Beschreibung:

MY FAIR LADY, 1964/GEORGE CUKOR
MY FAIR LADY, 1964/GEORGE CUKOR A typescript letter, signed, from director George Cukor to Audrey Hepburn on Warner Bros. headed stationery, dated 30 April, 1963, the three page letter written during pre-production on My Fair Lady , addressed in black ink My Dearest Audrey , beginning with his thoughts on the development of Hepburn's cockney accent After our conversation I got on to London and asked them to look about for someone with a good cockney accent. On thinking it over, however, it occurred to me that it might be more distracting to you than helpful , going on to quote a passage from George Bernard Shaw's preface to Pygmalion on changing accents, agreeing From my own experience I've found this to be quite true. If an accent is just overlaid onto a natural speech when the mechanics are not thoroughly understood, the results are likely to be neither effective nor honest, Cukor suggests they employ a professional vocal coach, Alfred Dixon Mr. Alan Lerner and Miss Katharine Hepburn among others, are his most ardent admirers. According to them, Dickson [sic] has worked out a wonderful way of teaching accents... we could arrange for him to come out here to do about four days' work with you... he's supposed to be a miracle worker, not that you need miracles , Cukor thanks her for an invitation to the ballet Marguerite and Armand [designed by Cecil Beaton] and informs her that he will also be attending Beaton's gala for the first performance in Los Angeles on 4 July, Cukor goes on to commend her Actress Behaviour, musing ... there's a lot of talk about how directors handle actresses, but equally important is how the actress handles the director. If the artistes... are nuisances and bores, in spite of his good intentions the director isn't nearly as good as he might be... this won't go to your head I know, but even to talk with you about work makes one feel talented, creative and happy. Cecil feels exactly the same. The prospect of "My Fair Lady" with you, dearest Audrey, is a joy to contemplate, Cukor continues to discuss the casting The cast is complete except for 'Freddy'... besides Rex (who is being very, very cooperative and kind) and Stanley Holloway (a 'Pro' par excellence) we have Gladys Cooper as 'Mrs. Higgins'... intelligent, sharp, unconventional in her thoughts though not in her behaviour. For 'Mrs. Pearce' we have Mona Washburn, a first class actress. For 'Pickering' we were lucky enough to get Wilfred Hyde-White. They've been making tests of 'Freddy' in London but so far none has turned up. He's a very important part. For that matter, so is everyone - more so in this picture than any other , and the production team Harry Stradling [Cinematography] will be starting with us this week... Hermes Pan [Choreography] is beginning to lay out the numbers. The sets are progressing very well indeed. Gene Allen, a very talented art director with whom I've worked for years, is an associate with Cecil on this film , Cukor concludes So you see we're not leaving a stone unturned. That doesn't mean that everything will be smooth sailing all the time, but we're all going to do our best to keep it so , signed in black ink ... always, George , with original stamped addressed mailing envelope postmarked Burbank, California, 30 April 1963 , stamped Express, Special Delivery and annotated in Hepburn's hand in pencil keep, MFL for book 11 x 8 ½ in. (27.9 x 21.6 cm.)