My Fair Lady: Oscar Winner Arrives on 4K Ultra HD

Wilfrid Hyde-White and Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Courtesy of Paramount.

The Oscar-winning My Fair Lady, starring Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison, heads home on 4K Ultra HD Bluray for the first time.

While the film itself is only on the 4K UHD disc, all the bonus features are on the Blu-ray. A digital copy is also included with the release.

You’re probably wondering how a film produced by Jack L. Warner ended up in the hands of Paramount Home Entertainment. After all, Warner was one of the founders of Warner Bros.  The backstory to this is that Warner purchased the film rights from CBS for the Broadway musical but the rights to the negative reverted back at the end of the contract. This was before studios became a part of what would become a growing media conglomerate system. Viacom, which owned Paramount, would later merge with CBS and form ViacomCBS. But beyond this, Warner surprisingly went with the non-singing Hepburn over Broadway star Julie Andrews. Andrews, who went onto win the Oscar for Mary Poppins, also played Eliza Doolittle in both the Broadway and London productions.

The film took home eight Academy Awards in total including Best Picture. Other wins included Best Actor in a Leading Role; Best Director; Best Cinematography, Color; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color; Best Costume Design; Best Sound; and Best Music, Scoring of Music, Adaptation or Treatment. Most surprisingly, Audrey Hepburn was not among the film’s Oscar nominees. If I had to guess, Hepburn probably didn’t make the Academy’s cut because her singing was ultimately dubbed by Marni Nixon. If the film were being made today, I’m sure they would have gone with someone who could sing.

My Fair Lady‘s production design is absolutely stupendous. I love Mary Poppins but when you pit the films against each other, it’s not hard to see why the Oscars voters of the era preferred My Fair Lady. Both are classics in their own right and honestly, I would hate having to vote one over the other. For what it’s worth, Mary Poppins beat out this film at the box office by a mere million dollars.

My Fair Lady has also been honored by the American Film Institute in 1998 as one of the best 100 films of all time and again in 2006 as one of the greatest musicals. The film was also named to the top 100 passions.

Synopsis

This beloved adaptation of the Broadway stage hit stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle, a sassy, working-class London street vendor, and Rex Harrison as the elitist Professor Higgins, who attempts to turn Eliza into a sophisticated lady through proper tutoring. But, when the humble flower girl blossoms into the toast of London society, her teacher may have a lesson or two to learn himself.

Bonus Features

  • More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of My Fair Lady Then & Now
  • 1963 Production Kick-Off Dinner
  • Los Angeles Premiere 10/28/1964
  • British Premiere
  • George Cukor Directs Baroness Bina Rothschild
  • Rex Harrison Radio Interview
  • Production Tests
    • Lighting
    • Wilfred Hyde-White make-up
    • Rain/set
    • Covent Garden lighting test
    • Alt. Higgins/Pickering screen test
  • Alternate Audrey Hepburn Vocals
    • Show Me
    • Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?
  • Galleries
  • Comments on a Lady
    • Andrew Lloyd Webber
    • Martin Scorsese
  • Theatrical Featurettes
  • Story of a Lady
  • Design for a Lady
  • The Fairest Fair Lady
  • Trailers
  • Theatrical Reissue: Poster Illustration
  • Theatrical Reissue: Poster Illustration Reserved Seats Trailer
  • Theatrical Reissue: Poster Illustration Awards
  • Theatrical Reissue
  • Awards
    • Rex Harrison BFI Honor
    • Rex Harrison Golden Globe Acceptance Speech
    • Academy Awards Ceremony Highlights 4/5/65

DIRECTOR: George Cukor
SCREENWRITERS: Alan Jay Lerner
CAST: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, Stanley Holloway, Wilfred Hyde-White, Gladys Cooper, Jeremy Brett, and Theodore Bikel

Warner Bros. Pictures released My Fair Lady in theaters on October 21, 1964. The film is now available on 4K Ultra HD from Paramount Home Entertainment.

Danielle Solzman

Danielle Solzman is native of Louisville, KY, and holds a BA in Public Relations from Northern Kentucky University and a MA in Media Communications from Webster University. She roots for her beloved Kentucky Wildcats, St. Louis Cardinals, Indianapolis Colts, and Boston Celtics. Living less than a mile away from Wrigley Field in Chicago, she is an active reader (sports/entertainment/history/biographies/select fiction) and involved with the Chicago improv scene. She also sees many movies and reviews them. She has previously written for Redbird Rants, Wildcat Blue Nation, and Hidden Remote/Flicksided. From April 2016 through May 2017, her film reviews can be found on Creators.