Ask George Bernard Shaw for the original Pygmalion.

My Fair Lady is adapted from Bernard Shaw's play The Flower Maid, formerly known as Pygmalion. Pygmalion, a Roman god and king of Cyprus, fell in love with the portrait of a girl he carved. Venus, the goddess of love, was moved by her sincerity, cast a spell to turn the statue into a living person and married Pygmalion. Xiao borrowed a name to describe the professor in the play. 1938 made a movie called Pygmalion.

1933 Bernard Shaw's visit to China. Representative works include Mrs. Warren's Occupation and Flower Maid, which are famous for their wit and humor. 1925 won the Nobel Prize. In his acceptance speech, he said, I was swimming in a river, and I got a lifebuoy when I swam to the shore. At first, I wish I hadn't got it. At that time, he was 69 years old. I didn't expect to live another 25 years and be 94 years old. His humor is a spiritual weapon to deal with many troubles in our lives. This is all artists. When we succeed, we may meet many herrings. When the performance was staged, the whole audience cheered. At the curtain call, someone underground said that Bernard Shaw was terrible, and you were showing off. Everyone thought he would be angry. Unexpectedly, he said, dear friend, my opinion is the same as yours, but the problem is. We often don't have Bernard Shaw's humor. Only he pointed out that the people who shouted extremely high were actually very few. That's it. He won everyone's applause instead of letting everyone see an angry Bernard Shaw. Bernard Shaw is a very interesting person.

Audrey Audrey Hepburn.

My Fair Lady (1964) My Fair Lady

Director:

George Cukor

Screenwriter:

[Name] Bernard Shaw (British/Irish playwright and co-founder of London School of Economics and Political Science)

Alan jay lerner (Musical)

Type: comedy/family/song and dance/love/plot

Release date:1964101October 2 1.

Slogan: the cutest movie!

Introduction:

Irina Kaptelova doolittle, a flower girl, is beautiful, clever and clever, but she was born in poverty. She sells flowers in the street every day to earn some money to support her family.

One day, Irina Captier Lova's sweet voice caught the attention of linguist Professor Higgins, who boasted that the flower girl could become a lady as long as she was trained by him. Irina Captier felt that what the professor said was an opportunity for her, so she volunteered to ask the professor to train her.

Professor's friend Pickering made a bet with him that if Irina Captier Lova was allowed to attend the ambassador's garden party as your wife in six months without being caught, Pickering would be willing to bear all the experimental expenses and tuition fees in Irina Captier Lova.

Higgins gladly accepted the challenge. He is not to be outdone. He started with the most basic pronunciation of letters. Higgins is an energetic scientific scholar. He can forget everything he is interested in. He is open-minded, with no malice at all, but like a child, he does not care about other people's feelings and severely cultivates Irina Captier Lova.

My Fair Lady is an immortal musical. Its most successful place is that the songs in it establish a distinct relationship between the characters and the protagonists, which is different from other musicals and focuses on promoting the plot through dialogue.

My Fair Lady premiered at Mark Herlinger Theatre in new york on March 1956. It has been on Broadway for nearly 10 years, with a total of 27 17 performances. It is the most popular musical in the 1950s. Judging from the premiere of My Fair Lady, it is obvious that My Fair Lady will become a phenomenon. It has not only set a new box office record in new york and other countries in the world, but also been put on the stage of many countries in the world and performed in many languages. My Fair Lady sold as many as 5 million records. My Fair Lady also won six Tony Awards, including Best Music Award and three nominations.

This success should be attributed to the Hungarian filmmaker Gabriel Paso, who spent the last two years of his life looking for the most suitable person and adapted George Bernard Shaw's 19 14 drama Pygmalion into a musical. When Bernard Shaw first created this play, he wanted to tell a Cinderella story with ironic eyes. The name Pygmalion satirizes the present with ancient Greek stories. A skilled sculptor fell in love with her after completing a perfect statue. While recalling the myth of "yue longmen the Carp" and lamenting the luck of "Cinderella", perhaps we should realize the deeper meaning of the story.

