I’m quite grateful for Kino Classics in releasing this Weimar Era musical. “Victor and Victoria” is delightfully entertaining, the music and performances by actress Renate Muller and Hermann Thimig are wonderful and it’s a Reinhold Schunzel film definitely worth watching.
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TITLE: Victor and Victoria
DATE OF FILM RELEASE: 1933
DURATION: 95 Minutes
BLU-RAY INFORMATION: 1:20:1 aspect ratio, 1080p, Black and White/monaural, German with optional English Subtitles
COMPANY: Kino Classics
RATED: Not Rated
RELEASE DATE: June 9, 2020
Directed by Reinhold Schunzel
Story by Reinhold Schunzel
Producer: Eduard Kubat, Alfred Zeisler
Music by Franz Doelle
Cinematography by Konstantin Irmen-Tschet
Edited by Arnfried Heyne
Production Design by Artur Gunther, Benneo von Arent
Costume Design by Luise Leder, Ida Revelly, Willy Schlick
Starring:
Renate Muller as Susanne Lohr
Hermann Thimig as Viktor Hempel
Hilde Hildebrand as Ellinor
Friedel Pisetta as Lilian
Fritz Odemar as Douglas
Aribert Wascher as Francesco Alberto Punkertin
Anton Walbrook as Robert
In this dazzling musical romance, a young woman (Renate Müller), unable to find work as a music hall singer, partners with a down-and-out thespian (Hermann Thimig) to revamp her act. Pretending to be a man performing in drag, Victoria becomes the toast of the international stage. But she soon finds that her playful bending of genders enmeshes her personal and professional life in a tangle of unexpected complications. Produced in the final days of the Weimar Republic, Victor and Victoria received limited exposure in the United States, and is today best known by Blake Edwards’ 1982 remake and the 1995 Broadway production. Viewers will be delighted to discover that the original is every bit as charming and outrageous, reminiscent of the sly sex comedies of Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder.
Prior to becoming a filmmaker, Reinhold Schunzel was an actor and among Germany’s best known silent film stars after World War I. Schunzel was also a director and would direct a plethora of films during the ’20s and ’30s.
One of well-known musical comedies which Schunzel wrote and directed was the 1933 “Victor and Victoria” (in German: “Viktor und Victoria”) which would star the enormously popular actress Renate Muller and silent film star Hermann Thimig.
The film would inspire the 1935 English film “First a Girl” and in 1982, an English language remake from MGM titled “Victor/Victoria” directed by Blake Edwards starring Julie Andrews, James Garner and Robert Preston. This would lead to Edwards creating a Broadway stage adaptation in 1985 which would also star Julie Andrews.
Murnau Stiftung would eventually remaster the 1933 film and now the film will be available on Blu-ray courtesy of Kino Classics.
The musical comedy would revolve around Susanne (portrayed by Renate Muller), as a young woman who dreams of becoming a popular actress.
While people are impressed with Susanne’s voice, unfortunately the lead actress dismisses her because she’s too young and tells her to come back ten years later.
Meanwhile, Victor Hempel (portrayed by Hermann Thimig) is an actor who goes a bit overboard in his performances and has been panned by newspapers.
One day, while Victor was looking for his photo of himself as Hamlet, the photo is found by Susanne and the two discuss their lives. While Susanne is more truthful, Victor tells her that he doesn’t take the jobs because the pay is not good (despite not being chosen).
While the two are eating at a restaurant, Susanne sees a photo of Victor as a woman and Victor explains that he has to take odd jobs and that meant being a woman on stage.
While leaving the restaurant, another audition is taking place and Victor comes up with an idea, what if Susanne auditioned as a man? Needless to say, when the two concoct a plan to get seen at a nearby show, their plan works and Susanne, known as Monsieur Victoria, is taken in by a wealthy man willing to cast her for his show and Victor also gets a job and both are now making good money.
And as the two continue their ruse successfully, Susanne begins to become frustrated because she is unable to be her true self, a woman. And she starts to fall for Robert (portrayed by Anton Walbrook).
But Susanne doesn’t know that Robert heard the discussion between her and Victor. Yet, he decides to play on with the ruse despite knowing that Monsieur Victoria is not really a man and has fun treating Victoria like one of the guys.
VIDEO:
“Victor and Victoria” is presented in 1080p High Definition, black and white. The film looks very good for its age and Murnau Stiftung has done a very good job in remastering and restoring this film, this is probably the best version of the film to date.
AUDIO & SUBTITLES:
“Victor and Victoria” is presented in German monaural. For the most part, dialogue is crystal clear with no significant hiss or crackling.
