"Deep love...well, eh...to two fair ladies." -Rex Harrison

I remember clearly watching the Academy Awards in 1965 and listening to Rex Harrison's acceptance speech when he won the Best Actor Oscar for "My Fair Lady."

To my mind, I don't think anyone has matched his eloquence, quiet dignity, and disarming simplicity in thanking both of his leading ladies, the one on Broadway (Julie Andrews), the other in Hollywood (Audrey Hepburn).

The great irony is that the one who lost the Hollywood role (Andrews) would win the Best Actress Oscar that same night, while the one who won the much sought after role in the film version of the longest running musical in Broadway history would lose the Academy Award to her erstwhile rival.

To add irony to irony, it was Audrey Hepburn, his Hollywood co-star in "My Fair Lady," who would actually present the Best Actor Oscar to Harrison.  Her touching graciousness, especially in light of the fact that she was not even nominated for Best Actress (although I think she certainly deserved one), was remarkable.  She gave no hint of disappointment but only of radiant joy that she was able to honor Harrison.

So Rex Harrison that night had the difficult task of thanking not just one fair lady but actually two, and he carried it off with both distinction and aplomb.

And this amidst the super-glitz and empty hoopla of Hollywood.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0aL5W0dxoQY


* * * * *

We all know Americans and Brits are "[the] two [great] countries separated by one common language" (attributed to Winston Churchill).

On that score, I can't help but be struck at how the British, though they have lost the colonies in North America" (though they kept Canada up until World War II), win on the playing field of our common language.

The latest example of the Hollywood vintage would be Ben Affleck's rushed, rambling, breathless, verbose, embarrassing acceptance speech ("a shout-out" to a long list of individuals and species) at the 2013 Oscars, where his film "Argo" was crowned Best Picture.

The irony--and suspense if you'll have i--was that Affleck had not been nominated for Best Director, even though everyone knew already that "Argo" would, ergo, receive a vote of sympathy.

(I am sure you can find it on Youtube.  I don't have a thick enough skin to view it again).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atfnRwY2OV4

Sometimes less is more.

O.K., Americans don't know hope to make acceptance speeches:  at the Oscars, there doesn't seem to be much difference between them and what one would expect of someone who just won the Jackpot:   a lot of screaming--for joy, albeit--but without usually much of a hint of respect for either the metier or for the art.  It's just fun, after all--which is what America does best to celebrate, anyway.*

(Even President Obama gives cerebral speeches which give new meaning to the word "speechifying" and "stultifying."  If he has a heart--and I'm sure it's probably there buried deep inside his brain--, it must have a stake through it).  

But does this linguistic divide explain the admiration, sometimes verging on adulation* or fixation, on a British accent (Received Pronunciation), at least in some circles, if not mainstream America, which is fixed on other things (as in 3D car crashes, shout-outs, and shoot-outs)?

Of course, I'm sure the generation raised on I-pads, play stations, and sarcasm could care less.

Who is Rex Harrison?  Wasn't he one of the Beatles?   What is "My Fair Lady"?    Where is Moliere?   Is Debussy a kind of chocolate or something?  Related to Jennifer Aston?  Or wasn't he in a high-speed chase, 10-car pile-up recently in Los Angeles?   

Tennessee Williams?    A kind of tequila, right?   The Vietnam War?  I heard it was after the American Revolution.  Dude, what difference does it make, anyway?**

Hepburn and Harrison, 1965, in Los Angeles at the Academy Awards.

This year in Hollywood:
(above) Ben Affleck brandishing his Oscar.  
(below) The kookie--meaning "loveable"--Hollywood starlet takes the cake.  At least she initially tried on a tad of humility for size.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atfnRwY2OV4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDU7zLAd2-U

A comparison might also be made with Tom Hooper's acceptance speech (for directing "The King's Speech") the previous year, one in which composure, grace, understatement, conciseness, and emotion are genuine but at the same a little easier on the ears (and eyes).    (Warning:   fellow Americans, you will be bored because  he will not be clapping his hands, screaming, shouting, rolling his eyes, repeatedly, upwards to the heavens, dancing a little jig across the stage, and proclaiming that it is the greatest day of his life.  And then thank everyone from his grade school teacher to the assistant sound editing director and his entire extended family).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oz2r2Py9hLo

An example of an early "shout out" but one done with such courage and  heart-felt eloquence--though somewhat rambling--that it's not surprising it was another Brit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAcOsK9gRLk

(Despite her repeated references in this speech to the heroism and struggle of the Jewish people, she has since this speech been branded as anti-Semite, her career suffering as a result.)


One common language I'm afraid we'll never get, oh, why can't Americans, oh, why can't Americans learn to speak?
with gratitude to Alan Jay Lerner

* Friends in Los Angeles tell me that those with RP accents get the best seats in restaurants and almost fawning treatment.

She was interested in making a statement, too.  Here it is.

** I am reminded of what I saw via Swiss television hours after the announcement of the killing of Osama ben Laden by American forces.  The news coverage just outside the White House showed throngs--probably thousands of young Americans celebrating the news.  They were brandishing signs that read "American #1, WE WON!!!  WE GOT HIM, YOU BET!"   It was exactly the same atmosphere as after the NFL Championships.   The uncomprehending Swiss  news anchors were flabbergasted at the rock-concert, video-game exuberance of the revelers.