My Fair Lady (1964 Film Soundtrack) [Soundtrack]

Nixon, one of the most underrated and briliant sopranos of our time, brings her unique personality to the songs, which were beautifully done by Andrews on the OBC. Nixon has a focussed, controlled electricity to her singing that sets her apart from Andrews.

Andrews and Nixon are both excellent, just different, and fans of the show should own both albums.

Is JVLPK aware that MY FAIR LADY is an *American* musical? After hearing the hilarious American accents attempted at times in the West End, I think JVLPK should cut Nixon a little slack. I'll never forget Denis Quilley doing Arthur Miller's early play ALL MY SONS in the West End. He and his stage family, supposedly middleclass suburban Americans, all sounded like Chicago mobsters out of a '30s gangster movie. It was like an American actress trying to impersonate Princess Diana by talking cockney. LOL.

Just as tin-earred American actors imagine that one generic English accent will do for all British characters, English actors sometimes return the favor. There are thousands of American accents across this huge continent, just as there are endless types of British accents. Actors need to learn to match the accent to the character.

On the other hand, Marni's voice sounds smooth and natural - matching Audrey's acting. Her voice has a strength, vibrancy, and enchantment to it that can't be matched. Her "I Could Have Danced All Night" is a good example. While Julie's version of the song is quiet and introspective, Marni's is joyful and soaring. In addition, Marni's "Just You Wait" and "Without You" sound sweeter and more natural than Julie's renditions.

The rest of the soundtrack is fine to me. I think that Bill Shirley has the best singing voice as Freddy compared to the other two albums. Stanley Holloway is solid. Rex Harrison sounds about the same here as in the other albums - but I'm not really a fan of him. I think that his talk - singing is a little overrated and from what I read, he was about as abrasive in real life as the character he was playing in the movie. The additions of some acting scenes (the "C'mon Dover" yell from Audrey) are nice. The orchestra sounds the best here.

I highly recommend this album, particularly because of Marni's beautiful vocals - but the rest of it is nice, too. Only the sound quality is a little weak. It's too bad that Audrey couldn't get her singing voice to the level that the filmakers wanted her to be.