Why So Blu?

My Fair Lady (4K UHD Blu-ray Review)

Like Eliza DooLittle in the film, My Fair Lady is getting an upgrade in class for the home video department. The Audrey Hepburn-starring best picture winner is getting a heck of an upgrade for 4K Ultra-HD that has many (Including myself) thinking it’ll be a candidate for best of the year before it even releases. Its received an 8K scan from original 65mm elements, which make us all realize they could be future proofing for the next home video jump whenever that may be. Also armed with an upgraded 7.1 track, it’ll carry the bonus disc from the previous 50th anniversary edition for the supplemental features. Spoiler alert on the review, they did a pretty damn fine job on this release. Pre-ordering this one is a no-brainer, and you can do so by using the Paid Amazon Associates link that follows the review.

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Film

In this beloved musical, pompous phonetics professor Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) is so sure of his abilities that he takes it upon himself to transform a Cockney working-class girl into someone who can pass for a cultured member of high society. His subject turns out to be the lovely Eliza Doolittle (Audrey Hepburn), who agrees to speech lessons to improve her job prospects. Higgins and Eliza clash, then form an unlikely bond — one that is threatened by an aristocratic suitor (Jeremy Brett).

To quote the great Andy Ober “My Fair Lady is one banger after another”. And quickly you can see how this legendary musical can carry you away, never leave your attention and make its almost 3 hour runtime feel like a breeze. Every single tune in here is quite endearing, fun and memorable. The film itself finds itself a way to keep them as such from the stage production and tool them to fit the performers’ strengths and still hold the intended punch the song should deliver.

My Fair Lady pulls off a glorious feat of bringing a well revered stage production to the silver screen and managing to enhance and deliver the strengths of both mediums. The film was obviously using a studio backlot, but in doing so is able to add a touch of a big theatre production while never feeling like you’re watching a film stage show. It manages to sneak that sensation in to the subconscious while cleverly getting its shots and cutting it in the post production. At the same time, it manages to have such grand cinematography to make it feel big, present and free as characters wander around their environments.

Everyone here is stunning and delivers as well. Of course Hepburn is our noticeable target as she does her magical 180 from cockneyed street lass to an elegant woman of class. The change isn’t just in stature, mannerisms and speech; the character also has to incorporate these things into song and dance as well. Rex Harrison is pretty delicious here as he that middle aged British man that American women tend to easily faun over. Its also easy to fall for Stanley Holloway as Eliza’s father, who gets 2 of the more memorable big to tapping, anthemic numbers in the film as well.

Beyond all that, the costuming and set design is just wonderful. The film was rightfully decorated and bathed in Academy Awards love the year following its release. One of the most nominated and awarded of all time to boot. And its strength in being fun, funny and carrying a roster of songs that thrill from start to finish make My Fair Lady feel quite timeless even almost 60 years later.

Video

Disclaimer: Screen captures used in the review are taken from the standard Blu-ray disc, not the 4K UHD Blu-ray disc.

Encoding: HEVC / H.265

Resolution: 4K (2160p)

Aspect Ratio: 2.20:1

Layers: BD-100

Clarity/Detail: My Fair Lady makes a dashing debut on 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with a transfer that has been restored in 4K from 8K scan of the original 65mm elements. And yeah, its as impressive as that sounds. The image is quite pristine, sharp and with such well saturated and refined colors. This is one of the best looking 4K Ultra-HD presentations of a classic film, and you can just see all the care, expertise and precision taken with it in every glorious frame.

Depth:  Depth of field is mightily impressive, feeling so open, multi-dimensional and free within such wonderful set pieces. Characters weave and wander all throughout, from the front to the back with good clarity and a nice pushback on the backgrounds. Movements are natural and cinematic with zero issue coming from any motion jitter or blur.

Black Levels:  The darker moments carry with them such a naturalistic, deep beauty. There are such layers to everything dark or black with details and textures easily popping through in every frame. From the first set in the film, black levels are really put to the test and come out with flying colors. No crushing witnessed.

Color Reproduction:  Colors do have a nice little burst to them, but in a really classy, controlled kind of way. Flower beds looks luscious toward the open and many of the garments or upholstery showcased in the film shows a powerful little zest. The image has a wonderful saturation and contrast in them, giving the image a brand new feeling character, making your viewing fresh and like you’ve not seen the film before.

