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:
