Victor/Victoria and gender bending

Victor/Victoria: Julie Andrews, Robert Preston

Couch Potato Pickings

On TCM tonight at 11.25pm

Writers have had fun with gender crossing plotlines for centuries, as have film-makers, but the device (when done well) still has a surprisingly profound ability to break down walls of assumption and prejudice and make people see outside the box.

Victor/Victoria: James Garner & Julie Andrews

This Blake Edwards musical comedy certainly achieves this in a powerful, yet fun and uplifting way. But, did you know that the film could have been even more provocative?

Victor/Victoria: James Garner & Julie Andrews

Apparently, the James Garner character King Marchand was to fall in love with Victoria before he was sure about her gender, and that’s why he says “I don’t care if you are a man” before he kisses her. Blake Edwards admitted in an interview that he backed out and added the scene in which King discovers she’s a woman.

Victor/Victoria: Julie Andrews

I love this camp classic, and while it has to be said that Julie Andrews http://youtube.com/v/qsHVLaNsCSg