Movie My Fair Lady (1964) American 4K Blu-ray Edition Cover
As early as Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) filming Love in the Afternoon (1957), she flew from Paris to Broadway in New York to visit her friend Nissbit, who was performing the musical My Fair Lady.
Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison (1908–1990) performed the musical at the time.
Image of Audrey Hepburn in the film Lady (1964).
The role of "Flower Girl Eliza Doolittle" in the musical "Lady of the Flowers" was played by Julie Andrews from March 15, 1956 to September 26, 1962, during the Broadway performance, and was performed for 6 years and 6 months, with 2717 performances.
Audrey Hepburn was caught by Los Angeles Times reporter Edwin Schulett while on the backstage of the musical Lady, and wrote in a casual interview, "She expected her husband Mel Ferrer (1917-2008) to play the professor, and she played a flower girl in the middle and lower class of London, and the roles of the two in War and Peace (War and Peace( 1956) were exactly opposite."
In 1956, Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison starred on broadway for the musical Lady
In December 1962, Audrey Hepburn agreed to go to France with her old lover William Holden (1918-1981), which she did in order to fight back against Mel Feller's "stealing around" affair.
Audrey Hepburn this time played the female typist of a writer (William Holden) in Paris Holidays / When It Sizzles (1964).
Stills from the film Paris Holiday (1964), Audrey Hepburn and William Holden
Although William Holden privately wants to regain Audrey Hepburn, Audrey Hepburn is clearly just using him, of course, Audrey Hepburn is no longer a fledgling, she is now definitely a box office guarantee, and William Holden is clearly not on the same level as her.
Also in 1963, Hollywood's Warner bought the rights to the Blockbuster Broadway musical "The Lady" (1964) for a record $5.5 million.
The filming of "Lady" was the number one topic in Hollywood that year, and the musical of the same name had already caused a huge sensation on Broadway, and the production cost of more than ten million US dollars was rare at the time.
But Warner didn't take the stage "Eliza Doolittle" — Julie Andrews , preferring to give Audrey Hepburn $1 million — and she became the second actress in the world to receive a million dollars, the first elizabeth Taylor Elizabeth Taylor, who played Cleopatra (1963), and asked her to star in the most luxurious musical film ever made — rich sets, luxurious costumes, beautiful graphics, and singing and dancing.
Adapted from George Bernard Shaw Shaw's (1856-1950) famous play The Flower Girl, the film tells the story of A poor flower girl named Eliza Doolittle, who is born beautiful but full of London slang and does not know etiquette, and is carefully transformed into a noble, elegant and shocked high-society lady in half a year due to a well-behaved linguistics professor (Rex Harrison) who bets with people.
But the two had a deep grudge, he hated her vulgarity and ignorance, and she couldn't stand his contempt for her personality.
Once the experiment was successful, the two looked at each other angrily.
And once they break up, they feel indispensable for a day because they have long been accustomed to each other's voice. In the end, the two finally met again and lived together on an equal footing.
Rex Harrison's image in the film The Lady (1964).
Images of Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison in the film Lady (1964).
When Jack Warner (1895–1981) signed Audrey Hepburn as the heroine of Lady, some reporters questioned why he kept the show's two male protagonists, Rex Harrison and Stanley Hollow Stanley Holloway (1890-1982), who played Eliza Doolittle's father, but did not leave Julie Andrews. But history is on his side: replacing actors in stage plays with well-known movie stars is not unique, especially in cabaret.
Poster for the Czech version of the film Lady (1964).
On June 4, 1963, at a press dinner at the studio, Jack Warner formally introduced the film's actor, director George Cook George Cukor (1899-1983) and art and costume designer Cecil Beaton (1904-1980), one of the show's original Broadway crew members, who met Audrey Hepburn in London in July 1953.
In 1963, the film Lady of the Woods (1964) was launched, from left: Jack Warner, Audrey Hepburn, and Rex Harrison
The preparation, set and costumes for Lady Of The Lady are a huge undertaking, and the thought spent on Audrey Hepburn's shoes is no less than the care spent on her costumes. In March of the same year, she wrote a note to George Cook asking that the shoes must be measured precisely: "Because my feet have been tortured since I learned ballet." ”
In fact, in May of that year, Audrey Hepburn, her son Sean Hepburn Ferrer H. Ferrer and the nanny arrived in the house they had rented for them in Los Angeles.