Flesh Tones:  Skin tones are natural and consistent from the very start to the very finish with no changes or flicker ever apparent. Facial features and texture, especially make-up strokes are clear as day, showcasing dirt, sweat, wrinkles, lip texture, moles, freckles and more with such “through a window”-like clarity.

Noise/Artifacts: Clean.

Audio

Audio Format(s): English 7.1 Dolby TrueHD, German 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital, Spanish 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital, French 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital, Italian Mono 2.0 Dolby Digital, Japanese 2.0 Mono Dolby Digital

Subtitles: English, English SDH, Dutch, German, Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Finnish, Swedish,

Dynamics:  The 7.1 track on My Fair Lady’s 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray debut boasts a 96K resolution. And it surely comes to play. Any whining about “Its 2021, where’s the Atmos?” will be quickly forgotten as you either take in the 7.1 or enjoy its simulation through your system. Every environment feels plenty lifelike and every big number makes you feel a part of a house production. They’ve delivered something nice, full and impactful to give the film the best viewing experience it can.

Height: N/A

Low Frequency Extension:  There are some good effects here to keep the subwoofer a bumping along, but it mainly takes its place in the music accompaniment to the songs. Helping to bolster up some drums, horns and strings to give a more deepened performance.

Surround Sound Presentation:  The mix has some fun with the channels, giving good layering and depth the on screen action. It moves the action in concert around the room but also adds unique touches to environments with ambiance and unique noises from specific corners of the room. Speakers are cleverly working in tandem with one another and really add another layer of liveliness to the room.

Dialogue Reproduction:  Vocals are clear and crisp. Dialogue recording to song recording is only very slight. Much clarity with no real analog hiss apparent. And dialogue is clear and audible without distraction no matter how boisterous or quiet a scene.

Extras

My Fair Lady comes with the 2nd disc of the standard Blu-ray edition and a redeemable digital code. All bonus features are found on the standard Blu-ray disc.

More Loverly Than Ever: The Making of My Fair Lady Then & Now (HD, 57:58)

1963 Production Kick-Off Dinner (HD, 23:23)

Los Angeles Premiere 10/28/1964 (SD, 4:53)

British Premiere (HD, 2:17)

George Cukor Directs Baroness Bina Rothschild (SD, 2:39)

Rex Harrison Radio Interview (HD, 1:06)

Production Tests (HD, 7:04)

• Lighting
• Wilfrid Hyde-White Make-Up
• Rain/Set
• Covent Garden Lighting Test
• Alt. Higgins/Pickering Screen Test

Alternate Audrey Hepburn Vocals

• Show Me (HD, 2:48)
• Wouldn’t It Be Loverly (HD, 4:32)

Comments On A Lady 

• Andrew Lloyd Webber (SD, 1:04)
• Martin Scorsese (SD, 1:19)

Galleries

• Cecil Beaton Sketches
• B&W Stills
• Color Production Stills
• Documents and Publicity

Trailers

• Teaser Trailer with City Tags (HD, 1:13) – Hollywood, New York City, Boston, Philadelphia, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Chicago
• With Pride Trailer (HD, 1:11)
• Awards Trailer (HD, 1:04)
• Theatrical Reissue: Poster Illustration (HD, :58)
• Theatrical Reissue: Poster Illustration Reserved Seats Trailer (HD, 1:25)
• Theatrical Reissue: Poster Illustration Awards (HD, 1:25)
• Theatrical Reissue (HD, 3:48)

Theatrical Featurettes

• The Story Of A Lady (HD, 5:05)
• Design For A Lady (HD, 8:22)
• The Fairest Fair Lady (HD, 9:31)

Awards 

• Rex Harrison BFI Honor (HD, 2:08)
• Rex Harrison Golden Globe Acceptance Speech (HD, :47)
• Academy Awards Ceremony Highlights 4/5/65 (SD, 2:09)

Summary

My Fair Lady still works as a cinematic triumph. For this review, I showed it to my children who were pretty captivated and singing the tunes all weekend following (My daughter’s “Lots of chocolate for me to eat” from “Wouldn’t It Be Loverly” is a showstopper). It comes to 4K Ultra-HD Blu-ray with the best of restorations and presentation, both crushing in audio and video. Carrying over the previous extras (Still minus the commentary from the original Blu-ray release), nicely loads this up as one of the best releases of the year without question.

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