Victor Victoria
is a 1982 musical comedy film, which involves transvestism and sexual identity as central themes. It stars Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras and John Rhys-Davies. The film was produced by Tony Adams, directed by Blake Edwards, and scored by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. It was later adapted in 1995 as a Broadway musical. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Original Music Score. It is a remake of Viktor und Viktoria
, a German film of 1933.
|
VICTOR/VICTORIA TICKETS
|
Production
The
screenplay of
Victor Victoria
was adapted by
Blake Edwards (Andrews' husband) and
Hans Hoemburg from the 1933
German film
Viktor und Viktoria
by
Reinhold Schünzel. According to Blake Edwards, the screenplay took only one month to write. There was also a 1935 remake named
First a Girl
, made in the United Kingdom and directed by
Victor Saville, about a woman who stands in for a female impersonator and becomes a hit. Julie Andrews watched the 1933 version to prepare for her role.
[1]
Plot summary
In 1930s
Paris, Victoria Grant (
Julie Andrews), a struggling female singer, is unable to find work. She runs into Carroll "Toddy" Todd (played by
Robert Preston) at a Paris restaurant as she is scheming to plant a
cockroach in her food in order to get her meal for free, trying to foil the waiter (
Graham Stark). Toddy hits upon a plan to help both her and himself after he gives Victoria his ex-boyfriend's clothes to replace her ruined clothes: Victoria will pretend to be a man pretending to be a woman, and get a job as a
female impersonator in a nightclub. In order to enhance the ruse, Toddy will pretend to be her gay lover.
Soon Victoria's new persona, "Count Victor Grezinski", becomes the
toast of Paris. As money and fame start to turn her (and Toddy's) lives around, an additional complication arises. King Marchand (
James Garner), a
gangster and nightclub-owner from
Chicago, finds himself at first repelled by and then strangely attracted to "Victor". This encourages his burly bodyguard, "Squash" Bernstein (
Alex Karras), to
come out of the closet, but it enrages Marchand's whiny-voiced, peroxide-blonde spitfire girlfriend Norma (
Lesley Ann Warren).
[2]
Marchand also starts to investigate Victor, sure that a man like himself could never fall for another man. Norma becomes more annoying and tawdry, in contrast to the classy Victoria, and King finally has Squash send her home to Chicago so that he is free to pursue Victoria. Victoria must come to terms with what she really wants out of life: to be true to herself by giving up her career and fame in Paris to be with the man who loves her and whom she loves, or to continue with her duplicitous profession and risk losing Marchand.
The vocal numbers in the film are presented as real-life scenes or entertainments that involve singers; this explains why neither Toddy nor Marchand sings a duet with Victoria as part of some sort of private scene. Nevertheless, the lyrics or situations of some of the songs are calculated to relate to the unfolding drama.
Thus, the two staged numbers
Le Jazz Hot
and
The Shady Dame from Seville
help to present Victoria as a female impersonator. The latter number is later reinterpreted by Toddy for diversionary purposes in the plot. The cozy relationship of Toddy and Victoria is promoted by the song
You and Me
, which is sung before the audience at the nightclub.
[3]
Awards
The movie won the
Academy Award for
Best Music, Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Best Adaptation Score. It was nominated for
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Robert Preston),
Best Actress in a Leading Role (Julie Andrews),
Best Actress in a Supporting Role (
Lesley Ann Warren),
Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (
Rodger Maus,
Tim Hutchinson,
William Craig Smith,
Harry Cordwell),
Best Costume Design and
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.
[4]
American Film Institute recognition
- 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs #76
Cast
- Julie Andrews as Victoria Grant
- James Garner as King Marchand
- Robert Preston as 'Toddy' Todd
- Lesley Ann Warren as Norma Cassady
- Alex Karras as 'Squash' Bernstein
- John Rhys-Davies as Andre Cassell
- Graham Stark as Waiter
- Peter Arne as Labisse
- Herb Tanney as Charles Bovin
- Michael Robbins as Manager of Victoria's hotel
- Norman Chancer as Sal Andratti
- David Gant as Restaurant Manager
- Maria Charles as Madame President
- Malcolm Jamieson as Richard DiNardo
- John Cassady as Juke
See also
- Cross-dressing in film and television
References
- Julie Andrews: An Intimate Biography
- Overview for Victor/Victoria (1982)
- Victor/Victoria
- NY Times: Victor/Victoria