Victor/Victoria (1982)

Directed by Blake Edwards. Starring Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, James Garner, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, John Rhys-Davies, Graham Stark, Peter Arne, Norman Chancer, Malcolm Jamieson, Herb Tanny, Michael Robbins. [PG]

In 1930s “Gay Paree,” impoverished singer Andrews agrees to go along with a charade concocted by aging gay entertainer Preston—have her perform at nightclubs as a female impersonator (which makes her a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman). In doing so, she catches the (very confused) eye of visiting American gangster Garner, while Garner’s bodyguard (Karras) shows interest in Preston. Convoluted boudoir farce from writer/director Edwards, based on a 1933 German film (Viktor und Viktoria), runs at least twenty minutes too long, unsuccessfully marries frothy and sophisticated humor with a smattering of the destructive slapstick that Edwards is best known for, and struggles to make several of Henry Mancini’s song numbers feel like anything more than filler. Part of the problem with the latter is Andrews, a gifted performer who’s too lucid for the material, and never at all convincing in the fraudulent routine; a burlesque lacks juice without flamboyant conviction. Sentimental as his character may be, Preston fares much better with sad but authoritative dignity and just the right amount of mischief, while Warren’s screechy moll portrayal is little more than a riff on Judy Holliday’s Born Yesterday nightmare—at least this one is allowed to be tolerable by sticking the punchline landings and exiting the picture for extended spells on more than one occasion. Regardless, the whole enterprise is quietly absorbing in a relaxed fashion because of its warmth and a refreshing lack of tasteless cultural attacks—assuming acceptance in nearly all quarters may have been the rowdiest con of all. Oscar winner for Original Song Score.

66/100