Warner Bros. original film My Fair Lady was released December 25th, 1964.
#MyFairLady made $72.6M at the international box office.
rottentomatoes: 95%
metacritic: 95
imdb: 7.7
oscars: 8 wins
golden globes: 3 wins
Eliza Doolittle
Henry Higgins wagers making a ‘lady’ out of local pauper Eliza Doolittle in London, England.
Actress In A Leading Role – Musical Or Comedy
1 nomination: 1965
“Get over it, love. Look where you’re going, dear. Look where you’re going. Two bunches of violets trod in the mud. A full day’s wages. Oh, he’s your son, is he? Well, if you’d done your duty by him as a mother should, you wouldn’t let him spoil a poor girl’s flowers and then run away without paying. And you wouldn’t go off without paying either. Two bunches of violets trod in the mud. If it’s worse, it’s a sign it’s nearly over. Cheer up, captain. Buy a flower off a poor girl. Oh, I can change half a crown. Here, take this for tuppence. Thank you, sir. I ain’t done nothing wrong by speaking to the gentleman. I’ve a right to sell flowers if I keep off the curb. I’m a respectable girl, so help me. I never spoke to him except to ask him to buy a flower off me. I’m making an honest living. Oh, sir, don’t let him charge me. They don’t know what it means to me. They’ll take away me character and drive me on the streets for speaking to gentlemen.” — Eliza Doolittle
“On my Bible oath, I never spoke a word. Then what did you take down me words for? How do I know you took me down right? You just show me what you wrote about me. Oh. What’s that? That ain’t proper writing. I can’t read it. Oh, it’s ’cause I called him ‘captain.’ I meant no harm. Sir, don’t let him lay a charge against me for a word like that. Oh, what harm is there my leaving Lisson Grove? It weren’t fit for a pig to live in and I had to pay four and six a week… I’m a good girl, I am. He’s no gentleman. He ain’t, to interfere with a poor girl. Ought to be ashamed of himself, unmanly coward. Let him mind his own business and leave a poor girl… I have a right to be here if I like, same as you. Garn. Here, what’s that you say? Oh, you don’t believe that, captain. Buy a flower, kind sir. I’m short for me lodgings. You ought to be stuffed with nails, you ought. Here, take the whole blooming basket for sixpence. Oh! Oh!” — Eliza Doolittle
“Well, you won’t do. ♪ All I want is a room somewhere ♪ Far away from the cold night air ♪ With one enormous chair ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Lots of chocolate for me to eat ♪ Lots of coal makin’ lots of heat ♪ Warm face, warm hands warm feet ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Oh, so loverly sittin’ ♪ Abso-bloomin’-lutely still ♪ I would never budge till spring ♪ Crept over the windowsill ♪ Someone’s head Restin’ on my knee ♪ Warm and tender as he can be ♪ Who takes good care of me ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Loverly, loverly ♪ Loverly, loverly ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Lots of chocolate for me to eat ♪ Lots of coal makin’ lots of heat ♪ Warm face, warm hands, warm feet ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Oh, so loverly sittin’ ♪ Abso-bloomin’-lutely still ♪ I would never budge till spring ♪ Crept over the windowsill ♪ Who takes good care of me ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Loverly ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪ Loverly ♪” — Eliza Doolittle
“Not a brass farthing. I ain’t gonna take me hard-earned wages and let you pass them on to a bloody pub keeper. Stepmother indeed. Well, I had a bit of luck meself last night. So here. But don’t keep coming around counting on half crowns from me.” — Eliza Doolittle
“My name is of no concern to you whatsoever. Oh, London is getting so dirty these days. Oh, good morning, missus. I’d like to see the professor, please. It’s business of a personal nature. Good morning, my good man. Might I have the pleasure of a word with you face-to-face? Don’t be so saucy. You ain’t heard what I come for yet. Did you tell him I come in a taxi? Oh, we are proud. Well, he ain’t above giving lessons. Not him. I heard him say so. Well, I ain’t come here to ask for any compliment, and if my money’s not good enough, I can go elsewhere. Good enough for you. Now you know, don’t you? I’m come to have lessons, I am. And to pay for them too. Make no mistake. Well, if you was a gentleman, you might ask me to sit down, I think. Don’t I tell you I’m bringing you business? Oh! I won’t be called a baggage. Not when I’ve offered to pay like any lady. I want to be a lady in a flower shop instead of selling at the corner of Tottenham Court Road, but they won’t take me unless I can talk more genteel. He said he could teach me. Well, here I am. Ready to pay him, not asking any favor. And he treats me as if I was dirt. I know what lessons cost as well as you do, and I’m ready to pay. Now you’re talking. I thought you’d come off it when you saw a chance of getting back a bit of what you chucked at me last night. You’d had a drop in, hadn’t you, eh? Oh, if you’re going to make a compliment of it… oh! Eliza Doolittle.” — Eliza Doolittle
