Movie Review: Victor/Victoria (1982, dir. Blake Edwards)

Squash (Alex Karras) and Toddy (Robert Preston) in bed together, via IMDb.

Had the absolute pleasure of going along to the Pictureville cinema here in Bradford this weekend to watch Victor/Victoria (1982, dir. Blake Edwards) as part of their Widescreen Weekend film festival.

It was on my radar for a while, but I’d never gotten around to watching it, and when some friends of mine were going along I booked my ticket to go along with.

Victor/Victoria is a remake of the 1933 Viktor und Viktoria — I knew it was widely acclaimed, but it was such an absolute delight, it really was so much better than I even anticipated.

It’s a rom-com that starts with a simple premise: Victoria Grant (Julie Andrews) is a down-on-her-luck soprano trying to find a job in Paris in 1934. She’s utterly starving after failing out on an audition in a gay club, Chez Lui, and crosses paths with Toddy (Robert Preston), who’s just been fired from the same establishment. As she’s tossing Toddy’s no-good boyfriend out on his arse, Toddy is struck with a genius notion: they’ll put Victoria in drag and have her play as a man… in a drag act.

A woman playing a man playing a woman… What could be more perfect?

From the out, this is a film that is so rich with queer jokes and banter — Chez Lui is seedy and nasty and also completely status-obsessed in a way that’s…

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