Victor Victoria (1982)

Victor/Victoria was released in 1982. Believe it or not this was a watershed year in Hollywood History. This was 1982 before AIDS became an household word! Hollywood that year released many gay theme movies.

The biggest risk was "Making Love". That was the most controversial one released! Another three movies that were released that year were "Personel Best", & "Partners" & of course Victor/Victoria. However when all of them were box office disappointment's and the next year AIDS made the nightly news. So Hollywood studios turned its back on gay theme movies.

However Victor/Victoria made headlines for weeks for lots of reasons! However this was still a box office disappointment but still one the best reviewed movies of that year! ( It would be a shoo in for Best Picture if it were made today) Now get this Hollywood released 3 movies that year that have become "Classics". The 3 movies were "E.T.", "Tootsie" and "Victor/Victoria".

Sadly what won the Academy Award for Best Picture was "Ghandi". (I could of lived with "ET") However "Victor/Victoria" was nominated for Best Picture! However as the years have gone by I am sure that more people have gotten satisfaction out of this movie than Ghandi! This motion picture is just as funny today as it was in 1982.

In this movie a down on her luck singer ends up at the home of gay man because she is broke and homeless! One thing leads to another and he turns into a female impersonator! So she is a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. The gay characters in this are fun and drive the story! This was Blake Edwards crowning achievement. In fact he later turned this movie into a Broadway play!

The movie was Nominated for Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actor". 2 songs from this move are standouts. In fact "Le Jazz Hot" is now in most Vegas Lounge acts.

Rent the DVD!! See the widescreen edition! It is great entertainment.

Fmovies: Great wit, wonderful set design, very good acting - What can one say bad about the film? Perhaps the plethora of homosexuals was a bit over the top, as was the part of the private investigator, but these are nit-picks hardly noticed against the background of most modern releases. While I dislike musicals intensely, this one is different, most obviously in the setting for the music. Unlike the incongruous breaking out in song in the middle of conversation, this movie's music occurs within the framework of nightclub acts. This adds to the credibility of a plot that could have spun out of control, much as S.O.B. did (unfortunately). What really sets this movie apart from the crowd of box-office hits that plague us is the incredible wit of the dialogue. The writing is truly wonderful! And Preston is perfect for his character, his repartee style as sharp as the lines Blake Edwards puts in his mouth. It is my tendency to pick apart films on the issue of credibility, allowing as we should for the genre of the film. H.G.Wells once said that good science fiction depended on introducing one and only one fantastic idea, and then developing a plot whose events would follow reasonably from that one idea. Bad science fiction, he said, introduces several such incredible inventions and ideas, creating a plot too fantastic for the reader to immerse him/herself in. So too with movies. Good comedy, science fiction, drama, even action plots, should have one premise that might stretch the limit of credibility, and then develop the plot reasonably from there. Most modern box-office hits fail to do this, and in the process of feeding us one fantasy after another to stimulate our interest and attract our dollars, dulls our minds. Victor / Victoria is good writing because it starts with its one major premise - an unsuccessful, though talented singer achieving fame and fortune by altering her sexual image - and lets the plot play itself out. There are a few minor stretches beside the main premise, but without fantastic physical feats, explosions, car chases, and CG effects, Edwards has created a script that pulls - rather than pushes - you in to the plot. The weakest part of the plot is the fact that Andrew's character attains success not just by cross-dressing, but also by substantially altering her act. We are supposed to ignore the fact that she has changed from simply singing to singing with well choreographed movement. However, this is not a serious flaw, because in the real Hollywood (and Broadway), very good talent is habitually unsuccessful, while the fantastic and ridiculous is placed on an altar. (Does anyone really think Schwarzenegger can act?) Did I say acting? Perhaps I saved the best for last. Andrews playing herself is perfect here, Garner is fantastic, and Leslie Ann Warren adapted to her character's personality so completely that I hardly realized it was her. And, at the risk of repetition, Preston is perfection itself. The set design was almost excessive in the distraction it caused, for you could not help noticing how artfully it was designed and lit. Finally, Henry Mancini wrote the music. The DVD commentary added substantially to the production, making the entire package a 5-star offering, a rating I rarely give.

The first time I saw it, I thought it was "pretty good." Amusing, but I didn't expect to find myself watching it again.

It's unpretentious. It doesn't have Big Ideas or profound themes that you have to watch it twice to get.

But it's got lovable characters and a kickin' plot, and I happen to have a huge crush on the 1930s. I love the friendship between Victoria and Toddy because it feels so genuine and it's rare to see a friendship (particularly between men and women) portrayed so well in movies. I love the romance between Victoria and King, because they're well-matched, but at the same time the problems in their relationship are so realistic. Fundamental inability to compromise? I think everyone knows what that's like.

Victor Victoria fmovies. Me thinks several semi-homophobic comments need to look in-their-mirrors!?! This classic, Blake Edwards musical/comedy is still-a-treasure after ALL-these-years! Pure Hollywood entertainment! Reviewed Julie Andrews' Vegas debut for "Billboard Magazine" at Caesars Palace in the late '70s & was dazzled by her amazing talent. She was so gracious at the after-show dinner party, personally meeting each press member at their tables! A classy lady! - Had seen Robert Preston with Mary Martin in the musical/comedy "I Do! I Do!" on Broadway in '66. This was his best movie role ever, way better than "The Music Man." & Leslie Ann Warren nearly stole-the-movie with her dead-on portrayal of the dippy gun moll!?! & Henry "Hank" Mancini's amazing score proves-the-vital element-of-music in film. It's wonderful!!!

First of all, let me just say that I am slightly obsessed with Julie Andrews and her work. With that out of the way... I love her in this movie because it's not your typical Julie Andrews movie. Most people see her in The Sound of Music or Mary Poppins or (if you know this far back in her career) Cinderella. However, she delivers a flawless performance as Victor/Victoria. The only skepticism I have about this movie is seeing her as a man. She's so feminine (in her mannerisms, voice, appearance, etc.) that it's almost impossible to think that she's a man. Robert Preston is wonderfully funny, and I always love James Garner. The movie probably could have done without Lesley Ann Warren's song and dance number (why ruin Julie and Robert's wonderful score?)... On a side note, Warren's character reminded me a bit of Jean Hagen's Lina Lamont in Singin' in the Rain; they each had their characters down perfectly, and you got just annoyed with them enough to hate them but like them at the same time...

Of course, Andrews does a beautiful job with all the songs- my favorite being her first jazz number. All in all, an impossibly wonderful performance by all involved.

DEFINITELY ten out of ten!

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.