My Fair Lady (1964).

My Fair Lady (1964). Musical film adaptation of the Lerner and Loewe stage musical, of the same name. The film was directed by George Cukor and starred Audrey Hepburn and Rex Harrison. The film won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director.

Professor of phonetics Henry Higgins, believes that a person's accent determines their place in society. He tells, Colonel Hugh Pickering, another phonetics expert, that he could teach any woman to speak "properly" so that he could pass her off as a duchess at an embassy ball. For example the flower seller, Eliza Doolittle.

Eliza goes to Higgins for speech lessons. All she can afford to pay is a shilling per lesson. Pickering, who is staying with Higgins, loves the idea of passing a common flower girl off as a duchess and offers to pay for her lessons.

Also, down-on-his luck Eliza's father, Alfred P. Doolittle, shows up three days later, wanting Higgins, to pay him for using his daughter for his experiment. Eliza, begins her speech training and enduring Higgins' harsh approach to teaching. She makes little progress, but as they are all about to give up, Eliza finally "gets it" and she instantly begins to speak with an impeccable upper class accent.

As a test, Higgins takes her to Ascot Racecourse, where she makes a good impression, only to ruin it by a sudden lapse into Cockney while encouraging a horse to win a race. Higgins, hide a grin behind his hand.

Eliza, attends the embassy ball and dances with a foreign prince. Also, at the ball is Zoltan Karpathy, a Hungarian phonetics expert trained by Higgins. After having a conversation with Eliza, he certifies that she is of royal blood. All the praise goes to Higgins which angers Eliza and she walks out on him..

Eliza returns to her home, but finds that she no longer fits in. She meets her father, who has been left a large fortune by the wealthy Higgins and he is off to marry Eliza's stepmother. Eliza, goes to visit Higgins' mother, who is incensed at her son's behaviour.

Higgins finds Eliza and tries to talk her into coming back with him. Eliza, then announces that she is going to marry Freddy and become Karpathy's assistant. Higgins, now realizes that he needs her in his life.

This is a magnificent musical with a magnificent cast. The costumes are absolutely beautiful.

Dame Gladys Cooper(18 December 1888 – 17 November 1971). In 1913 she performed in her first film, The Eleventh Commandment, she then went on to make many more silent films. She also continued to perform on stage for many years. Later Cooper, performed in character roles and was mostly cast as the snobbish, society woman, although.. she sometimes played friendly characters, as she did in the film, Rebecca (1940).She was nominated three times for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performances as Bette Davis's domineering mother in one of my favorite films, Now, Voyager (1942). Gladys, plays a wonderful supporting role as the skeptical nun in, The Song of Bernadette (1943). Gladys, also performed as Rex Harrison's mother, Mrs. Higgins, in My Fair Lady (1964). Other well known film performances include: The Green Years (1946), The Secret Garden (1949), Separate Tables (1958), The Happiest Millionaire (1967). She also had numerous television roles in the 1950s and 1960s. In 1967, at the age of 79, she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire.

The Semi-Final Matches (60's Era) are set...

Three of the four top seeds advanced to the semi-final rounds and one really interesting match. First the recap: top seed The Sound Of Music crushed Viva Las Vegas 17-2. Second seed My Fair Lady defeated Bye Bye Birdie 14-4. Third seed Mary Poppins overwhelmed The Music Man 14-5. And the one upset occurred when fourth seed West Side Story was edged out by Funny Girl 10-9. That last match should make Desiree very happy.

Anyway the semi-final matches set up like this: The Sound of Music will face Funny Girl. While My Fair Lady faces Mary Poppins which is the more interesting match I think. There is history between these two films as Julie Andrews was close to doing My Fair Lady before the producers went with Audrey Hepburn. Well Julie landed Mary Poppins and an Oscar to boot. So this should be a very interesting match. Voting begins immediately and runs thru Wednesday night 7 pm EST. Good luck to all four films

SEMI-FINAL MATCH 1

1 THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

VS

5 FUNNY GIRL (1968)

---------------------------------------

SEMI-FINAL MATCH 2

2 MY FAIR LADY (1964)

VS

3 MARY POPPINS (1964)



Round 2 of the 60's Era begins....

No upsets occurred in the first round of the 60's era so we can jump right in with round 2. Here are the scheduled matches which will run thru Sunday 7pm EST.

1 THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)





VS




8 VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964)


-----------------------------------

4 WEST SIDE STORY (1961)



VS




5 FUNNY GIRL (1968)


---------------------------------

2 MY FAIR LADY (1964)



VS



7 BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963)


--------------------------------

3 MARY POPPINS (1964)



VS



6 THE MUSIC MAN (1962)

Ready to begin the 60's Era...

Ahhh, the groovy 60's are now on display for this round in the favorite musical fim tournament. Starting this morning and run thru Thursday 8 pm EST. Top seed The Sound of Music looks primed to run thru the
field, but it won't be easy as there are several other notable films competing as well. My Fair Lady, Mary Poppins, West Side Story, and Funny Girl just to name a few. Here are the scheduled matches. Good luck to all competing films.

1 THE SOUND OF MUSIC (1965)

VS



16 GYPSY (1962)

----------------------------------------

8 VIVA LAS VEGAS (1964)

VS



9 BEACH BLANKET BINGO (1965)

----------------------------------------

4 WEST SIDE STORY (1961)

VS



13 HELLO DOLLY! (1969)

-----------------------------------

5 FUNNY GIRL (1968)

VS



12 THE YOUNG GIRLS OF ROCHEFORT (1967)

--------------------------------------------

2 MY FAIR LADY (1964)

VS



15 THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE (1967)

--------------------------------------------

7 BYE BYE BIRDIE (1963)

VS


10 OLIVER! (1968)

------------------------------------


3 MARY POPPINS (1964)

VS



14 BELLS ARE RINGING (1960)

-----------------------------------


6 THE MUSIC MAN (1962)

VS



11 CAN-CAN (1960)

Fun in Acapulco (1963).

Fun in Acapulco (1963). Musical comedy film starring Elvis Presley and Ursula Andress. While some exterior scenes were shot in Acapulco, Mexico, Elvis's scenes were shot in Hollywood. He never went to Acapulco in his lifetime.

In this Elvis movie he plays a former circus performer who comes to Acapulco to hide from his past. He's hired as a lifeguard at a hotel, and later in the evening sings in the night club. While he was performing in his act in the circus, he was in the acrobats. during his performance he missed his partner who fell to his death. When a rival lifeguard learns about it, he challenges him to dive again now that Elvis' character is afraid of heights. He does gain back his courage and climbs to the highest cliff and makes the high dive. Does He win the heart of Ursula Andress, too?

I loved the locations (Acapulco) and the fun plot. I think that greatest thing about Elvis's movies, that they were fun.

Fun Facts:

Elvis Presley didn't film in Acapulco and a stunt double was used.

Teri Garr made her uncredited movie debut as an extra in this film. She would go on to appear as an uncredited extra in several more Elvis Presley movies before becoming a full-fledged actress.

The cliff dives take place at La Quebrada in Acapulco.


Sound Tracks:

•"Fun In Acapulco"
Written by Sid Wayne & Ben Weisman
Performed by Elvis Presley

•"Vino, Dinero Y Amor"
Written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Performed by Elvis Presley & The Four Amigos

•"I Think I'm Gonna Like It Here"
Written by Don Robertson & Hal Blair
Performed by Elvis Presley & The Four Amigos

•"Mexico"
Written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Performed by Elvis Presley & Larry Domasin


•"El Toro"
Written by Bill Giant, Bernie Baum & Florence Kaye
Performed by Elvis Presley


•"Marguerita"
Written by Don Robertson
Performed by Elvis Presley


•"The Bullfighter Was A Lady"
Written by Sid Tepper & Roy C. Bennett
Performed by Elvis Presley

•"(There's) No Room To Rhumba In A Sports Car"
Written by Fred Wise & Dick Manning
Performed by Elvis Presley


•"Bossa Nova Baby"
Written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller
Performed by Elvis Presley

•"You Can't Say No In Acapulco"
Written by Dorothy Fuller & Lee Morris
Performed by Elvis Presley

•"Guadalajara"
Written by Pepe Guízar (as Pépé Guizar)
Performed by Elvis Presley

Happy Birthday: Elvis Presley!

