Victor et Victoria

What surprised me most about this film, since it's famously the inspiration for the 1982 Blake Edwards/Julie Andrews musical "Victor/Victoria," is that it's so CLEAN. The fact that its release date is 1933 may mean it was produced under Nazi censorship, or on the other hand it might be an example of how innocent and yet sophisticated filmmaking could be in Weimar Berlin. Notably, there's absolutely no homosexuality in it; the Robert Preston character (a wonderful piece of clowning by Hermann Thimig) is straight, and the James Garner guy (the incredibly sexy Anton Walbrook) suspects all along that Viktoria is really female, and his courtship of her consists of teasingly playing up to her pretensions of maleness while tweaking her feminine tendencies. The through-line of this version is the charming reactions of the skittish young Susanna-Viktoria (an endearing performance by Renate Mueller that's a poignant reminder that it's possible for actresses to be both beautiful AND skilled performers--a point usually lost on Hollywood) to the strange and excellent adventures of passing as a man, and then falling in love while trying to pass as a man with the man she loves.

An operetta of dramatic interactions in rhymes, sometimes sung, sometimes in recitative form. In short, fantastic fun. If the critic Moniz Vianna's favorite musical was "Love Me Tonight", (1932), and the critic J. L. Grunewald's favorite musical was "Maytime", (1937), I'm led to believe that neither of them got to watch "Viktor und Viktoria", whose premise is complex and certainly funny: a real woman falls into Skittish Susanne Lohr (Renate Mueller, adorable ) falls in love with one of the men she tries to pose as a man in front of vaudeville. ... him!

A sweeping musical - full of melodies sung in rhyming couplets. A reminder of the spirit of freedom and joy enjoyed in pre-III Reich Germany. The date of production, 1933, means that it passed through Nazi censorship, and yet it is still an example of innocence, mischievousness and high cinematic sophistication. There is absolutely no homosexuality there. Hermann Thimig's character, with all the quirks and for all intents and purposes, is straight. The gallant Adolf Walbrook (who would soon change his name to Anton to stop being the namesake of the Nazi dictator) has suspected all along that Viktor is really Viktoria. The film is seen as a time machine trip to the era of the Weimar Republic. Like contemporary René Clair's comedies, it's full of slapstick scenes. And specialists who appreciate cinematographic language will be especially delighted with the montage based on (technically so called) curtains (instead of cuts, fades or lightening, just like as in, for example, Kurosawa's 7 Samurai)

The startling thing about the original "Victor and Victoria" is its operetta-like form with significant dramatic interactions presented in rhyme, either sung or in recitative. Reinhold Schunzel (who later appeared to outstanding effect in such American films as "Hangmen Also Die" and "Notorious") directs stylishly with sometimes over-obvious flair, milking laughs from the physical comedy of the leads—namely, the energetic Hermann Thimig as the female impersonator who catches cold and persuades an ambitious young performer (Renate Muller) to sub for him. She becomes a huge hit overnight. The dashing Adolf Wohlbruck (later Anton Walbrook of "Red Shoes" fame) is the gentleman who falls in love with her after discovering "he" is a "she."

One odd bit: when Wohlbruck takes Muller to a barbershop for a shave and she removes her jacket it is very clear from her anatomy that she is a female, but no one notices. Why then did the filmmakers do nothing to flatten her chest?

Viktor und Viktoria is a witty musical comedy of errors: The core idea is that a girl plays a man who plays a girl. Aspiring actress Susanne Lohr (Renate Müller) meets out of work actor Viktor Hempel (Hermann Thimig) while queueing at an agency. Viktor initially boasts about his success on stage, but Susanne pretty quickly sees through him, and from then on they develop a more honest friendship. When Viktor develops a sore throat and can't do his drag act at a vaudeville, Susanne steps in and becomes a huge, international sucess. Complications ensue... 'Viktor und Viktoria' is perfectly charming. It gives us a glimpse of how German cinema might have developed if it had not been taken over by the Nazis - a process that began in the year when this film came out. No wonder it proved influential over decades, inspiring several remakes (none of which I have had a chance to see so far). The plot is fast paced and the gender bending issue is handled with a lot of charm. Dialogues are mostly sung; amazingly, this sounds perfectly natural after a few minutes. Acting is excellent; Müller and Thimig have great comic timing. So have the other actors, of whom Adolf Wohlbrück deserves special praise (he changed his name to Anton Walbrook a little later and emigrated to Britain, where he had a great career). Still, for me the discovery of this film was Renate Müller, whom I had not seen or heard of before. She is simply fantastic as 'Mr Viktoria'. I read up on her and found that while the Nazis courted her for her looks, she refused to seperate from her Jewish boyfriend and to appear in propaganda films. In 1937, she died under suspicious circumstances, falling from an upper floor window soon after the Gestapo had entered the building. I don't know why she did not leave the country like Walbrook did - perhaps she did not trust her English, perhaps she had family in Germany. If she had emigrated, I am sure today she would be as well-known as Marlene Dietrich.

This film was obviously the inspiration for the 1982 film VICTOR/VICTORIA, but that film went off appropriately in the direction that a contemporary film about gender role-playing should go into. They thankfully did not remake this original film, because this film stands on its own as extremely entertaining, and as a fascinating glimpse into the last carefree days of filmmaking in the Weimar Republic. It is an incredible record of its era. Much of the dialogue is spoken in verse (and very cleverly I might add!), and there are musical numbers that make one reflect on both the Busby Berkeley musicals of 1930s Hollywood and of the film CABARET, made decades later. The cast is exemplary. Renate Muller should have been a bigger star than Marlene Dietrich, and it's exciting to see Anton Walbrook looking younger and more dashing than ever. The film doesn't go into the same risque sexual identity antics that VICTOR/VICTORIA went into, but it still provides some amusing turns on gender role-playing, including a hilarious scene where "Viktoria" gets a shave. It is just a pure delight all the way through, and fans of VICTOR/VICTORIA will enjoy making comparisons.