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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 07:53 pm EDT 03/31/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - keikekaze 07:31 pm EDT 03/31/21 | |
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| ***In point number 6, the song you're referring to is "I'm An Ordinary Man," not "A Hymn To Him."*** Thanks, I will make that correction :-) As for your point about the London lyrics, I'm sure you're correct, and I think I gave pretty much the same reason in my post. Although Lerner was apparently persuaded to rewrite those non-British expressions for the London production and for the cast album, when it came time to make the movie, he probably felt that to use the rewritten lyrics would be jarring to SO many people who had committed the billion-selling original cast album to memory. Also, such a course of action would only have served to underline how sloppy he had been in allowing those non-British expressions to slip into his lyrics in the first place (because he apparently wasn't interested in working hard enough to do the research necessary to prevent that from happening). I guess he didn't have the courage for that. So, incongruous as those Americanisms were, he decided to keep them as the path of least resistance. |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Last Edit: JereNYC 10:31 am EDT 04/01/21 | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 10:25 am EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - Michael_Portantiere 07:53 pm EDT 03/31/21 | |
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| That's an interesting point, but I still think that whomever made the decision was very short-sighted. Had the London revisions been allowed to stand, been inserted into the Broadway production, and used in all subsequent productions, including the movie, by now, 50+ years later, those would be the lyrics ingrained in the mind of the public and the originals would be curiosities revisited only on Broadway trivia nights. I also find the idea of Hollywood execs deciding that they absolutely cannot change anything in the Broadway musical that they're adapting to be a bit rich coming from the same Hollywood where they never met a hit they couldn't make changes to for their adaptation. |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Last Edit: keikekaze 04:31 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| Posted by: keikekaze 04:30 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - JereNYC 10:25 am EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| I also find the idea of Hollywood execs deciding that they absolutely cannot change anything in the Broadway musical that they're adapting to be a bit rich coming from the same Hollywood where they never met a hit they couldn't make changes to for their adaptation. Yes, Hollywood had been cheerfully wrecking Broadway musicals for decades--and critics and the public had been complaining about it for decades. My Fair Lady was not just any old Broadway musical. In 1964, it was considered the Broadway musical, the one to put in a time capsule, the one to take to a desert island, the one to rescue from a burning library--the one. I can't over-stress this point to people who may not have been there at the time. The moviemakers who brought My Fair Lady to the screen were determined to prove that, for once, they could do it right. |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:00 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - keikekaze 04:30 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| I agree. I was there at the time (although only 8 years old). From '56 through '64 certainly, My Fair Lady was considered the greatest Broadway musical ever, not to be fucked with, if and when filmed. I just wish they had chosen Minnelli over Cukor as the director. Cukor had never solely directed a "book musical" film. Regarding One Hour with You, the great Lubitsch replaced Cukor, although George continued as his assistant. In A Star Is Born and Les Girls, the songs were all musical numbers, performed diegetically. |
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| CORRECTION -- should read: (although only 8 rears old in '56) (nmi) | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 05:52 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - BroadwayTonyJ 05:00 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 01:02 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - JereNYC 10:25 am EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| "Had the London revisions been allowed to stand, been inserted into the Broadway production, and used in all subsequent productions, including the movie, by now, 50+ years later, those would be the lyrics ingrained in the mind of the public and the originals would be curiosities revisited only on Broadway trivia nights." Exactly. P.S. When the original London cast recording was released, there was an attempt, at least for a while, to position it as the definitive recording (it's NOT!) and to have it replace the Broadway album, to the point where I believe the Broadway album actually went out of print for awhile (I'm not sure for how long). Anyway, Columbia CERTAINLY pushed people to buy the London album, whether or not they already owned the Broadway album, and I'm sure many people DID buy the London album, so the revised lyrics included there would have become familiar to all those consumer. |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Last Edit: BroadwayTonyJ 06:36 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 06:34 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - Michael_Portantiere 01:02 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| My mom bought me the OBC LP in '56 at Goldblatt's in Chicago. I played it so often that by '64 it had considerable wear (diamond needles and turntables back