As delightful and funny as Victor/Victoria

Zen Bones

This film was obviously the inspiration for the 1982 film VICTOR/VICTORIA, but that film went off appropriately in the direction that a contemporary film about gender role-playing should go into.  They thankfully did not remake this original film, because this film stands on its own as extremely entertaining, and as a fascinating glimpse into the last carefree days of filmmaking in the Weimar Republic.  It is an incredible record of its era. Much of the dialogue is spoken in verse (and very cleverly I might add!), and there are musical numbers that make one reflect on both the Busby Berkeley musicals of 1930s Hollywood and of the film CABARET, made decades later.  The cast is exemplary.  Renate Muller should have been a bigger star than Marlene Dietrich, and it's exciting to see Anton Walbrook looking younger and more dashing than ever.  The film doesn't go into the same risque sexual identity antics that VICTOR/VICTORIA went into, but it still provides some amusing turns on gender role-playing, including a hilarious scene where "Viktoria" gets a shave.  It is just a pure delight all the way through, and fans of VICTOR/VICTORIA will enjoy making comparisons.

score /10

Zen Bones 27 July 2001

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw0011650/