ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

Bulldogtrekker and I were trying to think of a nice classic comedy to watch together while chatting on Facebook, and I tossed out a suggestion.

My Fair Lady

Various sites offered downloads, but Clip Converter has been down for several days, so we had no way to get it. But just for the hell of it, I checked Youtube.

Wonder of wonders, some crazy foreigner uploaded a 685mb version that looks almost as good as a DVD, and I downloaded it with Savefrom.net in less than five minutes!

If you're interested in the soundtrack for this movie, here it is on good old YouTube.

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________________ My Fair Lady Soundtrack


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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Brent Gair]

Gaack!

I try not to be TOO naggy but...

MY FAIR LADY was shot in large format 65mm. It has new 8K scan and a 4K restoration used for the Blu-ray. The BD has a spectacular lossless Dolby TrueHD 7.1 soundtrack. The feature uses 41GB on Blu-ray.

It is the rarest of films to get 5.0 stars for video, 5.0 stars for audio and a 5.0 stars overall rating from Blu-ray.com.

My heart breaks a little at the idea of a 685MB download.

[Gord Green]

I was never overly fond of this movie, but I've seen some terrific performances of it on the stage.

The 50'e and 60's saw a lot of Broadway musicals converted to movies with varying success. Some were masterpieces like WEST SIDE STORY and others were bombs.

[Bud Brewster]

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I agree, Gord.

I love Oklahoma and The Music Man, but My Fair Lady is highly over-rated, in my opinion.

And if I'd paid for a Blu-ray (or even a DVD) with a picture no better than the fine YouTube download, I'd have sent it back!

To be honest, I've never cared much for the movie. I'm not fond of the songs, and Eliza Doolittle's conversion from shabby little street vendor to the talk of London just doesn't seem very convincing. She speaks horrible English right up to the moment when suddenly . . . "She's got it! By George, she's got it!"

Not a single scene of her getting progressively better during all those weeks of practice. Just instant success.

And then, ten seconds later she's desperately in love with Henry Higgins and sings like a nightingale about he how she could "dance all night" — in perfect English. Boy, when she "got it", she really got it, with singing lessons at no extra charge!

In the next scene she goes to the races and tells a lurid story about her aunt being murdered for a straw hat she owned, and Eliza doesn't act a bit nervous about her remarkable act. Seems a little too contrived.

In short, I think the movie is rather over-rated, so I didn't mind watching a reasonable good copy, especially when it was free.

Just for the record, I think this version tells the story much better.

____________________ PYGMALION (1938)

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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)