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Corned m By DOUG BELL Film Critic Rlako RflwarH?' v.v. tor/Victoria is a backstage comedy/musical set in 1934 Paris. It's an enjoyable movie and I recommend it. But there are problems . . . Julie Andrews (Edward's wife) plays Victoria,a downon-her-luck coloratura who beats the Paris streets auditioning in night clubs. Her luck changes when she catches the attention of a gay (in both senses of the word) cabaret entertainer named Toddy (Robert Preston) who devises an incredible plan to shoot them tosuperstardom. A haircut and a tuxedo change Victoria into Victor, a gay female impersonator. Thus, Andrews plays a straight lady playing a homosexual man who masquerades as a woman? a far cry from Sister Maria. Toddy poses as Victor's manager/luver aim uiey uu indeed become the toasts of the town. All goes well until a mutual attraction develops between Victor/Victoria and a beefy, well-dressed gangster (James Garner), who is (incredibly) the only one in the movie not hoodwinked by Victoria's double transvestism. I STUDE I FORI i GAMES LOUISIANA STATE NORTH CAROLINA STA1 A LIMITED T TICKETS Wll I SOUTH CAR TICKETS Wll STUDENT. C TUESDAY, A LISTED ABC TICKETS ML STUDENTS I Tiri/CT ncc i ivyixi_> i v/rr j' BETWEEN ? CHASE AW/ ! | MAY BE CU I TO THE TICI I CURRENT R y/Mush Victor/Victoria is a funny comedy, but I can't go much further in praising it. Its witty story and lavish production value cry out for a sophisticated touch that Blake Edwards doesn't possess. Most of the comedy is identical to the sort that distinguished his Pink Panther farces; there is even a bumbling detective in the Clouseau mold. Another director might have made creative use of the background milieu? the exceedingly gay Paris circa 1930? but for Edwards it is merely decorous. Edwards' comic taste tends toward vulgarity; this worked in favor of his last movie, S.O.B., in which the director vented his venemous spite for Hollywood. But Victor/Victoria needs sparkle, not SDlash. Sadlv. Edwards laces it with beer instead of champagne. Still, the business of a comedy is to make people laugh. Because Victor/Victoria accomplishes this (few comedies do these days), it would be unreasonable to complain too much about the film's style. A great deal of the comedy's success depends upon the audience's willingness to view homosexuality as a valid ... i:r way ui me. NT FOO' TICKETS VWAY C i 1982 DATE OCTOBER 23,1982 rE OCTOBER 30,1982 DUMBER OF AWA\ LL BE MADE AVAIL OLINA STUDENT B LL BE LIMITED TO i )RDERS WILL BE TJ \PRIL 20, 1982. TH IVE, CASH ONLY, A 1ST BE PAID FOR C MUST COME TO TlICE ON ROSEWOOl 1:30 AM AND 5:00 \Y CAME TICKETS. MMED IN THE FAL KET OFFir.F AWn P ALL 1982 FULL TIM Veaturi zal Scor The homosexual slant shouldn't prove too bothersome or offensive, however, to a generation weaned on Three's Company. Even the most dedicated member of the Moral Majority would have a hard time resisting some of the jokes. I must confess that Julie Andrews is one of my least favorite actresses. I have always felt that her hollow wholesomeness and saccharine soprano have lent to some of Hollywood's dullest movies (The Sound of Music heads the list). Her disrobing in last year's S.O.B. did nothing to dispel her serene vacuity. Though her personlaity hasn't altered, she has, under her husband's guidance, given parts that are more mature while suiting her vacant, vulnerable disnositinn That is why she is endurable, almost enjoyable, in this movie. James Garner is not a powerful presence, either. In fact, his gangster comes across as rather a glib cog in the plot's machinery; he never really comes to life. Robert Preston's Toddy on the other hand, is brimming with life. Preston, for years considered a washed-up innr onf Ar ( mainltt D iiniivi avtui vinaiiujr iui v/.u. DeMille), has found new life TBALL MMES COST TIME $13.00 7:30 PM CST $11.00 1:00 PM | ' FOOTBALL .ABLE TO THE ODY. THE ONE (1) PER t\KEN ON i E PRICE IS AS ,ND ALL ! | IIM THIS DATE. I IE ATHLETIC I 3 DRIVE 11 PM TO PUR- I THE TICKETS I a ?-% %. # *** m mmm. m L t$Y UJMIIMU RESENTING A I IE ID CARD. I ? Fridaj es Laugl Toddy (Robert Prest with her as Victor, in th as a mop-haired, middleaged hippie for Blake Edwards' first in S.O.B. and now in Victor/Victoria. He plays virtually the same part in both films. Lesley Ann Warren deserves honorable mention as the brassiest blonde L 1 1 uoinosneii i ve ever seen? sort of an exaggerated r ? ^ s T FO! /%3VT: x!^l F is,Miss* ^R-fe^5SKv :;^ii^Aia^H^--M5-tY-*- V---^- j r/.;::l~'/t":? on) and Victoria (Julie A e comedy 'Victor/Victori mixture of Harlow, Monroe, and Judy Holliday. To conclude Vintnr/VS toria offers plenty of laughs, mildly entertaining musical numbers (by Henry Mancini), handsome sets (by Tim Hutchinson and William Craig Smith), alluring cinematography (by Dick presents he Amazing UR- LANE 4 SES^Z With S[ Benjc Anril 16 I dmission $1.5 er Special 8 Molson Golden Ale 750 es Style :~"J i" ;; %T ; _^_ -_1"...v."^:.T^! :.1 _:.- :i;:'.:::: llt >i:::^^ -:;\-;--.-->^:-.'\7 i?Myi &!?ll - $jib ;-:vy;.::^B \ Jr--,^B-.-^wx^v^ M^l--.;, ; V ^ \ | ndrews) join forces, a.' Bush) and an uneven cast. The directorial tone is not ideally suited to the story, which Edwards lifted from an old German film, Viktor und Viktoria. Interestingly enough, the original was the most popular film in Germany the vear Hitlpr ram a to power, 1933. ii lecial Guests: imin Austin Blum* 0 i n I u