When you’re out of your league, keep your expectations low
Editor’s note: Casual film fans, the fans who never look at the extra features and deleted scenes included with their Blu-ray discs or streaming services such as Apple TV, may not be aware that the final film script often differed significantly from the script originally envisioned by the screenwriters. Wind Eggs recently uncovered a box filled with original drafts at an estate auction in Beverly Hills, and has devoted this week to the original, alternate versions of popular films.
The theatrical release of “Pretty Woman” was essentially a remake of “My Fair Lady” without the music and with the heroine working as a prostitute instead of a flower girl. Corporate raider Edward Lewis accidentally meets hooker Vivian Ward when his Ferrari breaks down in the red-light district. A slow-burning romance builds as Vivian becomes educated in the social graces, and the film ends with Lewis climbing the fire escape to her apartment as her white knight to rescue her. The studio went for the lighter, romantic touch because they felt the original screenplay was too dark for American audiences whose tastes had progressed from “Easy Rider” in the sixties to “Pretty in Pink” in the eighties.
CORPORATE RAIDER EDWARD LEWIS had paid Vivian Ward $3,000 (about $10,000 in today’s money) to accompany him for a week on business. During that week, the hotel manager and his assistant train her in upper class etiquette. She uses her allowance to buy upscale clothes and accompanies Edward on business meetings where Lewis’ clients, learning she is his paid escort, assume she will offer her services to them for free (perhaps thinking she would offer a discount for second-hand merchandise).
The theatrical release of “Pretty Woman” was essentially a remake of “My Fair Lady” without the music and with the heroine working as a prostitute instead of a flower girl.
As Vivian navigates the world of high-powered business executives, her slow transformation charms Lewis, who flies her to San Francisco to see La traviata, the famous Verdi opera about a prostitute who lives off the favors of a wealthy man, only to die of tuberculosis when he abandons her.
Not taking Lewis’ hint, she flies back to Los Angeles with him, where Lewis takes Vivian’s advice about working with the owner of the business targeted for his buy-out. His change of strategy salvages the collapsing business deal.
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