Rating: 
Summary: One of the Best!
Review: Absolutely one of the very best comedy/musicals to come out of Hollywood. A joy from beginning to end, with a terrific cast who know how to keep the audience entertained. Leslie Ann Warren steals every scene she is in as gangster James Gardner's annoying girlfriend. Although Julie Andrews is much too feminine to plausibly portray a man she uses this to her advantage, and it actually works! After numerous viewings I never get tired of this film. Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Welcome the wide-screen version
Review: The coming of Victor/Victoria to DVD is a major event. I have to echo all those reviewers who call it the "last great Hollywood musical". The production numbers cry out for the wide-screen treatment. I look forward to this one.
The principals all do a marvelous job. But one thing that really sets this movie apart is its use of well-crafted (and often hysterical) minor characters and little "bits". The waiter who comments, "How lucky can you get? In one evening, I serve a Rockefeller, and a Groucho Marx." The poor hotel guest who keeps trying to put his shoes out in the hall to be shined, only to be intimidated by the antics going on out there. The Clousseau-type detective whose luck seems to run from bad to worse. The landscape is rich with such characters, and they add to the ambience to make this movie truly special.
Rating:
Summary: correction to "quotes and trivia"
Review: The "correct error" function on the Amazon site does not give me any way to do this, so I'm putting it in a review. On the left of the page under "Explore this DVD," I clicked on "quotes & trivia," and found the amazing MISinformation below about the opera Madame Butterfly: "The opera, attended by King and Victoria, is Puccini's "Madamea Butterfly" which is, fittingly, about a man masquerading as a woman." There is NO "man masquerading as a woman" in Puccini's opera; I think the writer has confused the opera with the play about REAL PEOPLE with a similar title.I have seen Julie Andrews say in an interview that her husband chose Madame Butterfly for that scene knowing that it always makes her cry, and that she cried that day for a LONG time, effortlessly, as they worked on the scene.
Rating:
Summary: One of Hollywood's Great Comedy Musicals
Review: In the age of "Moulin Rouge" audiences would do far better by rediscovering this musical comedy gem, starring the incomparable Julie Andrews, Robert Preston, Leslie Ann Warren and James Garner. Rarely has Hollywood captured the essence of great music with outstanding performances as it has in "Victor/Victoria." There are literally a dozen or so scenes that will leave you hysterical, as in gasping-for-breath hysterical, something many films aspire to, but few ever deliver on. But more than funny, this is a poignant, character driven film where every principal is allowed to shine. Andrews permanently sheds her "Sound of Music" virginal skin in the title role, embodying the man-pretenting-to-be-a-woman-pretending-to-be-a-man part in a way noone has ever done before or since. Of course, the audience is in on the joke, but it never becomes tired or anything less than fresh. Robert Preston is the antithesis of his former "Music Man" personna, a gay-Paree emcee who discover's Victor's startling 8-octave vocal range and turns him/her into the rage of Paris. These two performances, along with Leslie Ann Warren's unforgettable floosy - all three Oscar-nominated - are drop dead fabulous. These are actors at the very height of their form....funny, passionate, real and endearing. The musical highlights are truly phenomenal, certainly better than other "best loved" musicals like "Singing In the Rain" or "An American In Paris." Andrews scores on "Le Jazz Hot" and shows an indelible comic flair few people knew she was capable of in the legendary cafeteria sequence, which literally had the audience I viewed this with ROLLING in the aisles. It's a movie where even the insects - cockroaches in this case - are memorable. But more so, its also a lesson in what Hollywood USED to do so well in its tradition of movie musicals....and what its forgotten to do over the past two decades since Victor/Victoria was released. In a nutshell, Hollywood forgot that the power of song and music is their ability to HUMANIZE a character and progress the plot, but also lend depth and color to the principals. For me, "Victor/Victoria" IS Hollywood's last great musical, and certainly one of the most visually stunning, fully realized films of our time. This ranks far and away as Blake Edward's crowning masterpiece - high above SOB or the Pink Panther flicks. And the supporting performances are some of the best ever caqptured. Just try and forget Warren's cooing to James Garner ("pooookie....I'm horny) or Alex Karras' gay gangster falling in love with Preston. From roaches to royalty, "Victor/Victoria" is quite simply one of the best films of the 80's or any other decade. I am anxiously awaiting its release on DVD, and secretly hoping that the currently available Broadway show version silently goes away as it cannot hold a candle to the film. Rent it, buy it, LOVE IT.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely wonderful!!!!
