I Could Have Danced all Night from My Fair Lady

[jimdivax]

Something folk never mention is the slight European accent that creeps into Audrey Hepburn's English! It's quite sweet and incredibly individual but a dead giveaway she was NEVER fully English! Still gorgeous though!

[Rapture1987]

@jimdivax What you're referring to does not hinder Audrey's portrayal of Eliza Doolittle in ANY WAY though - because, even in the story, no one at the Embassy Ball ends up believing that she is "fully English"! Prof. Higgins' former pupil tells everyone that she is a HUNGARIAN PRINCESS - in other words, a *EUROPEAN* Princess. :P "Her English is TOO GOOD, he said, which clearly indicates THAT SHE IS FOREIGN!" - is the exact quote from the musical. So Audrey was actually PERFECT. ^_^

[maaian2]

YAY! Thanks. Downloaded it as mp3 :)

[malicja100]

ŚLICZNA JAK MARZENIE:):)

[mamc1986]

I love Audrey Hepburn, it just sucks that one of my foundest memeories of her are of lipsyncing!

RIP Audrey! I'll try to help as many children out as possible! :(

[Rapture1987]

@mamc1986 It's a shame because Audrey COULD have sung more of the score HERSELF had those fools transposed the music FURTHER DOWN to accommodate her vocal range - but even so, seeing Audrey Hepburn lipsynching is still *IMMEASURABLY* better than seeing most "singers" ACTUALLY sing.......or watching most "actors" doing their "thing", for that matter!! :) Audrey has to only appear on a screen, and her talent shines through her eyes. There is no other performer like her in any medium.

[stanibol]

@Rapture1987 check lostvocals6 on youtube, Audrey's own voice, she sounds ok but ordinary, and so I can understand why producers decided to sub it with Marnie Nixon's voice which is more than just beautiful.In fact, Marnie's voice is pure magic.

[Rapture1987]

@stanibol I've heard Audrey's own takes. The main problem was that Audrey wasn't a classically trained soprano, unlike Marni & Julie Andrews, so they should have transposed songs like this one down to a LOW MEZZO key - in which case, she could have sung at least as successfully as Vanessa Redgrave later did in the "Camelot" film. I'm one of the greatest Audrey Hepburn fans out there, so even though it was very noticeably a struggle for her to sing beyond her range in a high tessitura,

[Rapture1987]

I think Audrey's voice was *ANYTHING* but "ordinary" - not the singing, but the VOICE itself. When she sings this song for instance, she still sounds like a PRINCESS being put to the test (musically) - all the delicate, dreamy, ethereal, innocent, graceful, upper-class and quintessentially feminine qualities that are associated with Audrey Hepburn are made manifest by her voice - EVEN when it sounds laboured (as would be the case for even a professional singer who wasn't a soprano).

[Rapture1987]

@stanibol So I think Audrey's voice itself was "more than just beautiful" and "pure magic". I would rather listen to her TRYING to sing soprano than hear most present-day "singers". :)

[coolbeans278]

I thought that rex harrison sang this also during the movie, like ok first she does it because she is so happy and slowly he begins to realize he loves her so he sang it too? hmm maybe im wrong...lol

[mindysioux13]

@coolbeans278 I think you're thinking of "I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face."

[blackandtanful]

史上最上のフィルム・サウンド～”マイ・フェア・レディ”～残念­ながら､今だ超えない～人生を変える楽曲群、感涙の”踊りあかそ­う”　#eiga

[missparkerpretender]

Marni Nixon may have completely aced the vocals to this musical, but I have to give credit to Audrey for being spot on for the acting! Maybe possibly the best collaboration of a vocal/acting making!

[stanibol]

I've been waiting for years to want to share my thoughts on how wonderful is the voice of Marni Nixon... much prefer her voice to the higher pitched, clinically sound Julie Andrews, who is lovely too, but does not sing nearly with the same joy or passion as Marni Nixon demonstrated with this song.

