by Chris Marshall:
I don’t know whether or not I agree with Roger Ebert’s
assessment that My Fair Lady is one
of the greatest of all musicals, but I will admit that it has a certain charm
to it, a great deal of which is attributable to its lead actors. Audrey Hepburn
and Rex Harrison may seem like an odd couple on the surface, but as it turns
out, they have a great deal of chemistry.
Hepburn, as Eliza Doolittle, sells flowers on the streets
and is from the lowest of the lower classes. Henry Higgins, or ‘Ennery ‘Iggins
as Eliza calls him, is a linguist/phonologist/speech pathologist who believes
that, in six months’ time, he can train anybody to speak “properly.” Higgins
bets a fellow linguist, Pickering, that he will be successful.
Contrary to popular belief, though, or at least contrary to my belief, the speech lessons are not
originally Higgins’s idea. Instead, Eliza seeks him out for lessons, believing
that she will never be able to work in a flower shop unless she changes the way
she speaks. She even offers to pay, although she can only afford to pay one
shilling per lesson. Here is where the bet comes into play. Because Higgins won’t
do it for such a low price, Pickering offers to pay for the lessons up front,
on the condition that Higgins can “change” her in six months.
