Customer Reviews

My Fair Lady (1964 Film Soundtrack)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This version is definately my favorite. Loved the movie and even though Audrey Hepburn does not really sing the vocals, it is still a very entertaining show. It was hard to locate this CD but happy to have found it. Highly recommended.

JAVLPK cracks me up. He sniffs that Marni Nixon sings with an "American twang", which is ridiculous. She doesn't, and Hepburn wasn't English either, by the way ...

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.

I have both of the Julie Andrews CDs and the Film Soundtrack. While I have to admit that the Soundtrack does not have as good of a sound as the other two, this is still my favorite version. I think that Marni Nixon is a wonderful singer - and a bit underrated. While Julie's voice in the other two albums is certainly sweet and pretty, she sounds wooden in the Broadway Album and very hammy in the London version. I think Julie put more emotion and better acting in her later work like "The Sound of Music" or "Victor/Victoria".

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.

I am sorry but i am a Julie Andrews fan a big one and although Audrey did a good job of making Eliza her own its the singing thats bad. Marni Nixon is an American and so sings with an American twang in her voice and also is not an actress and so did not put enough emotion and depth in to the lyrics as she sang, i don't thing she understud them. Not like Julie.
This record got four stars from me purley for Rex Harrison as his singing and emotion he puts into his songs make this CD worthy of the cost.
Listen to the broadway version with Julie though and see what i mean about Marni. Julie puts a good amount of energy in her songs especially the I Couid Have Dance All Night number.

Two reasons to buy this version of My Fair Lady: Marni Nixon and Rex Harrison. Marni Nixon sings the lead. Her voice was dubbed over Audrey Hepburn's image. Marni may be the most under-appreciated vocalist of the 20th century. (She also sang the role of Maria, over Natalie Wood's image, in the film version of West Side Story.) As much as I love Julie Andrews and as great as she was in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady, I really think that (at least this recording of) Marni Nixon is the definitive Eliza Doolittle. And Rex Harrison, and ONLY Rex Harrison, knows how to sing the greatest love song ever written for a man: "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face". OK, maybe "greatest" isn't the right word. "Singularly and uniquely suited to a man" is a better description of this song and Harrison does it the right way, expressing just the right combination of anger, frustration, self-discovery, longing and need, without any of the sentimentality found in nearly every other recording of the song. Every woman who wants to understand men needs to listen carefully to this recording of this particular song. And everyone who has any interest at all in American musical theatre needs to own this CD. The songs not only define the characters and highlight the most important moments in the play, they also document, and are often the context within which, the characters develop, grow and change. That is what the music in a musical, like the music in an opera, is supposed to do. That goal is achieved magnificently in this musical and you will not find a better performance anywhere else. (BTW: Marni Nixon ultimately got what she deserved, the starring role in a Broadway revival of My Fair Lady. This particular revival was never, to my knowledge, recorded. It hit the boards in the late '60's, around the time of the release of the film version of The Sound of Music. Ironically, Marni Nixon played the role of one of the nuns in that film. Everyone was a little worried about the first meeting between Marni and Julie Andrews, who was known to be bitter that she was not given the role of Eliza in the film version of My Fair Lady. However, Ms. Andrews, as always a class act, simply walked across the set, took Mani's hands, and told her how much she loved her work.)

I think this soundtrack of "My Fair Lady," is absolutely beautiful. If you love the m,ovie with Audrey Hepburn, then you will really love this as it has all the songs. It's worth ten stars, and has delightful tunes, that one can listen to again and again.

I'll probably be a little partial in this review as Audrey Hepburn is one of my very favorite actresses and quite frankly, the movie captures the essence of the play brilliantly. But this review isn't about the movie, this is about the outstanding music from the movie.

The soundtrack, first and foremost, is one of the most beautifully composed collections of music of all time. It's classical yet fresh. The songs are sung with passion and are true to the play, but life is breathed into them in most places with the spectacular and versatile range Marni Nixon was famous for.

As with most musicals, all the music tells the deepest wishes or fears of the characters. The lyrics are witty, fun, serious, intuitive and are written flawlessly to coincide with the film/play. The humourous "Get Me to the Church," "With A Little Bit of Luck," "Just You Wait," and even "You Did It" are sung spectacularly and manage to be gracious even while being funny. The honest and intricate "Wouldn't It Be Loverly," is possibly the most associated with the production and is given full justice on this soundtrack that is often lacking in the plays. There are then the poetic and introspective "I Could Have Danced All Night," "On the Street Where You Live," and "I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face" are breathtaking and easy to leave the listener humming for hours.

Some of the more powerful and independent tracks like "Show Me" and "Without You" deliver Eliza's realization of who she is and show the shift in the storyline.

The instrumentals are equally as brilliant as everything else, particularly The Embassy Waltz, though the closing music manages to be both simple and strong at the same time.

Even those of you who dislike the production have to admit that this is a beautiful soundtrack and score. Each song tells the story so clearly, you can understand the play without actually watching it.

For anyone who's ever had a wish, it's an inspirational soundtrack of life, what we once were and everything we ever can be. If you're a dreamer, the My Fair Lady Soundtrack will offer something to ponder.