Victor/Victoria

Okay, well, its not really a classic love story, but its your classic boy meets girl pretending to be a boy pretending to be a girl story, and probably the best one of those thats ever been made. Julie Andrews plays Victoria(and Victor) quite well, but sometimes its hard believing that people would believe that she is a man. There are some great scenes in this movie that are derived from this concept though. James Garner and Robert Preston are both excellent in their roles, Preston as Andrews gay friend, and Garner, the manliest man around. Actually, all of the performances are excellent, but a lot of this movies success has to go to Blake Edwards. There is classic Edwards comedy in this movie, and a very intelligent script that never insults its audiences intelligence. I won't give specifics, but I will say the there is a show stopping number at the end of the movie that is hilarious. Most of the music is excellent, and if its bad, its intended to be that way. Really though, I only have one question. Having seen "The Party", and now this movie, one has to wonder, what does Blake Edwards have against waiters? 9 out of 10.

Paris in the '30s is the setting for this screwball sex comedy wherein JULIE ANDREWS, for the sake of being employed, takes a job as a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman--figure that one out. Then we have a great moment when ROBERT PRESTON does an imitation of Julie singing "The Shady Dame from Seville" in drag--yes drag--the actor who played such sturdy romantic leads in the '40s and '50s is hilarious as a gay blade who hooks up with Julie during a restaurant scene in which she plants a cockroach in her plate to avoid paying for dinner.

That's the kind of romp this is. And it's extremely witty, with JAMES GARNER as Julie's romantic interest who hasn't figured out why he's so attracted to "the shady dame" when she's supposed to be a man.

First-rate sets and cinematography in color, and while none of it really makes any sense, the song and dance routines are fabulous with some great tunes by Henry Mancini. LESLEY ANN WARREN gives a priceless performance as a bird brained vamp in her Oscar nominated supporting role.

Despite all of its gender-bending commentary on sexuality, both hetero- and homo-, "Victor/Victoria" looked and sounded in 1982 (year of "ET" and "The Road Warrior") as if it were made in 1962 -- and that was a good thing. Blake Edwards' trademark ability to combine lush romanticism with immitable slapstick comedy was here matched by a wonderful score by his longtime collaborator Henry Mancini, "Voila!" -- we're back in the early sixties again. (It didn't hurt that stars Julie Andrews and James Garner were hottest in the sixties, and had acted together in 1964's "The Americanization of Emily.")

Robert Preston, "The Music Man" of late fifties Broadway and 1962 screen fame, further added an element of early sixties nostalgia -- with the twist that he here used his booming vocal tones in the service of a delightfully out and comfortable gay man. Preston was one of two hot contenders for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year. The winner was Lou Gossett, Jr. for his Drill Instructor in "An Officer And A Gentleman."

Rounding out the great cast are Lesley Ann Warren (sexy and very funny) in an Oscar-nominated role as Garner's mob moll floozie, and Alex Karras, continually funny as Garner's softhearted ox of a bodyguard. (Karras gets a classic Blake Edwards slapstick routine trapped in the freezing snow outside a Paris hotel, getting big laughs out of the simple line: "You've got heat? That's good.")

And be sure to keep a lookout for "Sherloque Tanney" as the French private detective on Victor/Victoria's trail. Tanney was Blake Edwards dentist, and appeared in almost every Blake Edwards film from "Darling Lili" (1970) on. Other than his corpse in "SOB," (1981), the French detective is possibly Dr. Tanney's greatest role on the screen. Tanney, too, gets to anchor several great trademark Blake Edwards slapstick routines.

Oh, and there's music, too. Enough music for a Broadway musical (which is what "Victor/Victoria" became), and with a sad and wistful Mancini title tune (reprised in the film by Andrews) that reminds one a bit of "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses." Just like in the early sixties.

Dazzling art direction, lavish costumes, funny dialogue, a fabulous soundtrack, and Robert Preston make "Victor/Victoria" one of filmdom's most entertaining musicals of all time. Set in 1934 Paris, and filmed in luscious color, the film tells the story of two down and out friends who carry out an ingenious plan to get rich. Toddy (Robert Preston), a gay performer, persuades Victoria (Julie Andrews), a struggling singer, to change her appearance to that of a man so that she can pose on stage as a female impersonator. Blake Edwards converts the film's clever concept into a film of true cinematic flair and panache.

The film's music alone is enough to make "Victor/Victoria" a winner. With consummate verve, Andrews sings the lively "Le Jazz Hot", a stage performance that has been mimicked by, it seems, one in ten talent competitors in the Miss America Pageant for the last twenty years. The colorful song "The Shady Dame From Seville" is memorable as a cultural classic. Even the restrained "You And Me" is satisfying, with its old fashioned charm. And Henry Mancini's wistful and slightly melancholy original score adds melodic balance to the flashy stage numbers.

The casting is perfect. I cannot imagine anyone other than Julie Andrews as Victoria. James Garner is fine as King Marchand. And in support roles, Lesley Ann Warren adds sexy spunk as Norma, and Alex Karras is surprisingly effective as Marchand's bodyguard. But it is music man Robert Preston who leads this top notch Hollywood talent parade. Preston is likable throughout, and is a hoot in the film's finale.

If the film has a flaw, it might be in the editing. The plot in Act Two slows down. Or, to say it a little differently, it ... drags (so to speak). The 132 minute runtime is a tad long maybe, and so a few scene deletions here and there might have rendered a slight improvement in the pace. But, this is a minor issue, one that I raise only in my grasping-at-straws attempt to find something to complain about.

"Victor/Victoria" is an expressive, fun, one-of-a-kind musical garden party that easily makes my list of top fifty films ever made.

Three of the stars of this movie all made their mark playing wholesome characters, (and all in musicals, ironically) but they certainly got rid of those personas in this film. Julie Andrews finally solved the problem of Maria by playing a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman, Robert Preston's gay entertainer is a long, long way from Harold Hill, and Lesley Ann Warren... well, her floozy moll ("Ya mean you really aw... quee-uh?") basically erases all memories of Cinderella. All give excellent performances in this entertaining, funny film from director/co-writer Blake Edwards. And they all get to sing some great songs from Henry Mancini and Leslie Brucusse, among them "Le Jazz Hot," (in which Andrews sings in her lower range, and actually sizzles) "The Shady Dame From Seville," (first sung by Andrews, then hilariously reprised at the end by Preston) and "Chicago, Illinois." (Warren is great in that) Though there is a long stretch in the middle that either included jokes and/or subtleties that went over my head or just wasn't funny, though not bad, otherwise it's a great comedy. In addition to the three performers mentioned, James Garner is also good as the gangster who falls for Andrews but is unsure of her gender.