“Oh. I don’t mind if I do. Oh, I know what’s right. A lady friend of mine gets French lessons for 18 pence an hour from a real French gentleman. Well, you wouldn’t have the face to ask me the same for teaching me my own language as you would for French. So I won’t give more than a shilling. Take it or leave it. Sixty pounds? What are you talking about? Where would I get 60 pounds? I never offered you 60 pounds! But I ain’t got 60 pounds. Oh, anybody would think you was my father. What’s this for? Here, give the handkerchief to me. He give it to me, not to you. Oh, you’re real good. Thank you, captain. I ain’t dirty. I washed my face and hands before I come, I did. Oh! You’re no gentleman. You’re not to talk of such things. I’m a good girl, I am. And I know what the likes of you are, I do. I’ll call the police, I will. Garn. Who’d marry me? Here. I’m going. He’s off his chump, he is. I don’t want no barmies teaching me. I ain’t got no parents.” — Eliza Doolittle
“Oh, you are a brute. It’s a lie! Nobody ever saw the sign of liquor in me. Oh, sir, you’re a gentleman. Don’t let him speak to me like that. I got my feelings same as anyone else. You’ve no feeling heart in you. You don’t care for nothing but yourself. I’ve had enough of this. I’m going, I am. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, you ought. How do I know what might be in ’em? I’ve heard of girls being drugged by the likes of you. I wouldn’t have ate it, only I’m too ladylike to take it out of me mouth. I don’t want no gold and no diamonds. I’m a good girl, I am. You’re a great bully, you are. I won’t stay here if I don’t like it. I won’t let nobody wallop me. If I’d known what I was letting myself in for, I wouldn’t have come here. I’ve always been a good girl, I am, and I won’t be put upon!” — Eliza Doolittle
“I’ve never had a bath in me life. Not what you’d call a proper one. Oh, I couldn’t sleep here, missus. It’s too good for the likes of me. I should be afraid to touch anything. I ain’t a duchess yet, you know? Oh, what’s this? This where you wash clothes? You expect me to get into that and wet myself all over? Not me. I shall catch me death. Oh! No, I won’t! No, I won’t! No! I won’t. Take your hands off me! No. No! No, I won’t. Let go. No! No! I’m a good girl, I am. It ain’t right! It ain’t decent! Let go of me coat! Take your hands off me! No! Let me go! Take your hands off me. I’m a good girl, I am. Take your hands off me, you hear.” — Eliza Doolittle
“A… A… A… A… A… A!”
Professor Higgins
Best Actor in a Leading Role
1 win: 1965
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
1 win: 1965
“There, there, there, there. Who’s hurting you, you silly girl? What do you take me for? Shut up. Shut up. Do I look like a policeman? I can. ‘I say, captain, now buy a flower off a poor girl.’ How are all your people down at Selsey? Never mind. They do. How do you come to be up so far east? You were born in Lisson Grove. Live where you like, but stop that noise. Hoxton. I don’t know whether you’ve noticed, but it’s stopped raining. You can get a motor bus at Hampton Court. Well, that’s where you live, isn’t it? Cheltenham, Harrow, Cambridge and uh… India? Well, I have thought of it. Perhaps I will one day. Simple phonetics. The science of speech. That’s my profession. Also my hobby. Anyone can spot an Irishman or a Yorkshireman by his brogue, but I can place a man within six miles. I can place him within two miles in London. Sometimes within two streets. Oh, yes, quite a fat one. Woman! Cease this detestable boohooing instantly or else seek the shelter of some other place of worship. A woman who utters such disgusting and depressing noises has no right to be anywhere. No right to live. Remember that you’re a human being with a soul and the divine gift of articulate speech. That your native language is the language of Shakespeare and Milton and the Bible. Don’t sit there crooning like a bilious pigeon.”
