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Mar 01, 2016mswrite rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Sparkling musical version of the 1930s drama, "Viktor und Viktoria." This 1982 collaboration between director Blake Edwards and his superstar wife, actress-singer Julie Andrews, continued their then-recent winning streak following successes "S.O.B." and especially the megahit "10." (Rescuing Andrews especially from clunkers like "Star!," "Darling Lili" and "The Tamarind Seed.") "Victor/Victoria" is funny, snappy, and at times poignant. The musical numbers, especially "Le Jazz Hot," have the requisite charm and razzle-dazzle and Julie's legendary multi-octave soprano is in fine form. Miss Andrews has terrific chemistry both with her handsome "The Americanization of Emily" costar James Garner (as King Marchand, the rugged American mobster whose instant attraction to Victoria--the toast of Paris as female impersonator Victor-- perplexes and infuriates him) and Hollywood veteran Robert Preston ("The Music Man") as her witty, nurturing mentor and confidante, Carole "Toddy" Todd. Rounding out the expert cast is the lovely Lesley Ann Warren, channeling Jean Hagen's screechy Lina Lamont in her hilarious turn as King's uncouth showgirl mistress, Norma, and former Detroit Lions star Alex Karras (the humongous, monosyllabic Mongo in "Blazing Saddles") as Squash, King's loyal bodyguard, whose innocent misunderstanding of his boss's complicated romantic life inspires him to finally do something he's thought about for a long, long time... The romantic tension between King and Victoria is nicely played; the frustrated tough guy can't prove the wary Victor is really a girl (not initially anyway, though it all comes out in the wash) but he can't help falling for him/her/him just the same-- to the consternation and sneering amusement of the offended Norma. As for the similarly smitten Squash, it's a nice Edwards attempt, but no way is the burly bodyguard's romance with the debonair Toddy even remotely believable. This is the fault not of the characters or the story, I think, but the nervous actors, producers, executives, and perhaps even discomfited mainstream audiences as well. "Victor/Victoria" was made and released in an increasingly fearful and homophobic time; the dawn of the ultra-conservative Reagan era and the specter of AIDS. Backlash was on the rise. Preston and Karris are so awkward, so obviously uneasy and uncomfortable in their big reveal bedroom scene, they might as well be polite strangers seated together by chance on a passenger train. It's a rather glaring misstep, nevertheless it can't diminish the film's overall joie de vivre.