# I just watched My Fair Lady for the first time and I didn't like it. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 7, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149 "2014-03-07T21:21:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/1 "2014-03-07T21:21:15Z")
I count many film versions of musicals to be among my favorite films. I’ve never seen a stage production of The King and I, but I absolutely love the film as well as the music. The film versions of Oklahoma!, Carousel, and the Sound of Music are also well loved. So, I rented the DVD of My Fair Lady this week. My God, this is a long film. I’ve got no problem with long films, The Ten Commandments, Ben Hur, and Schindler’s List are 3 long movies I absolutely adore. My Fair Lady was disappointing, starting with Audrey Hepburn. I know most of the singing was dubbed, but I kept thinking, this is Audrey Hepburn? I found the story boring, neither Professor Higgins nor Eliza Doolittle to be interesting characters. Is the stage version as boring as the movie? Maybe it’s just my bias toward Rodgers and Hammerstein, but I’m not singing any songs from My Fair Lady one hour after finishing the film. I kept the DVD for an extra day, I’m giving it another shot tomorrow until I mail it back to Netflix. Think it will improve upon a second viewing? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/2 "2014-03-07T22:13:34Z")
> [@dalej42](#): > > I kept the DVD for an extra day, I’m giving it another shot tomorrow until I mail it back to Netflix. Think it will improve upon a second viewing? I guess one could grow accustomed to it. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/3 "2014-03-07T22:19:17Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I guess one could grow accustomed to it. I saw what you did there. > [@dalej42](#): > > Is the stage version as boring as the movie? Maybe it’s just my bias toward Rodgers and Hammerstein, but I’m not singing any songs from My Fair Lady one hour after finishing the film. The songs were great. And I’m not a ‘musical’ guy. **Shayna** and **Spiny Norman** took me to see _My Fair Lady_ at The Hollywood Bowl, with John Lithgow as Henry Higgins and Roger Daltry as Eliza’s dad. I thought John Lithgow made a better Henry Higgins, especially during the ‘reasonable man’ song. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/4 "2014-03-07T22:26:09Z")
I watched this last weekend! I’ll agree that as far as plot, pacing, and endings go I think the movie is a dud. I like the songs, and that’s pretty much it. The horse racing scene is so uncomfortable I can barely stand to watch it. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/5 "2014-03-07T22:35:59Z")
I find many of the MFL songs extremely catchy: “Wouldn’t it be Loverly,” “On the Street Where You Live,” and “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face” are the big ones for me. But that’s me. I have no idea why you would watch it again after not liking it once. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/6 "2014-03-07T22:38:42Z")
> [@jsgoddess](#): > > “On the Street Where You Live,” Which was performed by Jeremy Brett, who later played Sherlock Holmes. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/7 "2014-03-07T22:40:06Z")
I’d agree that as a movie it is awfully long but as a musical it is just awesome. You can listen to [the original Broadway cast recording](http://www.allmusic.com/album/my-fair-lady-original-broadway-cast-recording-mw0000197347), which was recorded in one day in one 14 hour session, and follow the complete plot from the songs alone. And if you don’t like _On The Street Where You Live_ you are dead inside. I even loved this song when I was a difficult teen and hardly the target audience for _My Fair Lady_. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/8 "2014-03-07T23:08:12Z")
I was thinking of listening to the original cast recording using spotify. For example, I don’t like the story of Carousel, but the music and songs are top notch. June is Busting out all Over and Clambake make the film worth watching. I found West Side Story to be a fairly boring film, and I’m still not 100% impressed with the songs lyrically wise, but the music is excellent. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/9 "2014-03-07T23:43:53Z")
> [@don\_t\_ask](#): > > And if you don’t like _On The Street Where You Live_ you are dead inside. It’s rather stalker-ish, don’t you think? ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2014, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/10 "2014-03-07T23:49:21Z")
My Fair Lady is the sort of inflated movie musical from the early-to-mid 60’s that gave inflated movie musicals a bad name, a trend that culminated in the wholly awful Hello Dolly. I’ve never seen it on the stage, so I can’t comment on that part. At least you have intermissions between acts so you can get up and move. You can see the same story, without the music, and very beautifully acted, if you watch the movie Pygmalion from 1938 with Leslie Howard as a much better Henry Higgins, and Wendy Hiller magnificent as Eliza Doolittle. It shows from time to time on TCM, or perhaps it is also available on Netflix. Roddy ---
**Author:** ![Baal\_Houtham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baal_houtham/32/13604_2.png) [@Baal\_Houtham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baal_Houtham)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/11 "2014-03-08T00:19:34Z")
I’m not a big fan of musicals, but enjoy My Fair Lady… mostly because Henry Higgins is a fine character. He’s a scientist. He does not suffer fools. He laughs at the adaptable morals of Liza’s father. He respects the accomplishments of his house guest, but relishes showing up the pretender at the ball. He could get along fine on the SDMB, offering snark and expert commentary. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/12 "2014-03-08T00:23:33Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > I watched this last weekend! I’ll agree that as far as plot, pacing, and endings go I think the movie is a dud. I like the songs, and that’s pretty much it. The horse racing scene is so uncomfortable I can barely stand to watch it. The plot? The plot is Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw, one of the all-time great plots to base a musical on! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/13 "2014-03-08T00:32:34Z")
Freddie gets the shaft in the movie. Eliza goes back to him in _Pygmalion_. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/14 "2014-03-08T00:47:26Z")
> [@pancakes3](#): > > . . . The horse racing scene is so uncomfortable I can barely stand to watch it. I’ve never seen it… What happens in that scene? ---
**Author:** ![the\_diego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@the\_diego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/the_diego)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/15 "2014-03-08T00:53:15Z")
If you can watch the choreography in “Ascot Gavotte” and not laugh or even smirk, there’s little hope for you. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/16 "2014-03-08T00:53:16Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > Freddie gets the shaft in the movie. Eliza goes back to him in _Pygmalion_. Not in the play. Shaw disdained any romantic hookup and Eliza ends the play by leaving Higgins to go to her father’s wedding. She does threaten to marry Freddie, but Higgins laughs at the concept. In his notes, Shaw wrote a very disdainful view of a marriage between the two, which becomes the basis of parts of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” BTW, if you get the chance, watch Wendy Hiller in the film version of **Pygmalion**. She is amazing as Eliza (especially in the scene – not in the musical – where she first [talks posh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToMYoE1O-Ew?t=44m0s) in front of a group of ladies). As for the musical, it’s one of the great Broadway scores, and the movie is a more than adequate representation (though admittedly it goes on too long). ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/17 "2014-03-08T01:06:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Not in the play. Shaw disdained any romantic hookup and Eliza ends the play by leaving Higgins to go to her father’s wedding. She does threaten to marry Freddie, but Higgins laughs at the concept. In his notes, Shaw wrote a very disdainful view of a marriage between the two, which becomes the basis of parts of “I’ve Grown Accustomed to Her Face.” I’m not sure if the “two” you’re referring to here are Eliza and Freddie or Eliza and Henry, but in his postscript to _Pygmalian_ Shaw wrote that Eliza and Freddie did get married and that Eliza and Henry never would have worked out. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/18 "2014-03-08T01:26:27Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > She is amazing as Eliza (especially in the scene – not in the musical – where she first [talks posh](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToMYoE1O-Ew?t=44m0s) in front of a group of ladies). It’s in the musical, for the most part; the setting was just switched from Mrs Higgins’ “at-home day” to Ascot. It was, however, much funnier in the original film. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/19 "2014-03-08T02:01:22Z")
Well the basic concept of the story is outdated and not really applicable to the US. Shaw’s point in the play was that the things that make up class distinctions in 19th century England, particularly language, are superficial. Henry took a flower girl, selling her flower over and over to fine gentlemen, and turned her into an upper crust lady by teaching her how to correctly pronounce and use words. It’s not a lesson that has much application in 21st America where class distinctions are not nearly so rigid and no so much based on language. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149/20 "2014-03-08T02:19:45Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > It’s not a lesson that has much application in 21st America where class distinctions are not nearly so rigid and no so much based on language. I can easily imagine a 21st century American version of _Pygmalian/My Fair Lady_ where Eliza is a black woman who speaks a “ghetto” African-American dialect. I think this would be a controversial adaptation, especially if Henry Higgins wasn’t black too, but it would make sense as far as American culture/stereotypes. A white Eliza with a “redneck” Southern accent might also work, but that can come across as quaint or folksy. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-just-watched-my-fair-lady-for-the-first-time-and-i-didnt-like-it/683149.md?page=2)