“♪ Look at her a prisoner of the gutters ♪ Condemned by every syllable she utters ♪ By right she should be taken out and hung ♪ For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue ♪ Heavens, what a sound ♪ This is what the British population ♪ Calls an elementary education ♪. Did I? ♪ Hear them down in Soho Square dropping H’s everywhere ♪ Speaking English any way they like ♪ Hey, you, sir, did you got to school? ♪ Well, no one taught him ‘take’ instead of ‘tike’ ♪ Hear a Yorkshireman or wores hear a Cornishman converse ♪ I’d rather hear a choir singing flat ♪ Chickens, cackling in a barn just like this one ♪ ‘Garn.’ I ask you, sir, what sort of word is that? ♪ It’s ‘ow’ and ‘garn’ that keep her in her place ♪ Not her wretched clothes and dirty face ♪ Why can’t the English ♪ Teach their children how to speak? ♪ This verbal class distinction by now should be antique ♪ If you spoke as she does, sir instead of the way you do ♪ Why, you might be selling flowers too ♪ An Englishman’s way of speaking ♪ Absolutely classifies him ♪ The moment he talks ♪ He makes some other Englishman despise him ♪ One common language I’m afraid we’ll never get ♪ Oh, why can’t the English learn ♪ To set a good example to people ♪ Whose English is painful to your ears ♪ The Scotch and the Irish leave you close to tears ♪ There even are places ♪ Where English completely disappears ♪ Why, in America they haven’t used it for years ♪ Why can’t the English ♪ Teach their children how to speak ♪ Norwegians learn Norwegian ♪ The Greeks are taught their Greek ♪ In France every Frenchman knows his language from A to Z ♪ The French don’t care what they do actually, as long as they pronounce it properly. ♪ Arabians learn Arabian ♪ With the speed of summer lighting ♪ The Hebrews learn it backwards ♪ Which is absolutely frightening ♪ Use proper English you’re regarded as a freak ♪ Oh, why can’t the English… ♪ Why can’t the English learn to speak? ♪ “
“Thank you. You see this creature with her curbstone English? The English that’ll keep her in the gutter till the end of her days? Well, sir, in six months, I could pass her off as a duchess at an Embassy Ball. I could even get her a job as a lady’s maid or a shop assistant, which requires better English. Yes, you squashed cabbage leaf. You disgrace to the noble architecture of these columns. You incarnate insult to the English language, I could pass you off as the Queen of Sheba. Are you? Do you know Colonel Pickering, the author of Spoken Sanskrit? I’m Henry Higgins, author of Higgins Universal Alphabet. I was going to India to meet you. Pickering. Where are you staying? No, you’re not. You’re staying at 27A Wimpole Street. You come with me. We’ll have a little jaw over supper. Indian dialects always fascinated me. Liar. You said you could change half a crown. A reminder. How many are there actually? Indian dialects.”
“A… E… U… A… now, how many vowel sounds do you think you heard altogether? Wrong by a hundred. To be exact, you heard 130. Now, listen to them one at a time. What is it, Mrs. Pearce? A young woman? What does she want? Has she an interesting accent? Good. Let’s have her in. Show her in, Mrs. Pearce. This is rather a bit of luck. I’ll show you how I make records. We’ll set her talking and then I’ll take her down first in Bell’s Visible Speech, then in Broad Romic, and then we’ll get her on the phonograph so that you can turn her on whenever you want with the written transcript before you. Oh, no, no, no. This is the girl I jotted down last night. She’s no use. I’ve got all the records I want of the Lisson Grove lingo. I’m not gonna waste another cylinder on that. Now, bbe off with you. I don’t want you. Good enough for what? Well… and, uh, what do you expect me to say? Pickering, should we ask this baggage to sit down or shall we just throw her out of the window? How much? Sit down. Sit down!”
