Not quite a victor/y
“Victor/Victoria”
Julia Andrews, Robert Preston
B- Valley River Twin
"The key to theatre.'' said my drama
professor, "is to get the audience to temporarily
suspend its disbelief "
This is precisely where "Victor/Victoria"
tails With this primary element lacking, an other
wise excellent film is irreparably handicapped
The story is set in Paris, 1934 The first world
war has changed people's views of life and
human nature, and the Depression has swept
through, leaving Victoria Grant (Andrews) a pen
niless and hungry ex-opera singer 'Toddy'
(Preston) is a gay nightclub singer, recently fired
for causing a brawl with some overly clever
repartee The two join forces, and Toddy'
hatches a plan to pass Victoria off as the greatest
female impersonator in Europe and make a for
tune Incredibly, it works.
"Ah, but for truly great drama." my professor
would say. “there has to be a complication,
something interfering with the heroines' suc
cess ' This complication is King' Marchand
(James Garner), a Chicago pseudo-gangster who
falls in love with Victor/ia To make matters
worse, Victor/ia is attracted to him, and must
decide between her fame and fortune and him
The plot, wonderfully outlandish, depends
ultimately on one thing for success Julie
Andrews must believably appear to be a man
acting like a woman Unfortunately, even her
husband-director Blake Edwards can't get this
performance out of her, and the film fails
Everything's wrong She drinks like a woman,
she walks like a woman, she talks like a woman
and she looks like a woman, in spite of the
wizardry made possible through modern makeup
techniques No one could possibly be fooled by
the charade Without at least a foundation of
semi-beiievablility, the other characters'
acceptance of her as a man is ridiculous.
The other actors are better, thank goodness.
Preston is good, if overstated, as the friend-con
fidant Garner is excellent as the semi-mobster,
afraid to be thought of as a homosexual, but
unwilling to be without Victor/ia. Lesley Ann
Warren is hilarious as his ex-moll, a typical dumb
blonde with a voice so shrill it makes a Siamese
cat sound soothing in comparison. Even Alex
Karras is relatively good as Marchand's
bodyguard
The script, too, is excellent Edwards, who
brought the Pink Panther series to the screen, still
has his sense of humor, and the one-liners keep
hitting home. Unfortunately, Edwards resurrected
the Inspector Clouseau character for a minor
part, complete with predictable crunched fingers,
pratfalls, etc This was a minor irritation, for the
detective character is just an unnecessary addi
tion to an otherwise good plot.
With all its transvestism and homosexuality,
this may sound like another modern, racy movie
daring to face important issues in a changing
society Try again “Viktor/Viktoria'' was
originally filmed in 1933 by Hans Henberg
Edwards' modern version is something of a
musical, with lots of dance numbers, and too
many songs by Julie Andrews. To me, her voice is
like a gallon jar of honey: it’s pleasant enough at
first, but it grows rather unpleasant by the end. In
spite of Henry Mancini's excellent music, wine
glasses aren't the only things that shatter when
Andrews hits those high notes in her operatic
mezzo-soprana
All in all, "Victor/Victoria" starts with an
excellent cast, a wonderful script, great settings
and music, and loses it all because of Andrews'
inability to convince the audience that she's a she
playing a he playing a she. Blame it on poor
makeup, on Andrews' acting, or on Edwards'
direction, it comes out the same: "Victor/Victor
ia" is not quite a victory
by matt meyer
Adolescent ‘Animal House’
"Porky’*”
Kim Cattrall
Scott Colomby
C- Springfield Cinemas
Despite the commercials.
"Porky's" isn't as bad as it
would seem
Yes, there's a lot of adoles
cent humor Yes, they're preoc
cupied with sex, sex, sex Yes,
it's pretty ridiculous But no, it's
not a total waste of time
There are two main plots
(pretty tricky for an ' Animal
House'' rip-off) In the first, "the
gang'' is out to de-virginify
PeeWee. an irritatingly
aggressive squirt. In pursuing
Plot A they journey to Porky 's, a
strip joint with a rumored
'■playpen" where, for a price,
customers can get to know the
dancers a little better Well, our
lads get taken in royally, result
ing in Plot B, the quest for
revenge
There are some downright
hilarious scenes mixed in with
the expected giggles The edi
tors’ timing is perfect, and
makes the most of the genuinely
funny situations, although they
sometimes drag it out a bit too
much.
Although it's unbearably
chauvinistic and terribly
adolescent, at least it’s a little
funny Save it for a rainy spring
evening during economy hour.
r " -\
Greek Specialities at reasonable prices.
All lunches, dinners & pastries can be
ordered to take out.
poppis
GREEK PEASANT FOOD
WINE & SPIRIT
TABLES OUTSIDE
675 E. 13th Ave. 343-0846 Closed Tuesdays
11 30 a m 10 30 p m weekdays 9 a m -10 30 p m weekends
—- -4
V,
Summer in
Santa Barbra
House exchange
v\- *
• Professional family seeking to trade houses late June until
lateAugust.
• Charming 3 bedroom house in quiet neighborhood. Walk
to foothills, 3 miles from beach, close to shopping.
• We wish to exchange with a family equally conscientious
about the care of our home and garden (and two cats).
• Local address:
Adler
P.O. BOX 11415
Eugene, OR 97440
• Or contact Ron and
Sherri Adler
415 Calle Granada
Santa Barbra, CA 92105
(805) 682-5680
Custom
Paper • Binding • Lamination
764 E. 13th Ave.
344-7894
912127C
$32.90
Hag *42 90
• Hours • Minutes
• Seconds • AM /PM
• Montti • Date
• Day ol week
f' • Automatic calendar
• Stopwatch
| • Alarm • Light
505111P
$18.95
Reg *24 95
• Hours
• Minutes
. AM/PM • Year
• Month • Date
• Day ot week
• Fully automatic calendar
• Stopwatch
• Dual time • Light
BUYING TIME
Come in today!
Limited to stock on hand
13th & Kincaid
Mon-Fri 7 30-5 30
Sat 10 00-3 00
Textbooks 006-3520 • General Books 666-3510 • Supplies 666-4331