Victor/Victoria

My, can you ever see Blake Edwards in this film. There are even pratfalls! (Reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau, natch.) And in a musical, no less. Julie Andrews and Robert Preston star as desperate singers who will do almost anything to get a gig. James Garner is the love interest. But, there's a catch. Robert Preston's character is gay and Julie Andrews' character is a woman playing a man playing a woman. So, as could be expected, lots of commentary on gender bias, differences, and attitudes, both societal and individual. You might claim that this is subtext in the film, but it's much too blatant to be subtext, I think. Dame Julie is eye-openingly different from her Mary Poppins or Sound of Music incarnations, but I found it difficult to completely remove those prior film roles from my mind as I was watching. It could be because her diction and bearing are as spotless as they ever were and I was expecting something a bit more grungy. It's a minor complaint, though, since we get to hear her sing, and was there ever a more perfect voice? The best stuff happens at the end (and everything is set up nicely from previous scenes), especially Andrews and Preston dancing and singing at Chez Lui, and the final Spanish tune. I laughed till my face hurt. Preston deserved his Oscar nomination just for that scene.

year: 1982
length: 132 min.
rating: 3.5
IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084865/combined