Although the play was deeply loved by Rogers, Hammerstein and Neo Coward, they rejected Paso. 1952, Paso found a young creative team, alan jay lerner and Frederic Loy. They succeeded.

As the heirs of Rogers and Hammerstein, the lyricist Lerner (19 18- 1986) and the composer Roy Wei (1904- 1988) claimed to have preserved their artistic style.

Lerner is the son of the founder of a chain store, but he has no interest in the family business. He once compiled advertising brochures and radio programs, and later he began to write lyrics. Royville is an Austrian-American composer. 1924, Roy came to America and worked in vaudeville for many years in obscurity. The two are destined to achieve something on the American music stage only by cooperating. Their first musical, Splendid Paradise, was a great success, for which Lerner won the new york Drama Forum Award, and then their My Fair Lady, The icing on the cake and Kiki were also successful. 195 1 year, Lerner's An American in Paris won the Oscar for Best Screenplay. Lerner has worked with many excellent composers, but the most memorable one is the cooperation with Roy. 1956 My Fair Lady is the most successful cooperation between them.

This play has created amazing miracles in art and business. Apart from the charm of musicals, the charm of Bernard Shaw's original works is naturally the reason for his great success.

The story takes Cinderella as the theme to defend English, the spiritual fortress of British and American culture, which can be said to be of great educational significance. The story took place in Edward VII's London. Irina Kaptelova is a beautiful street flower girl with a strange accent and rude manners. Her dress and behavior completely failed to attract the attention of young gentlemen. When Irina Captier Lova sold violets to the handsome young aristocrat Fred, she was rejected by the other party. Henry Higgins, a linguist who thinks he is a rebel in the upper class, had an argument with her about learning English pronunciation, which unexpectedly inspired Irina Captier's desire to learn English well and become a flower girl in a flower shop. Pickery, who came from India to visit Higgins, thought it was a good scientific experiment in English standard teaching, so he made a bet with Higgins to see if Irina Karp Tairova could become a lady of high society within six months, and she would appear in the ballroom dance of the embassy without being exposed.

Higgins accepted the challenge and began intensive and strict language training for Irina Captier Lova. At first, it was like casting pearls before swine, but once he got the hang of it, Irina Captier Lova made rapid progress. It's time for the horse race. It is a gathering place of high society. People dress fashionably and talk elegantly. Higgins also took Irina Captier Lova to the racetrack to test her performance in the past few months. After strict packaging, Irina Captier Lova attracted the attention of many nobles present and passed the first phonetic test. But when she cheered for the horse, her usual manners and accent came out again. Irina Captier Lova was very sad, but Higgins thought that his experiment was not far from success. At an embassy dance, Irina Captier became a high-class lady and socialite, which shocked the society and became the focus of the audience. Princes and nobles in many countries want to try their best to win her favor. The young aristocrat Friedrich fell in love with the mysterious Irina Captier Lova.

The eccentric Higgins was excited about turning his decadence into a magical achievement. At this point, Irina Captier Lova found that her temperament and identity are still not truly unified. Even though she changed her image and temperament, in Higgins' eyes, she is still a flower girl who is not respected and ignored, and she is still his trophy. Irina Captier Lova said angrily to the professor: "Without you, there will still be spring every year; Without you, there will still be fruit on the tree; Without you, art and music can still develop; Without you, the rain in Spain will still fall on the plains! "She decided to leave Higgins and go back to the street to find herself.

However, all her former friends in the same city regarded her as a lady of high society and denied her. Even her irresponsible father, Alfred, became a gentleman because of Higgins' arrangement, and was no longer a carefree hooligan. The desperate Irina Karp Tairova had to be guided by Higgins' mother. At this time, Higgins was upset by the disappearance of Irina Captier Lova, but out of male pride, he refused to admit his mistakes and express his feelings. With ambivalence, Higgins went home and listened to Irina Captier Lova's practice tapes to recall her voice and smile. Irina Captier Lova, who threatened not to see Higgins again, silently returned to him at this time. Higgins said happily and gently, "Irina Captier Lova, where are my damn slippers?" .

