Victor/Victoria: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Music by Henry Mancini Lyrics by Leslie Bricusse Rhino Movie Music Victor/Victoria: DVD Warner Video   Reviewed by Tony Buchsbaum	The early 1980s were a gender-bending time, at least as far as movies were concerned. Barbra Streisand's Yentl, in which a young girl masquerades as a young man in order to be allowed to study Talmud in 19th-century Russia, was released in 1981. The following year saw two additional landmark films of similar ilk: Tootsie, in which Dustin Hoffman masquerades as a woman in order to gain work as an actor, and Victor/Victoria, in which Julie Andrews masquerades as a man masquerading as a woman in order to gain work as a nightclub singer in 1920s Paris.   The latter movie, based on a 1933 German film called Viktor und Viktoria and written and directed by Blake Edwards, is a true classic. (The two others mentioned above are classics, too, but this isn't their review.) It was conceived as a vehicle for Edwards' wife, Julie Andrews, and it also starred Robert Preston, James Garner, Lesley Ann Warren and Alex Karras in what is perhaps the movie's most subtle and underrated role.   The premise: Victoria Grant is a starving singer who meets a just-fired gay nightclub singer called Toddy (Preston). One night, Toddy has a brainstorm: Victoria will masquerade as the Polish Count Victor, a female impersonator. Victor will appear as Victoria, giving Miss Grant a chance to perform, albeit as someone else.   Of course, neither of them bank on Victoria's falling in love with Chicago gangster and theatrical producer King Marchand, played with remarkable restraint by James Garner. Marchand finds himself attracted to Victoria, then is horrified to find that she's a man. Eventually, he decides he doesn't care if she's a man or not -- which frees his beefy bodyguard, played by Karras, to announce that he, too, is gay.   Gender-bending, sure. But the groundbreaking thing about Victor/Victoria is its you-blink-first tackling of gay themes in an early-80s Hollywood production. These days, with gay-themed television programming and movies appearing regularly, it's hardly news. But back then, it was unheard of. I mean, Rock Hudson wasn't even out yet.   Edwards' script is crisp, spare and delicious in its innuendo and subtle visual and verbal humor. There's a terrific subplot involving the detective hired to ferret out Victoria's secret, and another involving Marchand's girlfriend Norma (Warren), who's sent back to Chicago when Marchand falls for Victor. And there's a fall-down hysterical set piece involving a cockroach and a full restaurant that all but redefines slapstick.   Above all else in the film, however, is the music. Henry Mancini wrote the music for almost all of Edwards' movies, including Breakfast at Tiffany's and the Pink Panther series. Here, he provides a score that's lush almost to the point of silk. His signature strings provide a lovely pillow for everything else, and it moves along with winks at every turn, letting us know that this is a comedy, but a comedy with a serious foundation that's not afraid to comment on society at large.   The musical numbers in Victor/Victoria are framed by its setting: the theater. The songs are all performed on stage, not spontaneously, with characters singing for the song's sake. As a result, they get the spotlight they deserve. There aren't many of them, but each one is a winner -- and each features music by Mancini and unforgettable lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.   Preston's "Gay Paree" is a commentary about Paris in, if you'll pardon the expression, the Gay 20s, with rhymes that are nothing short of brilliant. "You and Me" is an Andrews/Preston duet about friendship -- both gay and straight. The beautiful "Crazy World," performed by Andrews, is another commentary, this one in the form of a touching love song. The last two are Victoria's stage numbers: "The Shady Dame from Brazil" (which is reprised to hilarious effect by Preston in the film's finale) and "Le Jazz Hot," the better of the two, a dance-heavy tribute to sizzling New Orleans jazz. It's this number in which Victor reveals himself to the world -- and it's this moment that makes or breaks the film.   The soundtrack, newly released by Rhino Movie Music, contains every note composed by Mancini, as well as all the songs. (Previous releases have been less generous with the score, so this is a real celebration.)   The DVD, also newly released, contains the film in glorious widescreen format, Dolby Digital 5.1 sound, the original theatrical trailer and what may be a DVD first: an audio commentary track by a husband-and-wife team, Blake Edwards and Julie Andrews. As fun as the film itself is, the commentary track is truly priceless, with each recalling both public and private moments during the making of the film. I found their memories amazing, and unlike some such tracks, this one was far from dull. It crackled along because the speakers clearly loved making the movie.   Victor/Victoria is one of those rare films that simply has to be seen -- and now, happily, owned. Everything about it is first-rate, from the screenplay to the songs, from the direction to the performances; if the actors hadn't already been stars, their work here would have made them so. The film is rare in its touching, tongue-in-cheek look at our world's earlier point of view about homosexuality. For that reason alone, the film is an important one. Leave it to Blake Edwards to make the historical hysterical. | July 2002   Tony Buchsbaum is the author of Total Eclipse. At night he works on another novel and a screenplay. Days, he writes advertising copy in Lawrenceville, NJ, where he lives with his wife and sons.	The musical numbers in Victor/Victoria are framed by its setting: the theater. The songs are all performed on stage, not spontaneously, with characters singing for the song's sake. As a result, they get the spotlight they deserve. There aren't many of them, but each one is a winner -- and each features music by Mancini and unforgettable lyrics by Leslie Bricusse.