When the whole team comes together and the actors are good, the costumes are true to the time, the sets are realistic, and the scene is entertaining we get a movie like George Cukor's 1964 My Fair Lady, based on George Bernard Shaw's 1913 Pygmalion. There are many attributes that come together to make this movie very entertaining.
As we all know, the story is set in London, England. It is about a professor, Henry Higgins (Rex Harrison) that studies language and dialect. England is the best/worst place for him to be. As he points out in the opening scene, no one in England speaks the same.
Not much needs to be said for the actors in the film. They are outstanding. I would have to argue that it is their costumes that really put them in their roles though. Audrey Hepburn was still gorgeous as Eliza Doolittle, a dingy street dweller. The costumes set them apart from each other, and eventually brought them together on the same level.
More important is the setting--I cannot tell how much, if any, of this movie was shot in London. That is a good thing. It is easy to make a set look like and English apartment, but not the outside of a concert hall.
I should, at this time, note that the picture is a musical. The sets had to be huge for all of the extras, dancers, chorus lines, and dramatic scenes for this film to have any visual affect what so ever.
Also, for these huge sets you need a great group of crew men. The long shots down streets and above the actors are outstanding. You can see the lead characters singing as well as the furthest boy-extra in the back playing his role.
Music: what would a musical be without music?-not much. I believe music is what makes this picture because a movie about language can only attract so many. Yes, it is a "love story," but such stories are a dime-a-dozen, most of which have better story lines than this one. It is the movie that makes the viewer understand that "the rain in Spain fell mainly on the plains."
Overall, this film is classic. It had a great cast and crew that made the characters come to life. That is what movies are all about, entertainment. This one will entertain for years to come.