It is quite difficult to adapt Pygmalion into a musical. The main problem is how song and dance naturally blend into the comedy atmosphere, and there are also many small people to deal with. They decided to use Bernard Shaw's original dialogue more and expand the performance scene. In Pygmalion, Irina Captier Lova's course is short and pithy, but the musical can make a big fuss, and divide Irina Captier Lova's progress into three stages.

The first 2/3 of the whole play focuses entirely on Higgins' training of Irina Captier Lova, and there is only a relationship between the two, so the director can describe the interest of English pronunciation in detail and promote the beauty of noble and elegant English rhyme in the process of phonetic training. Song Like's "Most Rain in Spain Falls on the Plain" gives full play to the musicality and drama of the sound, which is the most pleasant essence of the whole play. In the process of learning standard English pronunciation, Eliza suddenly mastered the pronunciation skills. She said slowly, "The rain ... in Spain ... mainly stays in the plain" (this is a rhyme). Professor Higgins and Colonel Pickery didn't believe their ears at first. In response, the three of them danced the dizzy tango excitedly and finally lay panting on the sofa. This performance has become one of the most exciting and exciting scenes in western theaters. Another touching scene in the play is that Irina Kaptelova, wearing an Edwardian robe, has completely turned into an elegant lady, which has touched many generations of sentimental people.

Compared with the excellent art design, the two major scenes, the song and dance at the racecourse and the embassy dance, also make people feel beautiful, especially highlighting the beauty and noble temperament of Irina Captier Lova. The dance arranged an episode in which Hungarian linguist cabassi constantly tried to find out the truth about Irina Captier Lova's identity, making the climax of testing whether Irina Captier Lova passed the customs more interesting.

The play absorbed music and dance elements symbolizing the dignity and status of the British aristocratic society. Meanwhile, Lerner and Roy composed 16 songs in the style of Bernard Shaw. Among them, "I could have danced all night", "On the street where you live" and "I am used to her face" are particularly prominent.

It is worth mentioning that the choreographer of My Fair Lady is Hana Holm, an outstanding choreographer and teacher from the modern dance world. Hana Holm is an important figure in American modern dance. Her greatest contribution is to introduce the scientific theory and creative practice of German modern dance into the United States, bringing fresh blood and nutrition to the healthy development of American modern dance and becoming the pioneer of Americanization of German modern dance. It is because of Kiss Me, Kate and My Fair Lady that people gradually realize her talent. At the same time, she also contributed to the rise of "modern dance" in the music field in the 1930s and 1940s. My Fair Lady is her greatest success on Broadway.

1976 My Fair Lady (384 scenes) was rearranged, and George Ross won the Tony Award for Best Actor. Another version is 198 1 year. In recent years, West End of London has brought My Fair Lady back to the stage. The director is Twain Nunn and the choreographer is Matthew Bernie. Starring Jonathan Price and Martin Marcachen.

Although there are many versions of the play, the most memorable ones are the stage version in the 1950s and the film version in the 1960s, as well as their respective heroines. The Broadway musical My Fair Lady was a great success in Europe and America, which laid the foundation for the success of 1964 film of the same name.

As early as 1938, Gabriel Pascal, a British production company, put Bernard Shaw's famous play Pygmalion on the screen, which has been booming for many years. In addition, the successful Broadway music version 1956 made Warner foresee the profit. 1964, Jack L. Warner, the chief boss of Warner Corporation, made another amazing move, and resolutely spent a record $5.5 million to buy the right to shoot the popular Broadway musical My Fair Lady, and personally acted as the producer, and adapted it into a musical again.

Jack Warner also specially hired a "female film" master, and George Cukor, who won the reputation of a young star, served as the director of the film. In this film, the director has done an excellent job in scene arrangement and lens arrangement. For example, when Higgins and Pickery returned home, they celebrated the success of the experiment, but ignored a key turning point in the existence of Irina Captier Lova. In the lively scene, Irina Captier Lova stood quietly at the door and corner, looking like a statue. None of the close-ups fell on Irina Captier Lova, but her consternation and disappointment were expressed in body language. So when everyone left the room, the picture of her kneeling and crying was particularly sad and moving. The film later turned to a more socially critical theme: fighting for women's dignity. The male chauvinist Higgins used singing to promote men's strengths. After awakening her identity, Irina Captier Lova repeatedly expressed her position to Higgins, hoping that Higgins could understand and care more about her and treat her as a friend rather than an experiment. The ending of the film stays when Irina Karp Tairova returns to Higgins' home, but it doesn't clearly point out whether "everything will be fine, and all shall be well, jack shall have Jill", which not only avoids the chaos of happy reunion, but also leaves some imagination space for this "struggle between men and women".

