in America they haven't used it for years

[fahye]

OH MAN. GUYS.

I think the reason I like House so much is that Rex Harrison's Henry Higgins did it first and with more aplomb. And with phonetics.

Also, I don't care how shabby Eliza is meant to look at the beginning, I want that green frock coat.

Comments

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

Have you seen the non-musical adaptation that GBS directed? Wendy Hiller was a terrific Eliza.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

No, I haven't! Does it follow the plot of the musical or the play?

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

It follows the play very closely - Bernard Shaw wrote the screenplay himself, adding the ballroom sequence which wasn't depicted in the play.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

Does she marry Freddy? I was rather ambivalent about the play because a) no singing, and b) I could not gather the requisite amount of enthusiasm about Freddy. I fail at feminism.

[the-grynne.livejournal.com]

Well, GBS says at the back of my copy of the play that the marriage is "economic, not romantic", which is pretty much my idea of a marriage, although I'm like you in meh-ness over poor useless Freddy. I do get a kick out of the idea of Higgins, Pickering, Eliza and Freddy all living together on Wimpole Street, though.

The ending of the film is more ambiguous. Definitely more tilted towards Eliza/Higgins, although I'd be most happy with her not marrying anybody at all.

[fahye.livejournal.com]

I do see the pointlessness of focusing on the romantic elements of the play, considering what Shaw was trying to accomplish with it, but I can't help it! The film was a large part of my childhood and I didn't care too much about the social commentary, I just found Freddy to be thoroughly dull (and even now, I like my fictional relationships to be based on more than surface attraction and economic sense).

I do like the film's ending, and that it's not really a statement of anything except that she's decided not to settle for Freddy. And I do like the idea of her having her own life, as unlikely as that would be for the time period.

[lilyfarfalla.livejournal.com]

"What a frenzied moment that was..."

It makes me want to dress up in all of my black and white finery and go to horse races!