UNIVERSITA' DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIA - DIPARTIMENTO DI SCIENZE MUSICOLOGICHE E PALEOGRAFICO- FILOLOGICHE

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My Fair Lady

In the case of My Fair Lady the passage from stage to screen was less complex: here the transformation can best be described as by analogy or in­deed correspondence, because the theatrical framework, consisting in overture, intermission, entr’acte and exit music, was maintained, although it was matched to the requisites of the new framework. The narrative pace of the original was preserved, but made all the more impelling in the film version.

The opening credits appear during the overture as far as 3’ 14’’, and the opening scene remains faithful to the beginning of the stage musical. Lerner kept the same staging practically unaltered, just as Loewe intro­duced a minimum of new music; it was primarily a matter of making cuts and moving around some of the musical numbers. In the Broadway version these alternated with instrumental pieces that accompanied the scene changes: Doolittle’s song (n. 4. With a Little Bit of Luck) came between scenes 2 and 3 and led into Higgins’s song (n. 5. I’m a Ordinary Man), fol­lowed by a further scene change (scenes 3 and 4), number 5a, while the reprise of n. 4 launched scene 4 and prepared, in yet another scene change, N. 6a, Eliza’s second song (n. 7. Just You Wait). In the Hollywood version the scenes come in the following order: scene 1 (nn. 1 – 3), scene 3 (n. 5), scenes 2 & 4 (nn. 4, 6), scene 5 (n. 7); in the film the scene changes, n. 4a and 5a, were rearranged by Loewe and joined together. This made the indi­vidual numbers less apparent and emphasised the contrast between Higgins and Alfred P. Doolittle. Above all it made the narrative pace more uniform. Eliza’s desire to improve herself is presented in n. 3 as the aspira­tion to lead a more comfortable life, and her thoughts emerge above all as she hears the bell tolling, with Higgins expressing his considerations on her future as a shop assistant or even as a duchess (23’ 23’’ – 24’ 22’’). The scene change is clearcut, switching to Higgins’s studio, where Eliza appears to ask for lessons. In the long dialogue leading into n. 5 (I’m a Ordinary Man), Lerner and Loewe introduce a refinement which could not have worked on stage because of the speed of the dialogues. As Higgins seeks to convince Eliza using the lure of chocolate (33’ 25’’), Lerner inserts an an­ticipation of the motive of n. 5. This is only apparently out of place, for if this number is seen as the declaration of a dedicated researcher, a modern Pygmalion who wants nothing to do with women, at this moment the art­ist-creator cannot allow his ‘creature’ to absent herself, indeed he has to convince her to stay. Further on another citation fulfils the same function of reminiscence: as Eliza (36’ 00’’) is having a bath we hear the motive of Wouldn’t It Be Loverly?, creating a hidden web of pervasive motivic echoes that persists throughout the film. In fact in the film the constellation of meanings takes on a special importance with the bath glimpsed through clouds of steam together with Eliza’s cries: she is unaccustomed to such habits, and this presentation alludes to the different social stations and provides a critique of the system that derives directly from Shaw’s original drama.

The second significant change comes between the end of the first act and the beginning of the second and once again renders the narrative more fluid. In the film the end of the first act (1h 35’ 41’’) coincides with Eliza leaving the house, accompanied by Higgins and Pickering, to go to the em­bassy ball; n. 14, Eliza’s Entrance, plays an important role because a dialogue between Pickering and Higgins makes us aware of Higgins’s crea­tive anxiety with respect to Eliza, who promptly makes her entrance. Then come the intermission and entr’acte (1h 37’ 29’’ – 1h 37’ 48’’). In the film the second act opens with the embassy ball (nn. 15, 16, 17), the test that Eliza has to pass; the chief obstacle for her is Higgins’s first pupil, Kar­phaty, who has mastered phonetics and is a skilful debunker of impostors. Eliza’s winning ways arouse widespread curiosity and Karphaty is charged with finding out who this elegant guest is and where she comes from. There follows a hasty investigation, favoured by Higgins, until Karphaty dances with Eliza and immediately goes and reports what he has discovered. This element takes on greater importance in the film, whereas in the stage ver­sion it is conveyed entirely by a musical narration: the three numbers are instrumental and in the libretto there is no dialogue nor relevant stage di­rections. This sequence (1h 48’ 00’’) was created by Lerner ex novo for the film and takes up a lot of room. In fact there is a parallel between the gyra­tions of Eliza waltzing with the prince and the murmurings of the guests concerning the origins of this delicious ‘creature’; with each evolution of the dancers her ‘fame’ spreads until it reaches the ears of Higgins, who bursts out in a hearty laugh which is decidedly out of place.