“Now, uh… how much do you propose to pay me for these lessons? You know, Pickering, if you think of a shilling not as a simple shilling, but as a percentage of this girl’s income, it works out as fully equivalent of, uh… sixty or 70 pounds from a millionaire. By George, it’s enormous. It’s the biggest offer I ever had. Hold your tongue. Somebody’s going to touch you with a broomstick if you don’t stop sniveling. Sit down! If I decide to teach you, I’ll be worse than two fathers to you. Here. To wipe your eyes. To wipe any part of your face that feels moist. And remember, that’s your handkerchief and that’s your sleeve. And don’t confuse the one with the other if you want to become a lady in a shop. You know, it’s almost irresistible. She’s so deliciously low. So horribly dirty. I’ll take it. I’ll make a duchess of the draggle-tailed guttersnipe. We’ll start today. Now. This moment. Take her away, Mrs. Pearce, and clean her. Sandpaper if it won’t come off any other way. Is there a good fire in the kitchen? Take all her clothes off and burn them, and ring up and order new ones. Just wrap her in brown paper till they come. We want none of your slum prudery here, young woman. You’ve got to learn to behave like a duchess. Now, take her away, Mrs. Pearce. If she gives you any trouble, wallop her. Well, put her in the dustbin. I? Walk over everybody? My dear Mrs. Pearce, my dear Pickering. I had no intention of walking over anybody. I merely suggested we should be kind to this poor girl. I didn’t express myself clearly because I didn’t wish to hurt her delicacy. Or yours. Why not? There. As the girl very properly says, ‘garn.’ By George, Eliza. The streets will be strewn with the bodies of men shooting themselves for your sake before I’m done with you. oh, mad, am I? All right, don’t ring up and order those clothes. Throw her out. There you are. She ain’t got no parents. What’s all the fuss about? Nobody wants her. She’s no use to anybody but me. So take her upstairs.”
“What would she do with money? She’ll have food and clothes. She’ll only drink if you give her money. Oh, no, I don’t think so. No feelings we need to worry about. Well, have you, Eliza? What’s to become of her if we leave her in the gutter? Answer me that, Mrs. Pearce. When I’m done with her, we’ll throw her back, then it will be her own business again. That will be all right, won’t it? Have some chocolates, Eliza. Pledge of good faith. I’ll take one half and you take the other. You’ll have boxes of them, barrels of them everyday. You’ll live on them, eh? Think of it, Eliza. Think of chocolates and taxis and gold and diamonds. Hmm. Eliza, you are to stay here for the next six months learning how to speak beautifully, like a lady in a florist shop. If you’re good and do whatever you’re told, you shall sleep in a proper bedroom, have lots to eat, and money to buy chocolates and take rides in taxis. But if you are naughty and idle, you shall sleep in the back kitchen amongst the black beetles, and be walloped by Mrs. Pearce with a broomstick. At the end of six months, you shall be taken to Buckingham Palace in a carriage, beautifully dressed. If the king finds out that you’re not a lady, the police will take you to the Tower of London where your head will be cut off as a warning to other presumptuous flower girls. But if you are not found out, you shall have a present of, uh… seven and six to start life with as a lady in a shop. If you refuse this offer, you will be the most ungrateful, wicked girl, and the angels will weep for you. Now, are you satisfied, Pickering? Oh, could I put it more plainly or fairly, Mrs. Pearce? That’s right, Mrs. Pearce. Bundle her off to the bathroom. In six months… in three if she has a good ear and a quick tongue. I’ll take her anywhere and I’ll pass her off as anything. I’ll make a queen of that barbarous wretch.”
