Victor/Victoria: A Review (Review #2079)

VICTOR/VICTORIA

Gender benders never came as frothy as Victor/Victoria. The second remake of the German comedy Vicktor und Victoria, this adaptation has a wonderful songbook and strong performances that elevate it to a delightful musical comedy.

Paris, 1934. Openly gay cabaret singer Carrol Todd or Toddy (Robert Preston) is having romantic issues with a handsome but sleazy lover. He also sees chanteuse Victoria Grant (Julie Andrews) audition at Chez Lui, where Toddy is the headliner. Chez Lui's owner Labisse (Peter Arne) is totally unimpressed despite her vocal range. Victoria is at the end of her rope, going so far as to offer to sleep with her hotelier for a meatball.

Things take a great turn when Victoria and Toddy reunite at a restaurant. Circumstances force them to spend the night together. In the morning, Toddy's lover returns and is shocked to find a "man" in the closet. Toddy then hits on a brilliant idea. He will pass Victoria off as Count Victor Grazinski, a gay Polish aristocrat who is also the world's greatest female impersonator. Victoria scoffs at the idea of a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. Nevertheless, they manage to fool Andre Cassell (John Rhys-Davies), Paris' premiere talent agent.

Now hired at a chic club, "Victor" fools everyone into buying this drag act. Everyone except Chicago nightclub owner King Marchand (James Garner). He is convinced that "Victor" is really a woman. At first, Marchand's moll Norma Cassady (Leslie Ann Warren) is bemused by the apparent mistaken identity. Marchand, however, is not. Norma's violent nature at being scoffed is such that Marchand forces her to return to Chicago. 

Eventually, King does confirm that Victor is a woman. He and Victoria soon become lovers. The deception about "Victor" is such that Marchand's bodyguard, Squash Bernstein (Alex Karras) finds the courage to come out as gay to Marchand. Norma, still bitter about getting dumped, starts performing at a Chicago club. She also tells Marchand's gangster partner Sal Andretti (Norman Chancer) about King and "Victor". 

Soon, one other person starts doubting the Count Victor Grazinski routine. Labisse is still miffed that Toddy has caused not one but two riots at Chez Lui. He goes to the club and becomes convinced that Count Victor Grazinski is really Victoria Grant. He is determined to unmask this fraud. Andretti for his part is determined to take over King's club. Will Victor be unmasked? 

Victor/Victoria has a very pleasant and amusing manner for most of its admittedly long runtime. A lot of Victor/Victoria is really farce and everyone plays it as such. Of particular note is the scene where Marchand breaks into Toddy and Victoria's hotel suite. He is determined to confirm his suspicions that Victor is really Victoria. This also involves Squash finding himself outside in the Paris snow, freezing as he tries to break back in.

There is also another section where Norma continues to rant despite no one being able to hear her. This brief moment concludes with her opening her coat, revealing her undergarments. That in turn causes a poor traveler to fall off the platform, astounded at the sight. 

The movie is blessed from strong performances from the cast. Julie Andrews had been working hard to move her image past that of the sugary-sweet Mary Poppins and Maria von Trapp. She had done so when she famously revealed her bosom in S.O.B. Now, she is playing a female drag queen. Andrews keeps a deft balance between the farcical and the serious. Her desperation at offering sex for a meatball is well-played. She also has wonderful monologues about being able to see things from a different view. I think she puts it as being her own man so to speak. 

She rightly earned a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Joining her in receiving recognition were Robert Preston and Leslie Ann Warren. Preston was delightful as the quippy Toddy, instigator of this wild scheme. I do not know if it is right to use the term "flamboyant" when it comes to Preston's performance. He is appropriately effeminate at times. However, he is also not a mincing caricature. Preston is broad, but he also plays Toddy as someone who is enjoying all this. 

Warren for her part is delightful as the dimwitted moll who finds herself duped over and over again. She and Preston have a great scene when she discovers that Toddy is gay. "You know, I think that the right woman can reform you", she coos. "You know, I think the right woman can reform you too!" Todd replies amusingly. There is such a great interplay between them here. Warren knows to play this broad as broadly as she can. 

Alex Karras, former football star, does quite well as Squash, the tough bodyguard who comes out. In his smaller role, John Rhys-Davies also did well as Andre Cassell, the talent agent who was duped. My surprise is that James Garner did not receive recognition for his turn as King Marchand. Yes, he was the straight man so to speak in this farce. However, Garner is the key to sell the wild premise. He was not fooled by Victor's drag act. And yet, it took time to prove he was right. That initial doubt, that sense of keeping a straight face amidst all the craziness around him is a hard task. James Garner did it quite well.

A musical lives or dies by its numbers. Victor/Victoria does two things right thanks to Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse's Oscar-winning Original Song Score Adaptation. First, they crafted music that fit the situation or mood. The opening and closing music, an instrumental version of the film's song Crazy World, gives it a mix of romantic and melancholy. Its use of an accordion added a touch of French taste. Pretty much each song moved the story forward without having the characters break out into song (all the numbers taking place on a stage).

Todd's opening number Gay Paree works on two levels. It can be about the underground flamboyant gay world in the City of Lights. It can also be about his life and his unapologetic nature. The big musical number is Victoria's nightclub debut of Le Jazz Hot! which is splashy and energetic. This might be the only number that may not reflect the story's situation. However, I will not argue against anyone that can find a meaning with it. 

Toddy and Victoria have a smaller duet in You and Me, which again works on two levels. It could be a casual song about finding the ideal partner. It could also be about what a wonderful pair they make in their friendship and deception. For me, the standout number is not big or splashy. Crazy World, directed by screenwriter Blake Edwards, keeps thing simple. Everything in the Crazy World number works brilliantly. You have the Mancini/Bricusse music. You have Julie Andrews' beautiful voice carrying it. She is full command here, being vocally strong or weak when needed. The camera does a complete circle around her, keeping things focused on Andrews and the song. For me, Crazy World is the best song in Victor/Victoria. It is a shame that few people remember it the way that they do with something like Le Jazz Hot! or the clever and amusing Shady Dame from Seville. 

The hilarious Shady Dame from Seville reprise is one of two numbers that Andrews does not sing (though she did the first time). Chicago, Illinois is sung by Norma when she is back home entertaining at King's club. Both these numbers are clever and amusing. The Shady Dame from Seville reprise will have you laughing. It will also make the long performance of the first version slightly more tolerable in retrospect. Chicago, Illinois is charming and witty. "Smack on the lake, this is the report! Someday they say we'll have an airport" is a hilarious lyric given the future that awaits Chi-town with O'Hare. 

The film only starts falling off at the end. I think Edwards could not figure out a way to land the ending. Labisse is coming with the police to prove that Victor is really a woman. There is no real explanation how Cassell, who up to this point had been duped, suddenly went along with keeping up the fraud. I figure that he had both his reputation and his career to think of. However, whether he was once more fooled or Toddy and Victoria had to suddenly confess, we do not know. I also think all the sight gags involving private detective Charles Bovin (Herb Tanney, billed as "Sherloque Tanney") fell flat. Each of them was too much slapstick. Finally, a quick scene of Bovin and Labisse was jarringly cut into the Shady Dame from Seville reprise. I think that was a mistake.

Victor/Victoria, minus the jumbled ending, still holds up as an amusing farce with some wonderful songs. Well-acted, written and directed, oh how I love this Crazy World too.

DECISION: B+