[rikkulockhart15]

@stanibol I know. She has such a beautiful voice. It's a shame that she had to do most of her singing behind the scenes though and that she had to dub over Audrey Hepburn and got the brunt of it (It was the director's fault, not hers!) Her only on screen role was Sister Sophia in The Sound of Music. >:

[stanibol]

@rikkulockhart15 thanks for this further info!

[rikkulockhart15]

@stanibol Oh no problem! I'm a big My Fair Lady fan, and though Julie Andrews is one of my idols, I got into the movie because of Marni Nixon's voice.  In fact, she did it for a LOT of female leads:

-Mary in The Secret Garden (for Margaret O'Brien)

-Anna in The King and I (for Deborah Kerr)

-Maria in West Side Story (for Natalie Wood)

She also did a bit of work for Disney. She did some chorus-work in Enchanted and Mary Poppins and was the singing voice for Mulan's grandma.

[stanibol]

@rikkulockhart15 wow! you are a real authority on this topic, thanks for sharing.

[rikkulockhart15]

@stanibol Well, most of it I pulled from her Wikipedia article, but I knew some of it from watching Enchanted and Mary Poppins. XD

And no problem. :3

[Rapture1987]

@stanibol Most of the "joy" and the "passion" that Marni "demonstrated" with this song are really AUDREY HEPBURN'S of course - in the sense that Marni was vocalising Audrey's interpretation of the song. In her autobiography, Marni Nixon talks about how she spent a lot of time with Audrey during production of this film, to not only get a sense of her personality and vocal mannerisms but also her acting choices. In other words, Marni may have sung this gloriously, BUT AUDREY WAS HER MUSE

[stanibol]

@Rapture1987 Ahhh, Audrey was Marni's muse, now that is an important revelation, and it makes sense somehow that Marni took to singing this song more like singing it as a devotional hymn, an Ode, to Audrey. Nice.

[Rapture1987]

@stanibol Exactly. :) This will become particularly evident if one watches the 3rd/final portion of this song in the film - with all the close-ups of Audrey in bed. You can literally HEAR Marni Nixon's singing voice paying homage to Audrey's beautiful face and her otherworldly quality.

Nixon seemed to have been ever-so-slightly in awe of Audrey as a person, for she mentions in her autobiography that Hepburn was very "aristocratic", and yet so warm and endearing.

Stanibol YOU GOT IT

[stanibol]

@Whiteorchidee lol. DownUnder we call someone like you a shit-stirrer. Marni's operetta style of singing registers high, but it's not at all pitchy, and Marni's light and breezy vocal sound is tempered with so much passion, it simply can't be considered 'clinical' or 'sterile'. Hey, do listen to it again but this time turn up the volume to full crunch.

[Operalover12002]

Julie Andrews could have recorded this song much better than Marni Nixon as she got this number transposed. I had thought this was the original singing key until I heard Julie's version.

Many people blame Audrey Hepburn for "stealing" the role from Julie; all of our blames ought to be put on Jack Warner. Had he been more sensible and understanding, we could now see Julie perform Eliza Doolittle in the film version.

[TheIssyV]

im doing my schoo,l play im a main part

#

[SeaBluex]

love this song & movie!! :D

[MKandASH4]

who sings this song?

[kulitkid69]

@MKandASH4 there's a well-known version by Julie Andrews

[NellieMarie223]

Marni Nixon is such an incredible singer! It's so beautiful to hear her sing. I agree with @lostvocals4, give credit where credit is due.

[justhreewords]

I LOVE this song!! (:

[Hollyberry95]

i love Audret Hepburn, she is such a role model! She is amazing!! :) XXXXX

[BannanaCompanion]

@Hollyberry95

Too bad Hepburn is nowhere to be heard on this recording.

[Gaialy]

@BannanaCompanion

she actually is at the very beginning, you can hear the change in the singing.

[hunnypot24]

@BannanaCompanion She is. admittedly only for 1 line but no ones perfect! and she is a great Actress

[lostvocals4]

Would be good to also credit Marni Nixon, who is singing here.