Victor/Victoria

Template:Short description Template:About Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox film Victor/Victoria is a 1982 musical comedy film written and directed by Blake Edwards and starring Julie Andrews, James Garner, Robert Preston, Lesley Ann Warren, Alex Karras, and John Rhys-Davies. The film was released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, produced by Tony Adams and scored by Henry Mancini, with lyrics by Leslie Bricusse. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards and won the Academy Award for Best Original Song Score or Adaptation Score.

It was a remake of the German film comedy Viktor und Viktoria shot by Reinhold Schünzel in 1933 from his own script. Victor/Victoria was adapted as a Broadway musical in 1995.<ref name="LMMG">Template:Cite book</ref>

Plot

In 1934 Paris, Carroll "Toddy" Todd, an aging gay performer at Club Chez Lui, sees Labisse, the owner, auditioning frail and impoverished soprano Victoria Grant. After her failed audition, Victoria returns to her hotel room to find herself about to be evicted, as she cannot pay her rent. That night, when hustler Richard, with whom Toddy is romantically involved, comes to Chez Lui as part of a straight foursome, Toddy incites a brawl resulting in damage and the police locking up whomever they can get their hands on. Labisse fires Toddy and bans him from the club. Walking home, Toddy spots Victoria in a restaurant. She invites him to join her. As both of them are poor, she plans to dump a cockroach in her salad to avoid paying, but it escapes and mayhem ensues.

The duo run through the rain to Toddy's, and he invites her to stay when she discovers the rain has shrunk and damaged her decrepit clothing. The next morning Richard shows up to collect his things. Victoria, who is wearing his suit and hat, hides in Toddy's closet. When Richard opens the closet, she punches him, breaking his nose before kicking him out. Seeing this, Toddy is struck with the inspiration of passing Victoria off as a man and presenting her to successful talent agent Andre Cassell as a female impersonator.

Cassell accepts her as Count Victor Grazinski, a gay Polish impersonator and Toddy's new boyfriend. Cassell gets her a booking in a nightclub show and invites club owners to the opening. Among the guests are Chicago gangster King Marchand, his moll Norma Cassidy and bodyguard Mr. Bernstein, also known as Squash. Victoria becomes a hit. King is smitten, but is shocked when she "reveals" herself to be a man at the end of the act. King, however, is convinced that "Victor" is not a man.

After Norma attacks King during a quarrel, he sends her back to the United States. Determined to uncover the truth, King sneaks into Victoria and Toddy's suite and confirms his suspicion when he spies her getting into the bath. In Chicago, Norma, angry over being dumped, tells King's business partner Sal Andretti that King is having an affair with a man. King invites Victoria, Toddy and Cassell to Chez Lui. Another fight breaks out. Squash, Cassell, and Toddy are arrested, along with many of the club clientele, but King and Victoria escape. King kisses Victoria, pretending that he does not care about her assumed gender.

Squash returns to the suite and catches him in bed with Victoria. King tries to explain, but then Squash reveals that he himself is gay. Victoria and King argue over whether or not the relationship could work and Victoria discovers that King is not really a gangster but someone who pretends to be to stay in the nightclub business. Both he and Victoria are pretending to be something they are not. Victoria returns to her room and finds Squash in bed with Toddy.

Meanwhile, Labisse hires private investigator Charles Bovin to tail Victor. Victoria and King attempt to live together, but keeping up her deception strains the relationship, and King eventually ends it. At the same time that Victoria decides to give up the Victor persona to be with King, Sal arrives and demands that King transfer his share of the business to Sal for a fraction of what it is actually worth. Squash tells Victoria what is happening, and she shows Norma that she is really a woman, saving King's stake.

That night at the club, Cassell tells Toddy and Victoria that Labisse lodged a police complaint against him and "Victor" for perpetrating a public fraud. After checking for himself, the inspector tells Labisse that the performer he saw in the room, after opening the door, is a man and accuses Labisse for being a idiot. Victoria joins King in the club as her real self. The announcer says that Victor will perform, but instead of Victoria, Toddy masquerades as "Victor". After an intentionally disastrous performance of "The Shady Dame From Seville," Toddy claims that this is his last performance.

