Julie Andrews could, quite justifiably, have felt miffed that she didn't win the role of Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady (Pearl, 9.30pm). Though Andrews had become a star on Broadway playing the cockney flower girl opposite Rex Harrison, she was denied the part in the movie because at the time, 1964, she was not a film star. Audrey Hepburn was and she got it. Ironically, later that year, Andrews was cast in a movie that not only made her a world-class star but an Oscar-winner, too. Indeed, when Andrews went to pick up her Best Actress statuette, she must have been feeling more than a little smug. While My Fair Lady won eight awards, Hepburn wasn't even nominated for the top honour. And justifiably so; while the Lerner-Loewe musical based on George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion remains an all-time favourite, it's little more than an exquisitely wrapped empty box. Hepburn, by then too grown-up and classy to play the waif without any extraneous plot stimuli such as danger or greed, simply goes through the motions. In fact, she doesn't even sing; Marni Nixon sang the part. There is little onscreen charisma between Harrison and Hepburn. The former being mechanically expert but somehow lacking any warmth or humanity, even at the rather sickly end. The Cinderella variation - Henry Higgins bets fellow linguist Colonel Hugh Pickering (Wilfrid Hyde-White) that he can turn the East End flowergirl into a lady with elocution so pure no one will suspect her origins - is such an old formula that it's now dated and dull to watch. That said, you can't get away from the catchy tunes (I Could Have Danced All Night, Get Me To The Church On Time ), and the wonderful costume design that justifiably won Cecil Beaton an Academy Award. Of all the brat-packers, John Cusack has shown himself a standout. The dark, rather sly-looking actor first appeared on the big screen in youth-oriented movies such as Class (1983, with Rob Lowe and Andrew McCarthy) and Sixteen Candles (1984). But during the late 1980s, he landed parts in more inventive films, Better Off Dead and The Sure Thing (1985) and One Crazy Summer (1986). In 1990, his greatest success came as a small-time con artist in Stephen Frears' The Grifters, opposite Anjelica Huston and Annette Bening. His talent was confirmed with the lead role in Woody Allen's period play, Bullets Over Broadway (World, 9.30pm), a treasure of a film about a self-serious playwright (Cusack), who quickly sells out when he is offered the chance to direct his play on Broadway. The film is full of colourful, flamboyant roles which are admirably filled by Diane Wiest (who won an Oscar), Chazz Palminteri, Jennifer Tilly and Tracey Ullman. If you are not an Allen fan, do not be put off. There are many who will miss Central Park West, but few who will not be pleased to see the return of Chicago Hope (World, 8.30pm). CPW certainly lost its footing in the last few weeks by concentrating on the older characters, turning into a Colbys Come To New York, rather than Thirtysomething On The Westside. Still, back at Chicago Hope, all is not well - and when is it? The hospital continues to face closure and five young doctors who are beginning their first-year residency think they know how to save it. Kronk and Grad are in wildest Africa, where they operate on a Maasai infant suffering from dehydration. Wilmette has Austin arrested for kidnapping their daughter and Dr Keith Wilkes is appointed chief of trauma after Nyland is suspended.