My Fair Lady cost $32 million, which is a super-record luxury blockbuster in film history. The scenery is rich, the costumes are gorgeous and elegant, and the scenes such as banquets, dances, theaters and racetracks are gorgeous and beautiful. The film has a high artistic achievement and many beautiful songs, so it was nominated for 13 Oscar. Later, he competed fiercely with another musical, Happy Man, and finally won eight awards, including best film, best director, best actor, best art direction, best photography, best song, best costume design and best sound effect, and defeated Happy Man, which won five awards.

However, in the same year's Oscar competition, Audrey Hepburn, who played Irina Karp Tairova, lost to the "My Fair Lady" Julie Andrews on Broadway. Julie Andrews, an English singer and dancer, became famous for her role in My Fair Lady on Broadway. However, when considering who will play Mrs. Ai Lisha in the play, the boss Jack Warner still thinks that Andrews is not famous, and thinks that she is "not photogenic", and decides that Eliza, the flower girl, will play it instead of Audrey Hepburn, who is famous at the peak. They believe that the name Hepburn alone is enough to make this film a success. Therefore, Warner decided to give up the sensational actress Julie Andrews who played Irina Captier Lova on the stage, and invited the famous Audrey to play Irina Captier Lova for $ 654.38+0 million.

But coincidentally, Julie Andrews, who failed to shine on the screen again as a "My Fair Lady", was invited by Disney Film Company to star in Happy Boys, which was also a great success. Andrews finally won the title of best actress.

In My Fair Lady, Audrey's performance is colorful and effortless. Whether it's a simple and vulgar flower girl or a graceful and graceful celebrity, she plays it with ease, just right, and the light singing and dancing makes her give full play to her strengths. My Fair Lady made great achievements in the Oscar contest. However, while My Fair Lady won eight awards, including 1964, the best film rarely seen in Oscar history, Hepburn, as one of the pillars, didn't even get a nomination.

I wonder what Jack Warner will think when Hepburn, who can't sing, missed the Oscar and Julie won the honor for starring in another movie.

Many people think that the reasons why Audrey didn't win the prize mainly focus on two points. First, voters think that the songs in the film are sung by others, and dubbing themselves with other people's songs is "cheating"; Secondly, people in the film industry are indignant that Julie Andrews, a famous actor who plays Eliza on the stage, has not been used. The atmosphere of sympathy for Andrews spread throughout Hollywood, and Hepburn finally accepted their revenge everywhere.

Although the news shocked Hepburn, her kind nature made her feel that the result was fair, but Hepburn's fans were outraged, and even Andrews publicly said: "Hepburn should be nominated." In order to alleviate public anger, Hepburn was invited to present the best actor award of the year, and the winner of this award was Harrison, the actor who performed with Hepburn in My Fair Lady. Hepburn, generous, confident and happy, came all the way from Europe to present the prize. He also congratulated Andrews and even sent her a big bouquet of flowers afterwards. Hepburn himself received a large number of condolence telegrams, including one from another Hepburn katharine hepburn in Hollywood, which wrote: "Don't worry about losing the election, maybe one day you will win the prize for a role that is not even worthy of nomination." At the award ceremony, almost every winner of My Fair Lady said, "I want to thank Audrey Hepburn for her wonderful performance." Only rex harrison doesn't know what to say, because he is the hero in the two films My Fair Lady. He successfully partnered with Andrews on the stage and got along well with Hepburn in the film. At this moment, he doesn't know which "lady" to thank for holding the golden statue. Finally, he stammered, "I want to say, um ... two."

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