My Fair Lady (1964)

Why it's here:
We'd already seen all the more family oriented big musicals from this era, so we branched out.

Specs:
almost 3 hours, color

Our family's average rating on a scale from 1-10:
7.75

More about the film and our reaction to it:
The movie is of course fantastic! But, it is not as well-suited to family viewing as, say, Mary Poppins or the Sound of Music. The ideas are more complex and there are no kids or youth-centered points of view. It is strong on the subtle brilliance of the underlying ideas, which makes it a tremendous film, but may not become your kids most beloved of musicals. Luckily there is plenty of humor and fantastic performances which mitigate against the tremendous length of the film.

We loved the first part, but I do think spirits were dragging by the end and we were all glad to see the credits roll.

Much is made of the backstory of the making of this film... for instance how Audrey Hepburn was chosen for the role rather than have Julie Andrews reprise her theatrical performance, ... of how Hepburn, though she trained heavily, was not allowed to sing her own songs, ... of how Cary Grant was offered the lead role and said "not only will I not do it, I will not even go to see the film if Rex Harrison is not cast," ... of how Harrison was trepidatious of Hepburn's acting chops but came to feel that she was the best co-star he'd ever had.  The film and its making are just so ... interesting for some reason. It seems the film has an iconic status almost outside of its value as cinema. I guess then to be culturally literate, you need to see the film :)

Iconic Image:

Roman Holiday (1953)

Why it's here:
In order to see Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn, both new to our festival with this movie.

Specs:
2 hours, black and white

Our family's average rating:
8.88! Making it our second highest rated film so far! Just behind It Happened One Night.

More about the film and our reaction to it:
We loved this film, which in so many ways is just simply flawless. It is a simple enough love story -- a fish out of water theme of a pampered young princess who longs to be unencumbered out in the world. She gets her wish, for a day, anyway. With an amazing escort like Gregory Peck, its a wonder she didn't run off forever.

I don't want to give too much of the plot away because I really want you to see this film. Trust me that the story, though simple, is executed perfectly, lightly, effortlessly and beautifully. It is charming in almost every way (including the dialog, action, humor, pacing and even the bittersweet ending.)

It is perfectly cast with Audrey Hepburn in the role that made her a star and Gregory Peck as a journalist who stumbles upon the princess (or rather, is stumbled upon by her) and makes an exciting, likable, understandable man who at first means to capitalize on his find, but ultimately makes a very different choice. Eddie Albert as the beatnik sidekick adds so much comic counterpoint and balances out any chance that the film be too sappy or sentimental.

The filming choices (on location in Rome and black and white rather than color) are inspired. At a time when it was highly unusual to film on location in another country, the fact the almost every shot is quite spectacularly Rome – adds so much depth and timelessness to this story. As to the choice of black and white, which seemed somewhat surprising given the gorgeous scenery and high-end feel of spectacle about the film, I've heard two explanations: (1) That because the filmmakers insisted on the Rome location, to compensate for the extra cost they went with a cheap unknown actress and B&W cinematography; or that (2) B&W was intentional so that the backgrounds and beauty of the city didn’t overshadow the story and its characters.  I don't know which, if either of these explanations, is accurate, but am just glad they did it.  Because going against the obvious with black and white added a layer of seriousness about the project. It told me right off the bat, this was not going to be just light visual fluff; that something better was going to be going on.

We highly recommend this film.

Iconic shot: