Victor Victoria (1982)

Director:

Blake Edwards

Writers:

Blake Edwards (writer)
Hans Hoemburg (concept)

Release Date:

6 May 1982 (Brazil)

Genre:

Comedy | Music | Romance

Tagline:

The disguise surprise comedy of the year!

Plot:

A struggling female soprano finds work playing a male female impersonator, but it complicates her personal life.

Plot Keywords:

Singer | 1930s | Cabaret | Moll | Opera

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 10 wins & 12 nominations

Cast

Julie Andrews	...	Victoria Grant
James Garner	...	King Marchand
Robert Preston	...	Carole "Toddy" Todd
Lesley Ann Warren	...	Norma Cassady
Alex Karras	...	'Squash' Bernstein
John Rhys-Davies	...	Andre Cassell
Graham Stark	...	Waiter
Peter Arne	...	Labisse
Herb Tanney	...	Charles Bovin (as Sherloque Tanney)
Michael Robbins	...	Manager of Victoria's hotel
Norman Chancer	...	Sal Andratti
David Gant	...	Restaurant Manager
Maria Charles	...	Madame President
Malcolm Jamieson	...	Richard DiNardo
John Cassady	...	Juke

Runtime:

132 min

Country:

UK | USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Color (Metrocolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Canada:14A (Ontario) | Iceland:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Chile:14 | Finland:K-16 | France:U | Peru:14 | Sweden:11 | UK:15 | USA:PG | West Germany:12 | Singapore:PG

Filming Locations:

Pinewood Studios, Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, England, UK

Company:

Artista Management

Trivia:

Director Blake Edwards admitted in an interview that he "chickened out", and added the scene in which King Marchand (James Garner) discovers that Victoria (Julie Andrews) is indeed a woman. Originally he was to fall in love with Victoria before he was sure about her gender, hence his line "I don't care if you are a man" before he kisses her.

Goofs:

Continuity: The reaction shots of Andre and Toddy watching Victoria during her first "Shady Dame of Seville" number have them wearing the same boutonnières they wore during her very first show, but when Toddy and Victoria arrive back at the hotel Toddy has a different colored one.

Quotes:

Charles Bovin, Private Investigator: You called. I am Charles Bovin, Private Investigator.
Labisse: Good. There is something I want you to find out.
Charles Bovin, Private Investigator: At your service.
[sits on one of the bar stools]
Labisse: Be very careful.
Charles Bovin, Private Investigator: Monsieur, I am always careful.
Labisse: That stool is broken.
Charles Bovin, Private Investigator: [beat] It is?
[stool breaks down]

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Saturday Night Live: Natalie Portman/Fall Out Boy (#31.13)" (2006)

Soundtrack:

Chicago, Illinois

A Great 1962 Movie -- Made in 1982

Despite all of its gender-bending commentary on sexuality, both hetero- and homo-, "Victor/Victoria" looked and sounded in 1982 (year of "ET" and "The Road Warrior") as if it were made in 1962 -- and that was a good thing. Blake Edwards' trademark ability to combine lush romanticism with immitable slapstick comedy was here matched by a wonderful score by his longtime collaborator Henry Mancini, "Voila!" -- we're back in the early sixties again. (It didn't hurt that stars Julie Andrews and James Garner were hottest in the sixties, and had acted together in 1964's "The Americanization of Emily.")

Robert Preston, "The Music Man" of late fifties Broadway and 1962 screen fame, further added an element of early sixties nostalgia -- with the twist that he here used his booming vocal tones in the service of a delightfully out and comfortable gay man. Preston was one of two hot contenders for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar that year. The winner was Lou Gossett, Jr. for his Drill Instructor in "An Officer And A Gentleman."

Rounding out the great cast are Lesley Ann Warren (sexy and very funny) in an Oscar-nominated role as Garner's mob moll floozie, and Alex Karras, continually funny as Garner's softhearted ox of a bodyguard. (Karras gets a classic Blake Edwards slapstick routine trapped in the freezing snow outside a Paris hotel, getting big laughs out of the simple line: "You've got heat? That's good.")

And be sure to keep a lookout for "Sherloque Tanney" as the French private detective on Victor/Victoria's trail. Tanney was Blake Edwards dentist, and appeared in almost every Blake Edwards film from "Darling Lili" (1970) on. Other than his corpse in "SOB," (1981), the French detective is possibly Dr. Tanney's greatest role on the screen. Tanney, too, gets to anchor several great trademark Blake Edwards slapstick routines.

Oh, and there's music, too. Enough music for a Broadway musical (which is what "Victor/Victoria" became), and with a sad and wistful Mancini title tune (reprised in the film by Andrews) that reminds one a bit of "Moon River" and "Days of Wine and Roses." Just like in the early sixties.