My Fair Lady (1964)

Audrey Hepburn & Rex Harrison

This is a classic that I had yet to watch but knew I needed to.  Oddly I'd owned the movie for two years before I got around to actually watching it.  This was also the very first Audrey Hepburn movie I'd ever watched and I am now obssessed with her!

The movie is a longer movie, 2 hours and 50 minutes long to be exact! But, I did not find it at any point to be slow or dull. It kept me thoroughly entertained from start to (almost) finish.

The movie follows Prof. Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) as he follows through on a bet with a friend that he can turn the poor, dirty and disheveled flower peddler Eliza Doolitle (Audrey Hepburn)  into a true lady.  The professor is a brash, self centered, and all together insensitive man who jumps into the task with no regard for Eliza's feelings what-so-ever.  He does, however, win the bet and is successful in trasforming her into a beautiful and graceful Lady.  So much so, that upon taking her out to "test his work" she attracts the attention of a young upper society fellow named Freddy Eynsford-Hi. He continues to pine for her and becomes quite infatuated with Eliza.

After the bet has been won and settled, Prof. Higgins sets to praising himself and his talents with absolutely no thought or kind words for Eliza and her accomplishments during this challenge, forcing her to leave the Professor's house and go back to the neighborhood that he'd originally found her selling flowers on the corner. However, upon her return she's faced with the realization that she no longer belongs or fits in there either.

As I intend for my posts here to get you, the reader, interested in the movie - I will not spell out the ending. But, I will say for me, the ending was slightly disappointing. I wanted more. If you've seen it or watch it after reading this, than you will understand what I mean by that.

Ending aside, I loved the movie. It was beautiful to look at. The sets, costumes and style in general were amazing to say the least. I particularly loved the gown Eliza wore in the scene at the racetrack.

 

 

Although this is a period musical, I see a spark of 60's flare in this gown! It looks as though it was made for Audrey's figure and looks amazing on her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Affair to Remember, a reminder that all modern romance movies have gotten it wrong, very wrong....

An Affair to Remember (1957)

Starring Deborah Kerr & Cary Grant

I am a modern movie fanatic guilty of only watching this movie thanks to years of watching Sleepless in Seattle.  I have finished Sleepless saying either to myself or to whoever may have been watching it with me "I need to watch An Affair to Remember eventually" a million times or more.

 This weekend after watching several other old movies I've been meaning to watch I finally sat down and decided to see what all the fuss was about. And, after the end scene had to call my sister up to tell her I had just watched the absolute BEST ENDING to a movie I have ever seen.

The scene in Sleepless in Seattle where Tom Hank's character has the end scene of an affair to remember explained to him which ends in tears and Tom Hanks looking at her in confusion and misunderstanding finally makes perfect sense to me now. I can not think of the ending of An Affair without getting teary eyed now!! I can totally imagine myself trying to explain it to another person in much the same way.

This movie up untill the ending is wonderful, the two characters have witty and clever dialogue throughout, you really believe they are the perfect match.  And although they are neither one wonderful people before meeting. He is a ladies man who plays women for financial gain and she is a once teenaged night club singer who was all to used to the advances of much older men from a young age so when a boring, yet wealthy man offers to set her up financially - she agrees. But, together they bring the better and best part out of the other.  That's one of the best aspects of the plot and story that really helped me fall in love with them as they fall in love with eachother.

The music was beautiful, the gowns and dresses that Deborah wore throughout the movie were amazing. This movie is, in my opinion, a must see for any vintage movie
lover who also loves a good romance.