Set of the film Lady Of The Dead (1964), from left: Rex Harrison, Audrey Hepburn, George Cook
Audrey Hepburn practiced singing every day under the guidance of her singing teacher Harper Mackay and her pronunciation teacher Peter Radvoged; the former taught her music, the latter teaching her English in a high-and-low London accent.
Audrey Hepburn's husband, Mel Feller, visited them occasionally and did everything in his power to find a variety of roles to play.
"We've been hearing rumors about Audrey Hepburn's marriage." Director Fred Zinnemann's wife (1907-1997) wrote to his girlfriend.
Audrey Hepburn had fallen out with Mel Ferrer during the filming of the film Lady (1964).
She was worried about Audrey Hepburn "because she hadn't been heard from all along". Throughout that year, Audrey Hepburn had almost cut off contact with most of her friends, not only because she was busy with work, but also because, as Mrs. Fred Kinneman had speculated, her marriage was extremely unhappy.
Director George Cook, screenwriter Alan Jay Jay Lerner (1918-1986) and costume director Cecil Beaton all went to Audrey Hepburn's residence to welcome her, and she suddenly asked, "Will you use my singing voice in the movie?" Well, her singing voice will be used in multiple songs, but some will use the "gunner" song.
This relieved her because she feared that her singing voice would be replaced on the screen by a professional singer: if it was she who spoke and someone else was singing, the audience would feel harsh; and if they asked the singer to sing Eliza Doolittle's song, they would not be loyal to the role.
In fact, Audrey Hepburn's contract stated that the studio could replace Audrey Hepburn's voice with someone else's singing voice.
Images of Audrey Hepburn and Wilfrid Hyde-White in the film Lady of the Woods (1964).
In fact, everyone knows the legal effect of this contract, but sometimes for the sake of "art" and to prove their ability, they always want to "show their inappropriate talents more forward".
The behind-the-scenes singing should have been clear before signing the contract with Audrey Hepburn, but it was still more "euphemistic" when dealing with this contract, after all, letting Audrey Hepburn join the project attracted more attention and traffic than having Julie Andrews join in.
Images of Audrey Hepburn and Brian Mosley Bryan Mosley in the film Lady (1964).
Although Audrey Hepburn's singing voices in Sweet Sister Funy Face (1957) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) fit her role well, she didn't sing in person, and she sang a handful of tracks, but in Lady Tiffany' backcount.
The large singing voice in the movie "Lady" not only shows the joys and sorrows of the flower girl Eliza Doolittle, but also the singing voice is the most crucial part of the film, in addition to the performance.
Images of Audrey Hepburn and Jeremy Brett in the film The Lady (1964).
Obviously, the director of "Old Gangster" George Cook is aware of the intention of the boss Jack Warner, that is, to use the image of Audrey Hepburn and box office appeal, and the heroine's singing has long been identified with finding a "behind-the-scenes singing".
But in order to stabilize Audrey Hepburn's passion for the role, George Cook and Jack Warner always praised Audrey Hepburn on the rehearsal floor for her singing voice so beautifully, which inevitably gave Audrey Hepburn the illusion of rehearsal.
Images of Audrey Hepburn and Jeremy Brett in the film Lady of the Shell (1964).
At the same time, Audrey Hepburn also promised: "I will try to improve my singing standards and try to attend classes according to your requirements." It's my job to learn to sing and dance one by one.
In fact, they deliberately deceived her, which seriously undermined the effect of the heroine Eliza Doolittle in the film, and also undermined the artistic achievements of the film.
Stills from the movie The Sound of Music (1965), by Mani Nixon
Audrey Hepburn was practicing honestly every day, while director George Cook and screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner met privately with singer Marni Nixon (1930-2016), who sang behind deborah Kerr (1921-2007) (The King and Me and The Golden League) and Natalie Wood Natalie Wood (1938-1981) (West End Story).