then were not the greatest) and needed to be replaced. I had not heard good things about the '59 OLC LP, even though it was in stereo. I received the soundtrack LP for Christmas in '64, but wasn't crazy about it. We drove all over Chicagoland trying to find the '56 original without any luck. I actually contacted the Columbia Record Club, offered to become a member if I could get the original recording, but was told only the London LP was available. I ended up buying the London version at our local Polk Bros. store. Ironically, my girlfriend at the time did have the '56 LP, having gotten it pre-'59. However, she dumped me for this big guy on the basketball team my senior year, so I learned to appreciate the London. Decades later I was able to purchase the '56 recording on cassette. Today I have CDs of the '56 original, the '59 London, the '93 Jay Records, the '01 London, the '18 Broadway, and Benanti's CD of selections. The '56 is easily my favorite; however, I do enjoy the '18 revival, and Benanti's vocals (especially "I Could Have Danced All Night") are thrilling. |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:13 pm EDT 04/02/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - BroadwayTonyJ 06:34 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| "My mom bought me the OBC LP in '56 at Goldblatt's in Chicago. I played it so often that by '64 it had considerable wear (diamond needles and turntables back then were not the greatest) and needed to be replaced. I had not heard good things about the '59 OLC LP, even though it was in stereo. I received the soundtrack LP for Christmas in '64, but wasn't crazy about it. We drove all over Chicagoland trying to find the '56 original without any luck. I actually contacted the Columbia Record Club, offered to become a member if I could get the original recording, but was told only the London LP was available. I ended up buying the London version at our local Polk Bros. store. Ironically, my girlfriend at the time did have the '56 LP, having gotten it pre-'59. However, she dumped me for this big guy on the basketball team my senior year, so I learned to appreciate the London." Great story :-) I distinctly remember at one point buying the London cast album on cassette, when I was maybe about 13 years old -- except I THOUGHT I was buying the Broadway cast album, because the background of the cassette sleeve with the logo, the Hirschfeld, the credits and the song titles was white, NOT gold. In fact, I didn't realize it was the London album until I started playing it and thought, "Hmm, that sounds like a different recording of the overture....." I think this was a deliberate attempt to mislead on Columbia's part, which was unlike them. |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: larry13 08:34 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - BroadwayTonyJ 06:34 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| I enjoyed reading of your history with MFL recordings and especially your attempts to get back the OBC. Not that you need another but may I suggest the '76 revival with Christine Andreas; it is quite good and probably can be obtained cheaply. | |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:14 pm EDT 04/02/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - larry13 08:34 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| "I enjoyed reading of your history with MFL recordings and especially your attempts to get back the OBC. Not that you need another but may I suggest the '76 revival with Christine Andreas; it is quite good and probably can be obtained cheaply." I just re-listened to the whole thing yesterday for the first time in a long while, and yes, there is a lot to love on it :-) |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: BroadwayTonyJ 08:46 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - larry13 08:34 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| Oh my God, how could I forget the '76 recording with Andreas' divine vocals and George Rose's almost definitive portrayal of Doolittle? Let's just blame it on covid-19, (which I did contract in January). Of course, I do have the '76 revival CD. I would l rank it in my favorites list as 3rd after the original and Benanti's CD. | |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: simbo 02:28 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - Michael_Portantiere 01:02 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| The London cast was recorded in stereo, which the Broadway wasn't, so it was considered an upgrade (plus of the cast with a substantial singing role, only the performer playing Freddie was different). | |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 03:45 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - simbo 02:28 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| Umm, yes, I know. Stereo was the big selling point. | |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Last Edit: JereNYC 04:19 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| Posted by: JereNYC (JereNYC@aol.com) 04:19 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - Michael_Portantiere 03:45 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| If the Broadway album had been recorded in stereo, do you think the London album would even exist? | |
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| re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) | |
| Posted by: Michael_Portantiere 12:52 pm EDT 04/02/21 | |
| In reply to: re: The messy brilliance of the MY FAIR LADY film (VERY LONG!) - JereNYC 04:19 pm EDT 04/01/21 | |
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| "If the Broadway album had been recorded in stereo, do you think the London album would even exist?" I highly doubt it, especially not with the same three (or four) leads: Harrison, Andrews, Holloway, and Coote. |
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