Subtitles are in English (optional).
SPECIAL FEATURES:
“Victor and Victoria” comes with an audio commentary by film historian Gaylyn Studlar.
I’m a big fan of Weimar era films. It was the height of German expressionism but also at a time when women were often depicted as strong or courageous and not always the damsel in distress such as the films which were common during the ’30s.
“Victor and Victoria” is a film that carefree, delightfully fun and a unlike many films featuring men as women, this one was a woman, Susanne, who was a budding actress looking for an opportunity and so she pretends to be a man.
Part of her selling point is on stage, she gives an amazing performance and many believe her to be a woman but in the end of a performance, she takes off her hat and shows off her hair, which amazes people because she is a man.
While it’s believed in the film that Monsieur Victoria is thought to be a gay man, Susanne is no doubt playing with fire trying to pretend she is a man and only her confidant, Victor Hempel are the only ones that know, until Robert overhears their conversation and learns the truth.
Robert was captivated when he watched Victoria on stage performing, but when she was revealed as a “he”, he was shocked. But to overhear the conversation that Monsieur Victoria is actually a woman, Robert decides to play along with it. To test the theory that Victoria is a woman and not a man and so he takes her out to areas where men peruse.
Meanwhile, Viktor Hempel is more of the comedic bone to this film. Smitten with the social beauty, Lilian (portrayed by Friedel Pisetta), Victor tends to find himself drunk and becoming an embarrassment to Victoria. Nevertheless, both are in the ruse together, as it was a way out of poverty but also as a way to for both to be involved in entertainment.
It’s such a delightful film, with catchy numbers and I’m not surprised as it received a US film adaptation along with a stage adaptation, this is a very entertaining film.
But possibly what is more interesting, considering the film was among the late Weimar Era films is knowing the people behind the film.
Actor/filmmaker Reihnold Schunzel wrote and directed this film. Because he was a silent film star and popular actor/filmmaker, his popularity in Germany years later would have the Nazi regime designated as “Ehrenarier” (Honorary Aryan) despite his mother being Jewish.
But with Kaiser Wilhelm II and Adolf Hitler interfering with his film projects, he would leave Germany and work in the United States but instead of directing many films (he would direct, “Rich Man, Poor Girl”, “The Ice Follies of 1939”, “Balalaika” and “The Great Awakening”), he ended up being an actor playing a Nazi or a scientist. Possibly his most memorable performances among American cineaste was as Dr. Anderson, a Nazi, in the Alfred Hitchcock film “Notorious” (1946).
Actress Renate Muller was one of the most famous German singers and actresses but the Nazi Party wanted her to appear in films that promoted their ideals which she refused. In 1937, she was dead. Her death was attributed as an epilepsy, some say she was married by Gestapo (Nazi secret police) officers and another, that she committed suicide.
In a documentary from 2009, it was revealed that she died from a result of a fall from a hospital window, where she was being treated for a knee injury or possibly drug addiction. The documentary suggested that her relationship with Nazi leaders deteriorated, she was pressured to end her relationship with her Jewish lover and it led to her being addicted to morphine and alcohol.
Needless to say, her death is suspicious and the true circumstances surrounding her death is unknown.
Meanwhile, Herman Thimig, received a declaration by Adolf Hitler to be put in the Gottbegnadeten list of important artists and that he was a national treasure and freed from the war effort. Thimig continued to add many more films to his oeuvre for decades to come.
But the overall, chemistry between Renate Muller and Hermann Thimig worked very well on camera. Each musical piece, both fed off each other’s energy and whenever both were on stage, their presence was captivating.
I enjoyed the film and its a much different film from its later 1982 British/US counterpart “Victor/Victoria”. In the this film, the poverty of both Victor and Victoria are to the point, neither of them can pay for their meals and are too broke to pay rent. In the British/US film, the character of Susanne is named Victoria and she becomes Victor. And the Victor role becomes Carroll “Toddy” Todd, a gay performer.
While the British/US film is inspired by the original German film, it’s a loose adaptation and for the most part, both films do work due to the differences but for this 1933 film, it was no doubt a film that was part of the end of the Weimar Era. If the film showed a more openness to Monsieur Victoria, who is thought to be a gay man, later that year in 1933 through 1945, Nazi Germany showed no tolerance to homosexuality and imprisoned many of them to concentration camps and subjected them to torture.
I’m quite grateful for Kino Classics in releasing this Weimar Era musical. “Victor and Victoria” is delightfully entertaining, the music and performances by actress Renate Muller and Hermann Thimig are wonderful and it’s a Reinhold Schunzel film definitely worth watching.