“What, that thing? Sacred, I assure you. Have you ever met a man of good character where women are concerned? Well, I haven’t. I find the moment I let a woman makes friends with me, she becomes jealous, exacting, suspicious and a damned nuisance. And I find the moment that I make friends with a woman, I become selfish and tyrannical. So here I am, a confirmed old bachelor and likely to remain so. ♪ Well, after all, Pickering I’m an ordinary man ♪ Who desires nothing more than just an ordinary chance ♪ To live exactly as he likes ♪ And do precisely what he wants ♪ An average man am I of no eccentric whim ♪ Who likes to live his life free of strife ♪ Doing whatever he thinks is best for him ♪ Well, just an ordinary man ♪ But let a woman in your life and your serenity is through ♪ She’ll redecorate your home from the cellar to the dome ♪ Then go on to the enthralling fun ♪ Of overhauling you ♪ Let a woman in your life and you’re up against a wall ♪ Make a plan and you will find ♪ She has something else in mind ♪ And so rather than do either you do something else ♪ That neither likes at all ♪ You want to talk of Keats or Milton ♪ She only wants to talk of love ♪ You go to see a play or ballet ♪ And spend it searching for her glove ♪ Let a woman in your life ♪ And you invite eternal strife ♪ Let them buy their wedding bands ♪ For those anxious little hands ♪ I’d be equally as willing for a dentist to be drilling ♪ Than to ever let a woman in my life ♪ I’m a very gentle man ♪ Even-tempered and good-natured ♪ Whom you never hear complain ♪ Who has the milk of human kindness ♪ By the quart in every vein ♪ A patient man am I down to my fingertips ♪ The sort who never could ever would ♪ Let an insulting remark escape his lips ♪ “
“♪ A very gentle man ♪ But let a woman in your life ♪ And patience hasn’t got a chance ♪ She will beg you for advice Your reply will be concise ♪ And she’ll listen very nicely ♪ Then go out and do precisely what she wants ♪ You are a man of grace and polish ♪ Who never spoke above a hush ♪ Now all at once you’re using language ♪ That would make a sailor blush ♪ Let a woman in your life ♪ And you’re plunging in a knife ♪ Let the others of my sex ♪ Tie the knot around their necks ♪ I’d prefer a new edition of the Spanish Inquisition ♪ Than to ever let a woman in my life ♪ I’m a quiet-living man ♪ Who prefers to spend the evenings ♪ In the silence of his room ♪ Who likes an atmosphere as restful ♪ As an undiscovered tomb ♪ A pensive man am I of philosophic joys ♪ Who likes to meditate contemplate ♪ Free from humanity’s mad inhuman noise ♪ A quiet-living man ♪ But let a woman in your life ♪ And your sabbatical is through ♪ In a line that never ends come an army of her friends ♪ Come to jabber and to chatter ♪ And to tell her what the matter is with you ♪ She’ll have a booming boisterous family ♪ Who will descend on you en masse ♪ She’ll have a large Wagnerian mother ♪ With a voice that shatters glass ♪ Let a woman in your life ♪ Let a woman in your life ♪ I shall never let a woman in my life ♪”
“Pay the bills and say no to the invitations. When she does it properly, of course. Is that all, Mrs. Pearce? Yes, well, throw it away. All right. Leave it on the desk, Mrs. Pearce. I’ll try and get to it. Well, send the blaggard up. Nonsense, of course he’s a blaggard, Pickering. No, I think not. Any trouble to be had, he’ll have it with me, not I with him. Here! Brought up in Hounslow. Mother Welsh, I should think. What is it you want, Doolittle?”
Colonel Pickering
“Ch… good heavens. I’m afraid not. It’s worse than before. I’m sorry, I haven’t any change. I told you, I’m awfully sorry, I haven’t… oh, wait a minute. Oh, yes. Here’s three ha’pence, if that’s any use to you. Where is it coming from? Charge? I’ll make no charge. Really, sir, if you are a detective, you needn’t begin protecting me against molestation from young women until I ask you. Anyone could tell the girl meant no harm. Come, come, he can’t touch you. You’ve a right to live where you please. Yes, yes, yes. Quite right. If I may ask, sir, do you do this sort of thing for a living at a music hall? How do you do it, may I ask? Is there a living in that? Come, sir, I think you picked a poor example. I beg your pardon. Anything’s possible. I myself am a student of Indian dialects. I am Colonel Pickering. Who are you? I came from India to meet you. Higgins. Higgins. At the Carlton. Right you are. How many what? No fewer than 147 distinct languages are recorded as vernacular in India.”