Set of the film Lady (1964), George Cook (left)
The behind-the-scenes and quality-assured "Voice of Hollywood" received only $420 in the scoring of Deborah Chloe in The King and I (1956), and the soundtrack to "The King and Me" could not be sold at all, and the filmmaker 20th Century Fox also threatened that if she let others know about her singing, she would not want to hang out in Hollywood in the future.
On the set of the film Lady (1964), George Cook and Audrey Hepburn
But then, her work became an open secret in Hollywood. The plot of the film Singles' in the Rain (1952) is vividly displayed in her.
At the request of director George Cook and screenwriter Alan Jay Lerner, Mani Nixon auditioned a few segments with the score in person, and he decided on the spot that Marnie Nixon would sing behind audrey Hepburn, but asked Mani Nixon to keep his mouth shut.
On the set of the film Lady (1964), Jack Warner (right), George Cook (left) and the creative staff
At the same time, he also told the boss Jack Warner about the decision, and Jack Warner listened and said, "It was the right decision."
On May 20, Warner's assistant supervisor Cui Lin sent a secret letter to the production staff of "Lady Miao": "Before June 24, the stand-in for Eliza Doolittle's voice must be ready, fully rehearsed, and ready to play." ”
On the set of the film Lady (1964), the crew was spraying Audrey Sherley herself with water to prepare for filming
Audrey Hepburn (and Cecil Beaton) was "still preoccupied with singing lessons" and unaware of the incident, and on July 9, she met with George Cook, music director André Previn (1929-2019), the orchestra, and several executives to prepare pre-recorded songs. "For Audrey Hepburn, it was a tough test." Cecil Beaton wrote in his diary.
On the set of the film Lady (1964), costume designer Cecil Beaton (left) examines the costumes on Audrey Herselves
Audrey Hepburn hangs her throat for half an hour every morning, but Marnie Nixon has already started recording all of Eliza Doolittle's repertoire in "The Lady."
Because Marnie Nixon was very professional in this regard, the recorded tracks were all recorded in less than two weeks, and although she was "licensed" in today's terms, she was obviously superior to Audrey Hepburn's voice.
Eliza Doolittle's singing voice is voiced by Marnie Nixon, with only a few places interspersed with Audrey Hepburn's own voice– apparently so that Warner can claim that Audrey Hepburn uses her own vocals in the film, rather than being a pure lie.
When Audrey Hepburn learned the truth on the day of the actual shooting, she showed no signs of frustration or anger — just kept doing her job, even George Cook and music director Andrei Pleven thought it was incredible.
According to Andrei Pleven's statement to the media at the time, the film asked Mani Nixon to sing behind the scenes because "Audrey Hepburn herself can't sing ... But the heroine of the play must sing like a bird, especially since Rex Harrison is a rap master."
Apparently, Jack Warner and George Cook had Andre Plainn scapegoat for the affair, after all he was the music director in the film.
Audrey Hepburn and Andrei Pleven take photos at a studio party celebrating the filmIng of The Lady (1964).
The songs recorded by Audrey Hepburn retain only two of the songs in the film, "Isn't It Beautiful?" and Show Me.
Later, it was suggested that Audrey Hepburn's singing, although very different from Julie Andrews and Mani Nixon, could add to the realism of the characters.
As a result, as soon as the film was released, as long as Eliza Doolittle switched from rap to singing, it felt very incongruous.
This difference in vocal style gives Lady a feeling that should never have been there: the viewer perceives the unreality of the film's footage and sees that although it is Still Audrey Hepburn who remains on the screen, Eliza Doolittle has disappeared from the screen.
Audrey Hepburn may never have thought of it that way, but when she finished Making Lady in December 1963, she faced this transformation: she knew her marriage was hopelessly out of luck, but she didn't plan to divorce her, and she bravely tried to save the inevitable ending.
Images of Rex Harrison and Wilfred Hyde-White in the film Lady (1964).
