Victor Victoria

Victor Victoria Movie Poster

Starring James Garner as King Marchand and Julie Andrews as Victoria Grant (and Count Victor Grazinski), Victor Victoria was a romantic, slap stick musical comedy released in 1982.  The movie was a remake of a 1933 German film, and some of you may remember that it was turned into a Broadway show in 1995.  The movie was a hit with critics, and ultimately went on to turn a profit.

Set in Paris in the 1930’s, Victoria Grant (Andrews), an out-of-work singer, is about to end up on the street.  Along with another out-of-work singer named Toddy, the two hatch a plan that would put food back on the table.  Victoria disguises herself as a man, calling herself Victor Grazinski, and moonlights as a female impersonator, with Toddy as her manager.  Subsequently she gets the attention of the mob boss King Marchand (Garner), who is falling in love with what he believes to be a woman on stage, even though he is told it is man.  He is unconvinced, and his perceived change in sexual orientation is making his friends sick.  It so happens that Victoria is also falling for Marchand, and she cannot decide whether or not to give up her lucrative career and risk jail to be with him, or to keep up the charade.