The rain in Spain stays mainly in the plain!
I’m not exactly sure what it means. For years, I thought it was a plane. I mean, the plane was invented in 1903. And the story I’m alluding to was set in London in 1912. It opens outside the Covent Garden opera house, where noted phonetics expert Henry Higgins (played by Rex Harrison) is taking notes on the accents of those around him, especially the Cockney flower seller Eliza Doolittle (the wonderful Audrey Hepburn).
So, theoretically, it could have been the rain on the plane.
Of course, I’m speaking about the film version of “My Fair Lady.” And, per today’s historical entry, it premiered on October 21, 1964 in New York. It would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture that year. (1965)
I love this film. It was probably my dad’s favorite movie, despite the despicable way that Henry Higgins treats Eliza Doolittle, and women in general. Henry is a bit of a pig. But underneath that misogynistic exterior is a person with some redeemable qualities.
Here are some things you may or may not know about the whole deal.
First of all, the role of Eliza Doolittle was originally played on Broadway by Julie Andrews. When they started gearing up for the movie, Andrews did not get the part because the producers didn’t think she was famous enough for the big screen.
But they considered several others, including Shirley Jones, Shirley MacLaine, Connie Stevens, and Elizabeth Taylor. I think they got it right with Audrey Hepburn.
So. Here is the ironic thing, after all of that. My Fair Lady swept the Oscars ceremony, winning eight in April 1965. The only big category it did not win was the Best Actress award. That went to Julie Andrews for her role in Mary Poppins.
The Academy must not have thought Hepburn’s acting wasn’t up to snuff. And the producers must have believed her singing wasn’t so good either because a “Ghost Singer” named Marni Nixon dubbed the vocals for 90 percent of Hepburn’s songs. (An item of note: Marni Nixon did a LOT of other singing for people in movies, including Maria in West Side Story and Marylin Monroe in Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, to name just two.)
Back to My Fair Lady.
I mentioned all the actresses that were considered for the role. But Rex Harrison was not a shoo-in for the professor. No. Other actors considered for the role of Henry Higgins were Noël Coward, Cary Grant, Rock Hudson, Peter O’Toole, Michael Redgrave, and George Sanders. When they asked Cary Grant why he turned down the role of Professor Henry Higgins, he said that his original manner of speaking was much closer to Eliza Doolittle. Regardless, I’m glad they chose stodgy Harrison.
I don’t know what he was like in real life, but he sure came across as an arrogant SOB on film. But behind the scenes, Harrison, who had given up smoking, greatly disliked that his female co-star smoked three packs a day. I can’t see Audrey Hepburn firing up every ten minutes. But.
Of course, My Fair Lady was based on Pygmalion, a 1913 play by George Bernard Shaw. I’ve never seen Pygmalion.
And finally, back then, in 1964, they spent $17 million to make the movie. My Fair Lady was the most expensive Warner Bros. movie produced at the time, but it went on to become one of the biggest-grossing movies of 1964. And it premiered on this date. “The rine in spine sties minely in the pline.”
“”””””””””””””
“If you’ve got nothing to dance about, find a reason to sing.”
― Melody Carstairs
“”””””””””””””
“Sometimes not speaking says more than all the words in the world.”
― Colleen Hoover, Ugly Love
“”””””””””””””
“Remember not only to say the right thing in the right place, but far more difficult still, to leave unsaid the wrong thing at the tempting moment.”
― Benjamin Franklin
“”””””””””””””
Is it the plane, or just plain? Arrrrrggghhhh.
