She meets her father, who has been left a large fortune by the wealthy American to whom Higgins had recommended him, and is resigned to marrying Eliza's stepmother. Eliza tries to return to her old life but finds that she no longer fits in. Outside, Freddy is still waiting ('On the Street Where You Live (Reprise)') and greets Eliza, who is irritated by him as all he does is talk ('Show Me'). This and his callous treatment of her, especially his indifference to her future, causes her to walk out on him, but not before she throws Higgins' slippers at him, leaving him mystified by her ingratitude ('Just You Wait (Reprise)'). After he dances with Eliza, he declares that she is a Hungarian princess.Īfterward, Eliza's hard work is barely acknowledged, with all the praise going to Higgins ('You Did It'). Also present is Zoltan Karpathy, a Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins, who is an impostor detector. Higgins then takes Eliza to an embassy ball for the final test, where she dances with a foreign prince. At Ascot, she meets Freddy Eynsford-Hill, a young upper-class man who becomes infatuated with her ('On the Street Where You Live'). Higgins partly conceals a grin behind his hand. She makes no progress, but just as she, Higgins, and Pickering are about to give up, Eliza finally 'gets it' ('The Rain in Spain') she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper-class accent, and is overjoyed at her breakthrough ('I Could Have Danced All Night').Īs a trial run, Higgins takes her to Ascot Racecourse ('Ascot Gavotte'), where she makes a good impression initially, only to shock everyone by a sudden lapse into vulgar Cockney while cheering on a horse. Higgins recommends Alfred to a wealthy American who is interested in morality.Įliza endures Higgins' demanding teaching methods and treatment of her personally ('Just You Wait'), while the servants feel both annoyed with the noise as well as pity for Higgins ('Servants' Chorus'). Higgins is impressed by the man's honesty, his natural gift for language, and especially his brazen lack of morals. He shows up at Higgins' house three days later, ostensibly to protect his daughter's virtue, but in reality to extract some money from Higgins, and is bought off with £5. Doolittle, a dustman, learns of his daughter's new residence ('With a Little Bit of Luck'). Higgins agrees and describes how women ruin lives ('I'm an Ordinary Man').Įliza's father, Alfred P. Pickering is intrigued and offers to cover all the attendant expenses if Higgins succeeds. The following morning, Eliza shows up at Higgins' home, seeking lessons. Eliza's ambition is to work in a flower shop, but her accent makes that impossible ('Wouldn't It Be Loverly'). Higgins boasts he could teach even Eliza Doolittle, the young flower seller woman with a strong Cockney accent, to speak so well he could pass her off as a duchess at an embassy ball. At the Covent Garden fruit-and-vegetable market one evening, he meets Colonel Hugh Pickering, himself a phonetics expert who had come from India to see him. In London, Professor Henry Higgins, a scholar of phonetics, believes that the accent and tone of one's voice determines a person's prospects in society ('Why Can't the English?'). In 2018, the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.' American Film Institute included the film as #91 in its 1998 AFI's 100 Years.100 Movies, as #12 in its 2002 AFI's 100 Years.100 Passions, and as #8 in its 2006 AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals. A critical and commercial success, it became the second highest-grossing film of 1964 and won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Actor. The film stars Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle-replacing Julie Andrews from the stage musical -and Rex Harrison as Henry Higgins-reprising his role from the stage musical-with Stanley Holloway, Gladys Cooper and Wilfrid Hyde-White in supporting roles. With a screenplay by Alan Jay Lerner and directed by George Cukor, the film depicts a poor Cockney flower-seller named Eliza Doolittle who overhears an arrogant phonetics professor, Henry Higgins, as he casually wagers that he could teach her to speak 'proper' English, thereby making her presentable in the high society of Edwardian London. My Fair Lady is a 1964 American musical comedy-drama film adapted from the 1956 Lerner and Loewe stage musical based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 stage play Pygmalion.

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