Victor/Victoria (1981)
(Blake Edwards, US 1981, 134 min., DCP)
One of nine films made by director Blake Edwards and his wife, Julie Andrews, during their forty-one-year marriage, Victor/Victoria is by far the most lauded, earning seven Academy Award nominations, including Edwards’s only nomination for adapting the screenplay. Released the same year as Tootsie, this film also deals with drag performance in the form of Julie Andrews. A trained soprano, Victoria Grant (Andrews) is having difficulty finding employment in 1934 Paris. She falls in with performer “Toddy” Todd (Robert Preston), who devises a scheme where Victoria will impersonate a man who is a female impersonator. As Victoria (and Victor) become more popular, she catches the eye of Chicago nightclub owner King Marchand (James Garner). The two find they have feelings for each other, but Victoria needs to keep her secret to avoid going to jail. Edwards’s off-beat sense of humor is evident in every aspect of this film, spurred on by his muse and wife.