“I believe I counted 24. What? Must I? I’m really quite done up for one morning. What do you want, my girl? What’s your name? Won’t you sit down, Miss, uh, Doolittle? Higgins, I’m interested. What about your boast that you could pass her off as a duchess at the Embassy Ball, eh? I’ll say you’re the greatest teacher alive if you can make that good. I’ll bet you all the expenses of the experiment that you can’t do it. I’ll even pay for the lessons. Come, Higgins, be reasonable. Does it occur to you, Higgins, the girl has some feelings? Higgins, I really must interfere. Mrs. Pearce is quite right. If this girl’s gonna put herself in your hands for six months for an experiment in teaching, she must understand thoroughly what she’s doing. I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”
“Higgins, forgive the bluntness, but if I’m to be in this business, I shall feel responsible for the girl. I hope it’s clearly understood that no advantage is to be taken of her position. Come now, Higgins, you know what I mean. This is no trifling matter. Are you a man of good character where women are concerned? Yes, very frequently.”
“Phew, I say. He may not be a blaggard, Higgins. Whether he is or not, I’m afraid we’ll have some trouble with him.”
Alfred P. Doolittle
Best Actor in a Supporting Role
1 nomination: 1965
Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in any Motion Picture
1 nomination: 1965
“Home? What do you want to go home for? It’s nearly five o’clock. My daughter, Eliza, will be along soon. She ought to be good for half a crown for a father what loves her. What’s that got to do with it? What’s half a crown after all I’ve give her. Anything? I give her everything. I giver her the greatest gift any human being can give to another. Life. I introduced her to this here planet, I did, with all its wonders and marvels. The sun that shines, the moon that glows. Hyde Park to walk through on a fine spring night. The whole ruddy city of London to roam around in, selling her blooming flowers. I give her all that. Then I disappears and leaves her on her own to enjoy it. Now, if that ain’t worth half a crown now and again, I’ll take my belt off and give her what for. Leave that to me, my boy. Good morning, George. Good morning to you, Algernon.”
“There she is. Why, Eliza, what a surprise. I know her. I know her. Come on. I’ll find her. Eliza, what a surprise. Here, you come here, Eliza. Eliza, you wouldn’t have the heart to send me home to your stepmother without a drop of liquid protection, now, would you? Well, I’m willing to marry her. It’s me that suffers by it. Just because I ain’t her lawful husband. Ah, come on, slip your old dad just half a crown to go home on. Yeah? Ha-ha! Thank you, Eliza. You’re a noble daughter. ♪ Beer, beer, glorious beer ♪ Fill yourself right up… ♪”
“Thanks for your hospitality, George. Send the bill to Buckingham Palace. Come on. What? Don’t you dare mention that word in my presence again. Look at all these poor blighters down here. I used to do that sort of thing once just for exercise. It’s not worth it. Takes up your whole day. Oh, don’t worry, boys. We’ll get out of this somehow. How? Same as always. Faith, hope and a little bit of luck. ♪ The Lord above game man an arm of iron ♪ So he could do his job and never shirk ♪ The Lord above gave man an arm of iron but ♪ With a little bit of luck with a little bit of luck ♪ Someone else’ll do the blinkin’ work ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of luck you’ll never work ♪ The Lord above made liquor for temptation ♪ To see if man could turn away from sin ♪ The Lord above made liquor for temptation but ♪ With a little bit of luck with a little bit of luck ♪ When temptation comes you’ll give right in ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of luck you’ll give right in ♪ Oh, you can walk the straight and narrow ♪ But with a little bit of luck you’ll run amuck ♪ The gentle sex was made for man to marry ♪ To share his nest and see his food is cooked ♪ The gentle sex was made for man to marry but ♪ With a little bit of luck With a little bit of luck ♪ You can have it all and not get hooked ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of luck you won’t get hooked ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of bloomin’ luck ♪ They’re always throwin’ goodness at you ♪ But with a little bit of luck a man can duck ♪ The Lord above made man to help his neighbor ♪ No matter where on land, or sea, or foam ♪ The Lord above made man to help his neighbor but ♪ With a little bit of luck With a little bit of luck ♪ When he comes around you won’t be home ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of luck you won’t be home ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of bloomin’ luck ♪”
