Viktor und Viktoria came just as the Weimar Republic was coming to its end. It is highly unlikely that a story of a female female impersonator would have gone over well in the new Third Reich. With a breezy charm and amusing musical numbers, Victor and Victoria is a pleasant delight.
Viktor Humpel (Hermann Thimig) considers himself the greatest Shakespearean actor in all German-speaking nations. He is also the only one who thinks this. His latest audition is a fiasco. Here, he meets aspiring chanteuse Susanne Lohr (Renate Muller), an eager and talented kid looking for her big break. Viktor talks Susanne into filling in for him as "Viktoria", a drag act that he uses to supplement his income when he can't get any other jobs. She, albeit reluctantly and with barely hidden hostility, goes along with it.
"Viktoria" is a bit success. Impresario Francesco Alberto Punkertin (Aribert Wascher) eagerly takes "Mr. Viktoria" as a client, with Viktor as her right-hand man. Susanne soon eagerly goes along with this scheme and takes London by storm with her Spanish dance. She also takes in Robert (Anton Walbrook, billed as Adolf Wohlbruck). He is delighted, then shocked to find that Viktoria is a drag queen. He, however, wonders if Viktoria really is male. His companion Ellinor (Hilde Hildebrand) finds this amusing. She is also a flirt, letting both Robert and Sir Douglas Shepperton (Fritz Odemar) squire her to all the chic London nightclubs.
Robert is determined to find out the truth. He finds it when he overhears Susanne tell Viktor that she is tiring of this bizarre double act. Viktor is not sympathetic to her plight. He is, however, sympathetic to chorus girl Lilli (Friedel Prisetta), who is also German and who maintains a friendly flirtation with Viktor. As Susanne and Robert fall in love, there is danger that "Viktoria" will be unmasked. Will our four to six lovers be matched? Will "Viktoria's" farewell performance be a triumph or a comical farce?
The songs are charming and delightful. Of particular note is One Day in Spring, which Viktor and Susanne sing on their way to the hotel dining hall after "Viktoria's" London triumph. Starting as conversation, One Day in Spring switches to song, which in turn carries on to the tune the orchestra is playing. One does not pause to question the logic of it all. That is part of Victor and Victoria's charm, how open and unashamed it is about being nothing more than a romp.
The stage number I've Got a Little Castle in Spain is impressive for a variety of reasons. First is the number itself: cute, coy, flirtatious and pleasant musically. Second, you have Renate Muller's beautiful singing voice. It is clear, sparkling and delightful. Muller also does something intelligent: she lowers her voice during the song. I think that lends credibility to the idea that "Viktoria" is really a man in drag. Third, I've Got a Little Castle in Spain shows that the German film industry was capable of creating musicals that could match what Hollywood did. One part of the number has an overhead shot in the style of a Busby Berkeley sequence. If one thinks on it, this visual would be illogical on a stage setting. Again though, as Victor and Victoria is a film musical, we keep rolling with it.
In the I've Got a Little Castle in Spain number Muller also sings in English. Her diction is practically perfect. Renate Muller was sparkling and delightful as Susanne/Viktoria, full of joy and lightness. Sadly, her early death at 31 was a great loss to cinema. The circumstances of her death (perhaps suicide, perhaps accidental, perhaps even murder by the Nazis) will forever be shrouded in mystery.
Hermann Thiming was equally pleasant as the pompous, grandiose Viktor Humpel. He has a great early scene where he tortures the theatrical agents with his almost unhinged Shakespeare recreations. Despite Viktor's shady manner, he too is also in his way sweet and amusing. His flirtations with an equally charming Pisetta as Lilli, whose job is to carry numbers across the stage to signal the next act, is charming.
Anton Walbrook fled Nazi Germany, which was a loss to German film. His Robert was dashing and a worthy foil to Viktoria's attempts at deception. He plays Robert as a Lothario but also as someone who is both intelligent and caring.
Schunzel, who also wrote the screenplay, has some wonderful moments of wit and intelligence. He at one point has a dog act that serves as a counterpoint to the Viktor/Lili romance. He also ends Viktor and Viktoria with a logical and delightful conclusion. The cast and crew first tell each other of Viktoria's secret in a great montage. At the end, we see all the couples united, bringing our frolic to a delightful conclusion.
Viktor und Viktoria is a sparkling gem that should delight the viewer. With not one but two remakes and a Broadway musical adaptation as one of its legacies, I hope Viktor und Viktoria is not forgotten.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Views are always welcome, but I would ask that no vulgarity be used. Any posts that contain foul language or are bigoted in any way will not be posted.
Thank you.