Sean Hepburn Feller later said of his parents' situation at the time: "It was very difficult and there was a lot of pressure because his career was at its peak and she was still popular. ”
After its release on December 25, 1964, The Lady of the Woods reached a global box office of $72.66 million. Some people think that if the film had been entirely sung by Audrey Hepburn herself, perhaps the box office would have been higher.
Audrey Hepburn was 34 years old when she starred in the film, and her acting skills were more skilled than in Roman Holiday (1953) and Breakfast at Tiffany (1961), and the performance was handy and comfortable, and the characters were portrayed vividly and beautifully, and the gestures were all drama, and every smile was all drama.
One New York journalist wrote: "Her wit is spontaneous, and her bad temper like a volcanic eruption really teaches people to hold their breath." ”
Set of the film Lady of the Shell (1964), Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison
The New York Times spared no effort in praising her: "Audrey Hepburn showed a keen and vivid acting skill for the characters in the play... In the poignant and satirical jockey scene, she is as beautiful and unique as a comedy; in the scene at the embassy ball, she is cold as frost; at the end of the film, she longs for love, very sharp. ”
Even The New Yorker praised Audrey Hepburn's performance: "Her essence and identity make her Elizabeth Doolittle, although she interprets it very differently from Julie Andrews, is not inferior."
On February 23, 1965, the American Academy of Motion Picture Technology announced the oscar nominations in Hollywood. With 12 nominations, Audrey Hepburn is the only actor out of the film's entire cast to go unnomined in the four major performance awards.
Among those nominated for the Award for Actress were Julie Andrews' The Merry Poppins, Sophia Roland Sophia Loren's The Italian-Style Marriage/The Trickmonio All'Italiana, Anne Bancroft Bancroft's (1931-2005) The Lying Man/Mrs. The Pumpkin Eater, And Debbie Bancroft's The Pumpkin Eater. Reynolds Debbie Reynolds (1932-2016) 'The Unsinkable Molly Brown' and Kim Stanley's (1925–2001) Meet on a Wet Afternoon.
The film Lady (1964), from left: Audrey Hepburn, Rex Harrison, George Cook
Audrey Hepburn wrote to George Cook: "As for the nomination, I think I am the only one who is drunk and awake. Everyone seems to be looking for reasons to explain, but it seems to me very simple – my performance is not at the level. I firmly believe that even if someone holds a grudge against Jack Warner or me, or wants to make sure Julie Andrews wins, as long as I'm good enough, they're just in vain.
However, George Cook wrote back to her, only to protest, believing that she was not nominated because Warner did not let the film be released in most theaters in Los Angeles before it was nominated.
At the 37th Academy Awards in 1965, Audrey Hepburn and Julie Andrews
But Audrey Hepburn knew very well that the promotion of "Lady" was enough, and she basically went to most of the theaters for the time stipulated in the contract.
As The "big director" of Hollywood, George Cook's slippery slippery, that is well known, but Audrey Hepburn was "inexperienced" when he confronted him, and let him go, Marilyn Monroe's last unfinished film "On the Verge of Collapse/Something's Got to Give" (1962) was also "shelved" because he "stirred".
At the 37th Academy Awards in 1965, Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison
There is also a possibility that in the interaction between the two people, they are all confused and confused, saying their own words, leaving a basis for future generations.
Leaving aside the behind-the-scenes singing, Audrey Hepburn played a wonderful role in the film, whether it was a simple and uneducated flower seller or a graceful and luxurious lady, she played it with ease and just right, and the light song and dance were her strengths.
This proves that Audrey Hepburn's artistic attainment has reached a very high level.
Unfortunately, although the film was unanimously praised by critics and audiences, became one of the masterpieces of musical theater, and won eight Awards at the 37th Academy Awards in 1965, the most accomplished Audrey Hepburn was not even nominated.
The reason for this was that many critics at the time were limited by the achievements of the musical, believing that Eliza Doolittle in the film should have been played by Julie Andrews, so they gave the Academy Award for Best Actress of that year to Julie Andrews, who starred in Mary Poppins (1964) Mary Poppins.
Many of Audrey Hepburn's fans are outraged that "there is an anti-Hepburn camp in Hollywood."
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