“What are you doing in Eliza’s house? What are you talking about? Well, what about Eliza? Go on. What? I knew she had a career in front of her. Harry, boy, we’re in for a booze-up. The sun is shining on Alfred P. Doolittle. ♪ A man was made to help support his children ♪ Which is the right and proper thing to do ♪ A man was made to help support his children but ♪ With a little bit of luck With a little bit of luck ♪ They’ll go out and start supporting you ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of luck they’ll work for you ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of bloomin’ luck ♪ Oh, it’s a crime for a man to go philanderin’ ♪ And fill his wife’s poor hear with grief and doubt ♪ Oh, it’s a crime for a man to go philanderin’ but ♪ With a little bit of luck With a little bit of luck ♪ You can see the bloodhound don’t find out ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of luck she won’t find out ♪ With a little bit With a little bit ♪ With a little bit of bloomin’ luck ♪ With a little bit of bloomin’ luck ♪”
“Professor Higgins? Where? Oh, good morning, governor. I come about a very serious matter, governor. I want my daughter, that’s what I want, you see?”
Freddy Eynsford-Hill
“All right, I’ll get it. I’ll get it. I’m so sorry. Yes, Mother.”
London, England
“Splendid. Sorry, sir, I’ve already got on there. Over here, sir, over here. Coming through. Over here, sir. Make way. Freddy, oh, it’s already very late. Move it, darn it. Freddy, go and find a cab. Do you want me to catch pneumonia? Watch out, Faddy. Don’t just stand there, Freddy. Go and find a cab. I’m getting wet. I’m so sorry. Freddy. Freddy, go and find a cab. Oh, go about your business, my girl. Oh, sir, is there any sign of it stopping? Oh, dear.”
“Hey, you be careful. Better give him a flower for it. There is a bloke here behind that pillar taking down every blessed word you’re saying. Oh, don’t start. What’s all the noise? There’s a tec taking her down. Who’s doing all that shouting? Well… he ain’t no tec. He’s a gentleman. Look at his boots. Who told you my people come from Selsey? Where do I come from? Well, who said I didn’t. Blimey, you know everything, you do. You, sir, do you think you could find me a taxi? What impertinence. Hey, tell him where he comes from, you wanna go fortune-telling. Blimey, he ain’t a tec, he’s a blooming busybody. What do you take me for, a fool?”
“Shouldn’t we stand up, gentlemen? We’ve got a blooming heiress in our midst. Would you be a looking for a good butler, Eliza? ♪ It’s rather dull in town ♪ I think I’ll take me to Paris ♪ The missus wants to open up the castle in Capri ♪ Me doctor recommends a quiet summer by the sea ♪ Ooh-ooh ♪ Ooh-ooh ♪ Wouldn’t it be loverly? ♪. Where you bound for this year, Eliza? Biarritz? ♪ All I want is a room somewhere ♪ Far away from the cold night air ♪ With one enormous chair ♪ Oh, wouldn’t it be loverly ♪ Someone’s head Restin’ on my knee ♪ Warm and tender as he can be ♪ Loverly ♪ Loverly ♪ Loverly ♪ Loverly ♪ Wouldn’t it ♪ Be loverly? ♪”
“Come on, Alfie, let’s go home now. This place is giving me the willies. Loves her? That’s a laugh. You ain’t been near her for months. When did you ever give her anything? You got a good heart, Alfie. But you want that half a crown out of Eliza, you better have a good story to go with it. Not a brass farthing. Not a brass farthing. Move on, please. Come on. Get your moving arse out of here. On with it. Veggies. Get your veggies. Here we are. Nice salad greens. Lovely Spanish onion. Only five pounds. Five pounds. This is it. Nice bunches of veggies. Take your pick. Tomatoes over here. Nice garden tomatoes. Very tempting. Hop along, Charlie. You’re too old for me. Don’t know your own daughter. How you gonna find her if you don’t know what she looks like? Do you know where she’s been? Yeah, I know. Wayne is always asking. That one, Ginny.”