Musical numbers

Template:See also The vocal numbers in the film are presented as nightclub acts, with choreography by Paddy Stone. However, 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, and the cozy relationship of Toddy and Victoria is promoted by the song "You and Me", which is sung before the audience at the nightclub.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1. "Gay Paree" – Toddy
2. "Le Jazz Hot!" – Victoria
3. "The Shady Dame from Seville" – Victoria
4. "Chicago, Illinois" – Norma
5. "You and Me" – Toddy, Victoria
6. "Crazy World" – Victoria
7. "Finale/Shady Dame from Seville (Reprise)" – Toddy

Occasionally, Victoria and Toddy sing "Home on the Range" when they are in the hotel.<ref name="AFIcat">Template:Cite web</ref>

Production

The film's screenplay was adapted by Blake Edwards (Andrews's husband) from the 1933 German film Victor and Victoria written and directed by Reinhold Schünzel from an original story treatment by Hans Hoemburg.<ref name="LMMG" /> According to Edwards, the screenplay took only one month to write.Template:Citation needed Andrews watched the 1933 version to prepare for her role.Template:Citation needed The film had been planned as early as 1978 with Andrews to star alongside Peter Sellers, but Sellers died in 1980 while Andrews and Edwards were filming S.O.B. (1981), so Robert Preston was cast in the role of Toddy.<ref name="AFIcat" />

The costume worn by Andrews in the number "The Shady Dame from Seville" is in fact the same costume worn by Preston at the end of the film. It was made to fit Preston, and then, using a series of hooks and eyes at the back, it was drawn in tight to fit Andrews' shapely figure. Black silk ruffles were added to the bottom of the garment to hide the differences in height. The fabric is a black and brown crepe, with fine gold threads woven into it, that when lit appears to have an almost wet look about it.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Release

Victor/Victoria was the opening night film at Filmex on March 16, 1982. It opened in New York, Los Angeles, and Toronto on March 19, 1982.<ref name="AFIcat"/>

Reception

Critical response

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave it 3 out of 4 stars and wrote: "Not only a funny movie, but, unexpectedly, a warm and friendly one."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Todd McCarthy of Variety called it "sparkling, ultra-sophisticated entertainment from Blake Edwards."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Vincent Canby in The New York Times was enthusiastic, calling the film "so good, so exhilarating, that the only depressing thing about it is the suspicion that Mr. Edwards is going to have a terrible time trying to top it."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of Template:RT data based on Template:RT data reviews, with an average rating of Template:RT data. The site's critical consensus reads, "Driven by a fantastic lead turn from Julie Andrews, Blake Edwards' musical gender-bender is sharp, funny and all-round entertaining."<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:RT data</ref> On Metacritic, it has a score of 84 out of 100 based on reviews from 12 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2000, American Film Institute included the film in AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs (#76).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Accolades

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Academy Awards	Best Actress	Julie Andrews	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> <ref name="NY Times">Template:Cite web</ref> <ref name="Interviews">Template:Cite book</ref>
	Best Supporting Actor	Robert Preston	Template:Nom
	Best Supporting Actress	Lesley Ann Warren	Template:Nom
	Best Screenplay – Based on Material from Another Medium	Blake Edwards	Template:Nom
	Best Art Direction	Art Direction: Rodger Maus, Tim Hutchinson, and William Craig Smith; Set Decoration: Harry Cordwell	Template:Nom
	Best Costume Design	Patricia Norris	Template:Nom
	Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score	Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse	Template:Won
British Society of Cinematographers Awards	Best Cinematography in a Theatrical Feature Film	Dick Bush	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
César Awards	Best Foreign Film	Blake Edwards	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
David di Donatello Awards	Best Foreign Film		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Best Foreign Director		Template:Nom
	Best Foreign Screenplay		Template:Won
	Best Foreign Actress	Julie Andrews	Template:Won
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy		Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Robert Preston	Template:Nom
	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Julie Andrews	Template:Won
	Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture	Lesley Ann Warren	Template:Nom
	Best Original Score – Motion Picture	Henry Mancini	Template:Nom
Golden Reel Awards	Best Sound Editing – Foreign Feature – Dialogue		Template:Won
Grammy Awards	Best Album of Original Score Written for a Motion Picture or Television Special	Victor/Victoria – Henry Mancini and Leslie Bricusse	Template:Nom	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actress	Julie Andrews	Template:WonTemplate:Efn	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
National Board of Review Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Robert Preston	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Supporting Actor		Template:Runner-up	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
	Best Supporting Actress	Lesley Ann Warren	Template:Nom
Sant Jordi Awards	Best Foreign Film	Blake Edwards	Template:Won
	Best Performance in a Foreign Film	Julie Andrews	Template:Nom
		Robert Preston	Template:Won
Turkish Film Critics Association Awards	Best Foreign Film		Template:Draw
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Comedy – Adapted from Another Medium	Blake Edwards	Template:Won	<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

See also

• Cross-dressing in film and television

External links

• Template:IMDb title
• Template:TCMDb title
• Template:AFI film
• Template:Mojo title
• Victor/Victoria at AllMovie
• James Garner Interview on the Charlie Rose Show Template:Webarchive
• James Garner interview at Archive of American Television