This Blake Edwards piece carries on in the unblushing manner of his preceding two, S.O.B. and 10: movies that appear to have been made on orders from the director's psychiatrist. Derived from a 1933 German movie and a 1935 British one, the premise here deals with, in the words of the mentioned women, "a women pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman" — or more exactly, an out-of-work chanteuse (Julie Andrews) who is given a haircut and promoted as a female impersonator by an out-of-work, homosexual chanteur (Robert Preston), and who, on the amazing/unamazing accuracy of her impersonation, becomes the toast of Paris nightlife circa 1934. Also based on the accuracy of her impersonation, she becomes the object of desire of a Chicago mobster (James Garner), who refuses to believe that his masculine instincts could have let him down and sets out to prove her a phoney — that is, an actual female and not merely an impersonator thereof. Despite a certain polished professionalism about the production, there is much in this Billy Wilder-ish mix of schmaltz and vulgarity to kill your interest before you ever get to Edwards's bid for Humanitarian of the Year. This bid is made up solely of liberal postures and attitudes without any solid evidence to back them up. A couple of strategic alterations (too late now) might have given the attempted liberalism a big boost: the first, which could easily have been managed by slightly revising one scene, would be to have Garner make his first serious pass at Andrews without being at all sure what sex she in fact is (but this would have necessitated a few additional scenes to set up a relationship based on more than just dissimilar genitals); and the second, a bit less easily managed, would be to cast a male actor, Christopher Walken possibly, and never mind looking for a more androgynous actress than Julie Andrews, in the principal female role — which is to say, if you can follow, a man pretending to be a woman pretending to be a man pretending to be a woman. (1982) — Duncan Shepherd
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