“Get out of here. The two of you get out too. Come on, Doolittle. And remember, drinks are to be paid for or not drunk. Well, Aflie, there’s nothing else to do. I guess it’s back to work. How do you think you’re going to do that, Alfie? You make a good suffragette, Alfie. Oh, get along with you. Why, there’s the lucky man now. The Honorable Alfie Doolittle. Her former residence. Ha! You can buy your own drinks now, Alfie Doolittle. Fallen into a tub of butter, you have. Your daughter, Eliza. Oh, you’re a lucky man, Alfie Doolittle. Oh! He don’t know. Her own father and he don’t know. Moved in with a swell, Eliza has. Left here in a taxi all by herself, smart as paint, and ain’t been home for three days. Then this morning, I get a message from her. She wants her things sent over. To 27A Wimpole Street, care of Professor Higgins. And what things does she want? Her birdcage and her Chinese fan. ‘But,’ she says, ‘never mind about sending any clothes.’ Charlie. Over here.”
Higgins Residence
“Your name, please. Your name, Miss. One moment, please. I’m Mrs. Pearce, the housekeeper. Can I help you? Could you tell me what it’s about? Oh. One moment, please. Mr. Higgins. There’s a young woman who wants to see you, sir. She’s quite a common girl, sir. Very common indeed. I should have sent her away, only I thought perhaps you wanted her to talk into your machine. Simply ghastly, Mr. Higgins. Very well, sir. It’s for you to say. This is the young woman, sir. Nonsense, girl. What do you think a gentleman like Mr. Higgins cares what you came in? Sit down, girl. Do as you’re told. Don’t cry, you silly girl. Sit down. Nobody’s going to touch your money. It’s no use to talk to her like that, Mr. Higgins. She doesn’t understand you. Yes, but… I’ve got no place to put her. You must be reasonable, Mr. Higgins, really, you must. You can’t walk over everybody like this. But, sir, you… you can’t take a girl up like that as if you were picking up a pebble on the beach. Why not? But you don’t know anything about her. What about her parents? She may be married. Stop, Mr. Higgins, I won’t allow it. Go home to your parents, girl. But what’s to become of her? Is she to be paid anything? Oh, do be sensible, sir. Mr. Higgins, I must know on what terms the girl is to be here. What’s to become of her when you’ve finished your teaching? You must look ahead a little, sir. That’s her own business, not yours, Mr. Higgins. Come with me, Eliza. Don’t answer back, girl.”
“You know, you can’t be a nice girl inside if you’re dirty outside. I’ll have to put you in here. This will be your bedroom. This is where we wash ourselves, Eliza. And where I’m going to wash you. Come along now. Come along. Take your clothes off. Come on, girl, do as you’re told. Take your clothes off. Here, come on, help me take these. Come out of that. Everyone. Oh, dear. Eliza, keep still. Take a bath. Well, they won’t like the smell of you if you don’t have a bath. Come here. I won’t hurt you. Eliza, I won’t have it. I wouldn’t hurt you.”
“The mail, sir. You simply cannot go on working the girl this way. Making her say her alphabet over and over from sunup to sundown, even during meals. You’ll exhaust yourself. When will it stop? There’s another letter from that American millionaire, Ezra D. Wallingford. He still wants you to lecture for his Moral Reform League. It’s the third letter he’s written you, sir. You should at least answer it. If you please, sir, there’s a dustman downstairs, Alfred P. Doolittle, who wants to see you. He says you have his daughter here. Doolittle, sir.”
Mrs. Higgins
Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1 nomination: 1965
