Word: victoria
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...finest navy the world had ever known, and its splendor was never more stirringly displayed. The year was 1897, the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria, and the Royal Navy assembled at Spithead, off Portsmouth, for review. Decks scrubbed white, brasswork gleaming, wheelhouse glass sparkling, the ships stretched along the coast in four lines seven miles long. There were 173 in all, including more than 50 battleships. At the same time, 160 other units of the Queen's Grand Fleet were on patrol in every sea in the world...
...Reported by Victoria Butler/Bangkok
This is an American comedy with few pretensions of "commentary" on pre-war Paris, and Edwards does not hesitate to steal devices from his earlier films to make Victor Victoria enjoyable. With a flimsy excuse, Edwards sets a Clouseau-style private investigator on Victoria's trail. A bumbling French detective, transplanted entirely intact from the Pink Panther films, discovers the truth about Victoria's gender, but not before several broadly comic mishaps. The detective shares Inspector Clouseau's inescapable fate, as his opponents discredit him without much trouble before the film ends; his brief appearance is purposeless but amusing...
...mock-elegant Victor. Her more serious moments, played with her friend and protector Toddy, portray a woman getting toughened by necessity and occur infrequently. Sadness and loneliness have no place in light comedy, but these occasional exhausted or despairing lapses provide a rare touch of credibility. Nothing in Victor Victoria appears too taxing for Andrew's cohorts either. Unfortunately, Garner's lead appears less warm and less interesting that Preston's Today. Victoria, Toddy's equal, ends up attached to a man her inferior in spirit and spunk because of Hollywood's romantic conventions...
...career, or especially for a gay friend. Not that Edwards obviously condemns homosexuality or the independence of a single woman, but he know-tows to a vital ingredient in any movie musical comedy: boy-gets-girl. Thus an otherwise fun movie reaches an unsatisfactory conclusion. Victoria must abandon her career and reveal herself in the club as a woman, while Toddy takes over her act. Contractual obligations and her relationship with Toddy are tossed aside, and Toddy's future is left uncertain. This not-so-subtle affirmation of middle America values comes as a disappointment after an enjoyable film, although...