Pygmalion's Fair Lady

(the beginning is on p. 188)

The rest of the story is very natural - the musical became a film with practi­cally the same cast except... except Julie Andrews, as everybody had expected when Warner Brothers, the well-known Hollywood company announced that they were going to make 'a movie' (the American word for 'film') on the basis of the musical.

The actress who was invited to play Eliza Doolittle was Audrey Hepburn, who by that time had already made a name for herself after starring in several films, among them Roman Holiday (1953, an Oscar for Best Actress), War and Peace and others. She also acted on Broadway and got a Tony award given to the best plays and theatre actors.

The world was in love with Audrey Hepburn, her clothes (both for everyday life and for her roles) were made by a top Paris couturier Hubert de Givanchy, she was rich and glamourous. Many people, however, were still all for Julie An­drews whom they had seen on the stage.

While the film was being made the whole team was interviewed several times by journalists. This is what an American interviewer wrote (note the Ameri­can spelling!):

" The movie keeps the 1912 London flavor of the original show, with Rex Harrison repeating his stage role as Professor Higgins and Audrey Hepburn playing the Covent Garden guttersnipe. Rex Harrison has grown accustomed to the face of Henry Higgins, having played the irascible professor 1, 006 times in the original New York and London productions. For his 1, 007^th performance, he spent " a grueling six months" on the movie. Rather than use recordings of his song numbers, he did them " live", with a microphone hidden beneath his necktie, to keep them spontaneous.

Unit eight

My Fair Lady may be the most profitable role ever for Audrey Hepburn. Pro­ducer Jack L. Warner paid a million dollars for her work. As the " deliciously low, horribly dirty" flower girl, she plays one of Shaw's favorite characters. " He wrote Pygmalion for the woman, " says director George Cukor. " Audrey has never had a part with this range before - from violence and bawdiness to humor and romance - and she loved it." Audrey Hepburn sings in the film, too, but a pro­fessional singer's voice will be dubbed in certain songs. " I took singing lessons from a New York vocal coach and pre-recorded all of Eliza's songs, " she ex­plains, " but the final result will be a blend."

The film was released in 1964 and has been extremely popular ever since. It won eight Oscars, but Audrey wasn't given one. Hollywood must have felt sorry for Julie Andrews and gave her the Oscar for her part in Mary Pop pins.

There are rumours that someone is thinking of a remake, which means that the story is thought to be of interest to new generations. It isn't clear, though, whether it is going to be a stage version or a film. Time will tell.

Names

Warner Brothers (Warner Bros.) [\уэ: пэ Audrey Hepburn ['o: dn ЪеЬз: п] Hubert de Givanchy ['hju: bat da 3i: 'va: r)Ji] Covent Garden ['kDvsnt ga: dn] George Cukor [d3o: d3 'kju: ka]

New Words

cast n зд. состав исполнителей (в данном спектакле) casting распределение ролей

flavour (Br.), flavor (Am.) [Tleiva] л аромат, зд. атмосфера, изысканность

guttersnipe ['gAtssnaip] n беспризорный, уличный ребенок, дитя улицы

irascible [i'rsesibl] ad/вспыльчивый, несдержанный

gruelling (Br), grueling (Am.) ['gruslir)] adj изнурительный

beneath [bi'ni: 9] prep под, ниже, adv внизу, ниже

spontaneous [spDn'temias] ad/спонтанный, одновременный, неподготов­ленный

violence [Vaiabns] n жестокость, насилие, зд. необузданность

bawdiness [todmis] n грубость, неотесанность

dub V3fl. озвучивать, дублировать

blend n смесь, зд. дубляж, совмещение

remake [, ri: 'meik] л переделка, зд. римейк, новая постановка

Part 2

Questions for discussion.

1. Why do you think the American journalist wrote: " Rex Harrison has
grown accustomed to the face of Henry Higgins"?

2. Have you seen the film My Fair Lady? If you have, what can you say
about it? If you haven't, would you like to see it? Why? Why not?

3. How do you understand Eliza's description as the " deliciously low,
horribly dirty" flower girl? Why do you think these words are in quotation
marks?

4. Have you seen any other films with Audrey Hepburn?

5. Have you been to any Russian productions of musicals? What do you
think of them?

EXERCISES

Find English equivalents in the text for the following (you may think of better Russian translations).

1. Однако многие были на стороне Джулии Эндрюс, которую они ви­
дели на сцене.

2....сыграв вспыльчивого профессора 1006 раз...

3. Вместо того чтобы использовать записи своих песен, он исполня­
ет их с микрофоном, спрятанным под галстуком, чтобы они звуча­
ли спонтанно.

4....никогда не играла роли с таким разнообразием состояний - от
необузданности и ругани до юмора и влюбленности.

5....но определенные песни будут дублированы профессиональной
певицей.

6. Должно быть, Голливуд сочувствовал Джулии Эндрюс...

7....это означает, что история, по-видимому, может быть интересна
новым поколениям.

VOCABULARY

Read and translate these sentences into Russian so as to have a better idea of how these words can be used.

cast v, n, casting n

1. 'To cast (cast, cast)' means to direct or turn,
e.g. She cast a glance in his direction.

2. So far, the police investigation has not cast any light on the crime.

Unit eight

3. Would you just cast an eye over (= run through / over) this letter before
I put it in the post?

4. 'To cast' also means to choose actors for a play or film,
e.g. Who is casting the play?

5. 'To cast' also means to make a vote in an election.

e.g. The TV news showed the vice-president casting his vote.

6. 'A cast' means a group of actors in a film or a play, while a group of
actors working in one theatre represent a company (e.g. a theatre /
dance company, The Royal Shakespeare Company).

7. The film has a strong cast that includes several famous names.

8. She was surprised to know that she had been invited to the casting
(= audition).

flavour n, flavouring n

1.1 love the dish! It has such a delicate flavour.

2. This bread hasn't much flavour.

3. They claim that their products are free from artificial colourings and
flavourings.

beneath prep, adv

Compare