To acknowledge the 90th birthday year of Dame Julie Andrews, The Historic Documentary Film Society, with Second Innings recommence their communal screenings with a tribute to her musical triumph, Victor/Victoria.

Recently remastered, the film is directed by Dame Julie’s husband, Blake Edwards, whose screenplay is a nod to the original German version, Viktor und Viktoria, with this remake set in ‘Gay Paree’ in the 30’s.

Read more: Historic Documentary Film Society looks ahead to 2026 screenings

Academy Award-winning composers Henry Mancini and lyricist Leslie Bricusse provide a sparkling, sophisticated score to fully showcase the former triple octave range of Andrews.
The film follows Victoria, a down-on-her-luck chanteuse (female singer), who meets Toddy (played by Robert Preston), a flamboyant nightclub performer. He reinvents her persona as Victor, a woman pretending to be a man at a fashionable Paris nightclub. When Victoria’s true identity is revealed, it leads to riotous complications.

Emmarentia resident, Selwyn Klass, as an invitee saw the original at The Berlinale Filmfestspiele (Berlin Film Festival) in the 80’s. He recalled: “Berlin was still a divided city with its wall of shame a reminder of a society separated by ideology. The limited screening of Viktor und Viktoria, which was set in the 30’s with its sly wit and sexual innuendo, provocative in its day, was still a huge hit. In the comedic style of Ernest Lubitsch/Billy Wilder. A skilful suggestion of role- playing today.”

Dame Andrew’s dual interpretation would go on to earn her a Tony nomination for the Broadway production.

Also read: Historic Documentary Film Society to screen The Rape of Europa

When: February 18
Where: Beit Emanuel Slome Auditorium, 38 Oxford Road, cnr. 3rd Avenue Parktown (opposite Holy Family College).
Time: 09:30/10:00.
Fee: R150 (includes generous tea.)

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