Victor and Victoria

1933 film by Reinhold Schünzel

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Victor and Victoria
Theatrical release poster

German	Viktor und Viktoria

Directed by	Reinhold Schünzel
Written by	Reinhold Schünzel
Produced by	Alfred Zeisler Eduard Kubat
Starring	Renate Müller Hermann Thimig Hilde Hildebrand Friedel Pisetta Fritz Odemar Aribert Wäscher Anton Walbrook
Cinematography	Konstantin Irmen-Tschet
Music by	Franz Doelle
Distributed by	Universum Film AG
Release date	23 December 1933 (1933-12-23) (Germany)
Running time	100 minutes
Country	Germany
Language	German

Victor and Victoria (German: Viktor und Viktoria) is a 1933 German musical comedy film written and directed by Reinhold Schünzel, starring Renate Müller as a woman pretending to be a female impersonator. The following year, Schünzel directed a French-language version of the film titled George and Georgette, starring Meg Lemonnier and a French cast.

In 1935, Michael Balcon produced an English version titled First a Girl, directed by Victor Saville and starring Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale. A West German remake by Karl Anton was released in 1957.

In 1982, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer released Victor/Victoria, an English-language remake by Blake Edwards.^[1] Edwards later based a successful stage musical on the film. Both the film and the musical starred Julie Andrews.

Plot

Susanne, a hopeful singer, steps in to replace Viktor, a mediocre actor, at a small cabaret in Berlin where he performs as a female impersonator.^[2] She catches the attention of an agent, who mistakenly believes that she is actually a man. As a result, Susanne rises to fame, but her situation becomes complicated when she finds herself falling in love with Robert.

Cast

Renate Müller as Susanne / Monsieur Victoria
Hermann Thimig as Viktor Hempel
Anton Walbrook as Robert
Hilde Hildebrand as Ellinor
Fritz Odemar as Douglas
Friedel Pisetta as Lilian
Aribert Wäscher as F. A. Punkertin, Victoria's agent

Remakes

1934: George and Georgette (Germany, French language)
1935: First a Girl (UK)
1957: Victor and Victoria (Germany)
1975: My Girlfriend, the Transvestite (Argentina)
1982: Victor/Victoria (UK/US)
1995: Victor/Victoria (TV, US)

Reception

The film was well-received in the German-American community of New York.^[3]

References

^ "Victor/Victoria". afi.com. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
^ Sutton, Katie (2011-04-01). The Masculine Woman in Weimar Germany. Berghahn Books. p. 140. ISBN 978-0-85745-121-7.
^ Hake, Sabine (2010-01-01). Popular Cinema of the Third Reich. University of Texas Press. p. 142. ISBN 978-0-292-77922-8.