Review: This has got to be the movie that changed my life. I was in college and the world was being a little(a lot) cruel to me. As a gay man in the eighties and in a small, southern, rural town, it was hard to communicate with other gay people. Victor Victoria gave me that comfort and validation that I so desperitly needed. Julie Andrews was a familiar face and being the superb actress that she is won my heart over a million times. Robert Preston is, as always, incredible. I highly recomend this movie to anyone who needs a fresh new outlook on life.
Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite films
Review: And one I could watch over and over again. Beautiful cast, wonderful music, and just a delight. I can't wait for the DVD.
Rating:
Summary: Gender bending at its best
Review: Victor, Victoria is quite a long movie and at the end you wish it was even longer! Julie Andrews is the gender bending Count Victor Grazinski who is the hit in Paris' gay nightclubs in the thirties bij pretending to be a woman. The movie is full of wit, for once portraying gay man not as victims or as sad people, but as the variety of human beings they are. The cabaret scenes are excellent, the scene in which King Marchand orders a milk in a shady Paris' bar made me topple over with laughter and Victor/Victoria's companion Toddy is an absolute doll. If you have a sense of hunor and are not homophobic, you'll love this movie!
Rating:
Summary: classy comedy
Review: This is a classic .... the movie and stage play (which I was priviliged to see twice w/julie andrews) are comedy's that play for years without losing the humor....every time I see the movie I see something new....it's great.
Rating:
Summary: enchanting, delighting musical
Review: Julie Andrews plays the gender-bending Victoria Grant in husband Blake Edwards' musical comedy gem VICTOR/VICTORIA. Victoria Grant is a penniless soprano in Paris circa 1934, when she meets Toddy (Robert Preston - THE MUSIC MAN), a gay nightclub entertainer. She spends the night at his flat. An unexpected caller triggers the accidental discovery that with the right clothes and voice, Victoria could become "Count Victor Grazinski", a gay Polish female impersonator! Soon Victoria (or "Victor") is the toast of Paris, when American impresario King (James Garner - MOVE OVER DARLING, THE THRILL OF IT ALL) and his moll Norma Cassidy (Lesley Ann Warren - THE HAPPIEST MILLIONAIRE), come close to blowing the ruse. Things become even more complicated when Victoria finds herself falling for King, and Toddy falls in love with King's bodyguard Squash! With Andrews, Preston and Warren in fine musical form, the story fairly brims over with delightful songs, hilarious quips and top-notch performances.
Rating:
Summary: A CLASSIC
Review: Julie Andrews wowed audiences once again in the 80s with this succulent, stylish, gorgeous, hilarious, sophisticated, tuneful and witty musical movie. Catapulting musical movies into a new era with sexy banter, a transsexual/homosexual/whatever sexual candy box assortment of players, Blake Edwards put his considerable gifts for farce and style to wonderful, transporting use here. There is nary a stumble, and the Mancini score is filled with those rare kinds of songs that seem nostalgic, yet they are new -- or at least were new in their day. The settings and costumes place you in a delightfully plush Paris; you can practically smell the wine and smoke. And the performances -- well, each is a revelation, beginning with Julie's delightful -- and skillful -- cross-dresser; James Garner will surprise you with humor and not a little sly wit; Leslie Anne Warren is one of those saucepots who steals virtually every scene she appears in, easily. You will laugh, be moved, tap your toes, and be thoroughly enchanted with V/V. Unfortunately, the musical production, also directed by Mr. Edwards and originially starring Ms. Andrews, is not nearly so perfectly arranged -- it is thin, flat and somehow squeezes the life out of the story, so be warned, since they do share the same name and many of the same contributors, when you are buying!
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