has two of my favorite songs in "With a Little Bit of Luck" and "Get Me to the Church on Time."
Unfortunately, the film is dominated by Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), a snobby elitist with a host of misogynistic feelings. Oh, he's admonished at times for his comments, but it's not nearly enough, and unclear he ever transforms. Among other things, he calls Liza a "presumptuous insect," "heartless guttersnipe," and "impudent hussy," but the misogyny perhaps peaks in "A Hymn to Him (Why Can't A Woman Be More Like a Man?)", with lyrics like "Why is thinking something women never do?" He gets some comeuppance but not a lot. In fact, he gets the girl. The ending is not only horrible and an affront, but it's counter to George Bernard Shaw's vision for Pygmalion and what he fought against decades after it debuted.
Meanwhile, we see the favorite view the wealthy have of class on display here: themselves as erudite, morally superior, and having worked hard to arrive at their station, and the poor as uneducated (Liza), immoral and/or lazy (Liza's father). The film might score its most points when Liza says "The difference between a lady and a flower girl isn't how she behaves, but how she is treated," but Liza's strength is muted and any intended satire of the rich lacks teeth. The dominant concept is how someone from the street could (and should) be "elevated" by becoming a society lady. And in listening to Higgins wax on about the English language and how it has conveyed "The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men," it's pretty certain he's an elitist relative to England as well.
As much as I liked watching this early on and readied myself to defend it against modern sensibilities, my opinion steadily declined, and dropped further with the ending. It certainly didn't help that it was so long and dragged either. I can see why some people adore it and why other people hate it, but for me it's somewhere in the middle.
Quote: "You mean, you'd sell your daughter for fifty pounds?" "Have you no morals, man?" "No, I can't afford 'em, Governor. Neither could you, if you was as poor as me."
Unfortunately, the film is dominated by Professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison), a snobby elitist with a host of misogynistic feelings. Oh, he's admonished at times for his comments, but it's not nearly enough, and unclear he ever transforms. Among other things, he calls Liza a "presumptuous insect," "heartless guttersnipe," and "impudent hussy," but the misogyny perhaps peaks in "A Hymn to Him (Why Can't A Woman Be More Like a Man?)", with lyrics like "Why is thinking something women never do?" He gets some comeuppance but not a lot. In fact, he gets the girl. The ending is not only horrible and an affront, but it's counter to George Bernard Shaw's vision for Pygmalion and what he fought against decades after it debuted.
Meanwhile, we see the favorite view the wealthy have of class on display here: themselves as erudite, morally superior, and having worked hard to arrive at their station, and the poor as uneducated (Liza), immoral and/or lazy (Liza's father). The film might score its most points when Liza says "The difference between a lady and a flower girl isn't how she behaves, but how she is treated," but Liza's strength is muted and any intended satire of the rich lacks teeth. The dominant concept is how someone from the street could (and should) be "elevated" by becoming a society lady. And in listening to Higgins wax on about the English language and how it has conveyed "The noblest thoughts that ever flowed through the hearts of men," it's pretty certain he's an elitist relative to England as well.
As much as I liked watching this early on and readied myself to defend it against modern sensibilities, my opinion steadily declined, and dropped further with the ending. It certainly didn't help that it was so long and dragged either. I can see why some people adore it and why other people hate it, but for me it's somewhere in the middle.
Quote: "You mean, you'd sell your daughter for fifty pounds?" "Have you no morals, man?" "No, I can't afford 'em, Governor. Neither could you, if you was as poor as me."