Elvis(January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977) He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll".

Clambake(1967). Cast: Elvis Presley and Shelley Fabares.



Scott Heyward, son of a rich oil tycoon decides to leave his home, so he can discover life for himself. He runs into Tom Wilson, a water-skiing instructor. Tom offers to switch places with Scott so they can experience what life is like in each other's shoes. While Tom, posing as Scott, checks into the hotel, Scott starts giving skiing lessons to Dianne Carter, who is out to snag James Jamison III, a competitor in the annual Orange Bowl Power Boat Regatta. Scott also wants competing in the event, he refuses to use one of the three boats he owns in Texas. Instead, he drives a boat designed by Sam Burton. Since Burton's craft went to pieces in the last race because of defective protective coating, Scott sends for an experimental hardener called "Goop," which he himself developed in his father's laboratory. Who will win the race and the girl?

A fun Elvis movie.  Loved the plot of him changing places with the ski instructor.  Elvis, Shelley, Will, and all the cast are just fabulous!

Fun Facts:

Production was halted for nearly two weeks in the middle of filming when Elvis fell and hit his head in the mansion he was living in during the shooting, resulting in his suffering a mild concussion.

Among the kids during the "Confidence" scene is a young Corbin Bernsen and renowned Southern California real estate agent Tony Yollin. The girl afraid to go down the slide, to whom Elvis sings, is Lisa Slagle, who later joined the Joffrey Ballet.

Harold Peary, who was famous for playing "The Great Gildersleeve" on radio in the 1940s, plays a bit part as the hotel doorman.

The red car driven by Elvis was a 1959 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray Racer.

Set in Florida. Virtually the entire film was shot in Southern California (resulting in the scene with the sun seemingly setting over the ocean in the East). Several exterior "Florida" scenes also have very conspicuous California mountains in the background.

Shelley Fabares (born January 19, 1944) is an actress and singer. Fabares is known for her roles as Donna Reed's oldest child, "Mary Stone," on The Donna Reed Show (from 1958 to 1963), and as Craig T. Nelson's love interest and eventual wife, Christine Armstrong Fox, on the sitcom Coach. She was also Elvis Presley's costar in three films.

Bells are Ringing(1960)

Bells Are Ringing (1960) Romantic/comedy/musical. Director: Vincente Minnelli. Cast: Judy Holliday and Dean Martin.

Brooklyn Switchboard operator Ella Peterson, works for telephone answering service Susanswerphone. Even though Sue's orders are only to "take and give" messages, Ella uses different voices to help her clients with their lives, even posing as Santa Claus to convince a small child to behave. Ella becomes interested in playwright Jeffrey Moss, who calls her "Mom". He just recently lost his writing partner and his having trouble finishing the outline for his play.. "Mom" tries to boost his ego, but instead.. Jeffrey drinks himself to sleep.


Meanwhile, Inspector Barnes and his assistant Francis, suspect that Susanswerphone is really a prostitution ring, and pretend to be magazine reporters, while interviewing Ella, they wire-tap the switchboard.

Sue's boyfriend, J. Otto Prantz, moves into the apartment to run his music distribution business, Titanic Records, which is really a front for a bookkeeping operation. During a meeting with his bookies, Otto explains the new system: When customers place their bets, they will be translated into a classical music record album code for instance, "Beethoven" is really Belmont Park and "five hundred orders" is a $500 bet.

The next morning, when Jeffrey does not answer Ella's wake up call, she goes to his apartment, excited to finally to know what he looks like. The trouble is, how will she tell him who she really is?


I thought Holliday and Martin where cute together. At first I thought it might be an odd paring.. The songwriting dentist will give you a few chuckles.


Fun Facts:

This was Arthur Freed and Vincente Minnelli's last musical for MGM.

Judy Holliday's last film.