Victor and Victoria (1933) Review

Victor and Victoria is certainly not light on style. That style is pretty easy to love. The songs, costumes, and aesthetic all have a slight surrealism that makes the film interesting. We’re briskly pulled along to little adventures like a woman getting her face shaved, singing songs about how to treat a lady, and watching men in dressing rooms. This eternal weirdness is charming, though sadly there’s not much substance below it.

There’s so much that can be done with the concept here. The idea of a woman not only pretending to be a man, but a female impersonating man is very funny. However, this story steers into a lot of conventional territory, despite the more “surreal” scenes that don’t really serve any greater point. An example of what could’ve been done is if Susanne had to pretend to be interested in a woman. That does happen a little, but nothing is done with it. The movie is quick to move on.

Susanne usually seems stereotypically feminine, very disinterested in male presentation, especially at the end. Thus, it’d be nice if discomfort was constantly looming, but she at points doesn’t have much of an issue with it. If this movie is read as pro-gender nonconforming, this could represent her discovering crossing over is nice. Midway through, Susanne is happily getting dressed in male attire, saying, “No. I’m not a young girl! I’m a grown-up, experienced man who is the equal of any situation. I hope I can prove it tonight. Don’t be afraid, I won’t abandon my role. But Viktor, today is a lucky day! The big success at the theater, all the new contracts, I am so content and happy! Happy as never before! What could be better than for once having no wishes?” If this movie was made today with a line like that, it might be assumed this is supposed to suggest Susanne is a trans man. As is, this movie feels like a pretty standard comedy about a young performer finding success and meeting strange people.

There’s some snappy music queues and directing that suggest importance when Susanne and Viktor meet. It’s a really dynamic look. We get a sharp physical comedy moment where Viktor and Susanne keep adjusting a wig and making funny faces. This sort of moment lives or dies off the strength of the performances. The leads seem very comfortable here and in tune with their roles.

Miscellaneous comments include: Susanne doesn’t pass as male. That’s all well and good, as this movie doesn’t really ask to be taken seriously, though that element can be slightly distracting. Everyone believes Viktor and Susanne are the opposite gender when they present as such, which goes to show how manufactured gender is, as it is so malleable. One highlight is a montage of the leads singing about succeeding as representative imagery appears. Both are very good singers. There’s a point where Susanne just says what she wants to do so the audience knows, when it would be more natural for her to just think it.

SPOILERS

Susanne being taken into the men’s dressing room and then being expected to change outfits shows a common struggle for people to be comfortable with gender ambiguity. This comes to further our understanding of the characters, while also supplying comedy. This could suggest how the concept of gender roles divide people and create stress. As is suggested by the final act, the message could also be that women and men are inherently different in such a way where they’re not supposed to mix. Susanne complains about not being able to have her womanhood erased near the end. While it’s true that womanhood can’t and shouldn’t be erased from someone, this movie might be saying every AFAB person really wants to follow stereotypes of how women should be.

At one of Susanne’s performances, Viktor keeps taking and playing the instruments. What was his plan here? Did he think the musicians would just let this random guy take over? Amusingly, there’s some shots of Susanne’s thighs. Viktor is scolded by a woman for not being enough of a gentleman. No one ever questions Susanne being “gentlemanly enough”. This is yet another suggestion of these concepts being a lot more fluid that it may have seemed. Later, the woman sings to Viktor about how much better of a man Susanne is than him, with her saying she’s in a class of his own and “He’s the type that pleases us women.”

Susanne is weirdly non-understanding when Viktor is worried about having to duel someone, where his life is on the line. When she finds out the duel won’t actually happen, she continues to say things that terrify Viktor, acting like he has to do it. She seems to be treating this like a joke. As an aside, this duel doesn’t really serve any purpose. Later, Viktor is relieved to not have a gun anymore. Seeing as he is shown as having some stereotypically feminine traits, this could have been intended to represent him feeling free without having to hold up a masculine trait he doesn’t like, especially because he’s befriended a man that acts similarly to him.

A lowlight is when Susanne complains about being ruined and that this whole adventure has destroyed her ability to get a man. She also says a woman’s desire for a man can’t be controlled, which Viktor apparently promised to do, though we didn’t see such a moment. This treats women as essentially monolithic. This problem is worsened when Susanne tells Viktor to help carry a suitcase. The subtext is probably that a woman would be too weak to do such a thing and they’re all really too delicate and dependent on men to fill a more socially-considered masculine role.

At one point, Susanne accepts to meet a woman as she intends to get her to leave her boyfriend, so she can get with him. Imagine if the woman thought Susanne wanted her and Susanne decided to play along? That would be funny and use the concept more. Speaking of which, Susanne and the male interest have such little chemistry or time between them. The romance is really forced in. That being said, Susanne being unexpectedly referred to as Susanne by her love interest, especially after feeling everything is hopeless, is a really sweet moment.

OVERVIEW

Victor and Victoria passes into being worth a watch for its historical significance as an early queer film. It certainly is never an unbearable time, but it can’t get past its issues.

The Monks – Three Fan Albums

For those not in the know, fan albums are the attempts of me and many others to take songs and put them on an album, typically they’re made to improve upon something, such as an existing album or to take non-album tracks and put them on an album.

The Monks are generally known and defined by their one and only LP, as if nothing else was ever made. While that’s not far from the truth, there is a little more they did. That material is consistently less hard hitting than the famous album. The group are still surprisingly strong at infusing psychedelia and pop, with the drumming a particular highlight. That being said, these aren’t must-listen recordings by any means. While The Sonics managed to get almost a second full length worth of hard edged tracks, and all the way to a third of very quality work, these stray Monks would almost best be described as a different band. If you like the famous Black Monk Time and want more of it, you should go to other bands with a proto-punk style, as Black is all you’ll get from the Monk pot. If you want decent rock tunes and interesting alternate versions of songs, then here you go, what is essentially another group.

These two album names were apparently considered to be the names of potential follow-up albums. I don’t think they’re great titles, especially because of the change in sound for one and the same songs of the other, but I thought it was cute to do. If albums of new material had come out under those names, it probably wouldn’t have been like what’s below, with album-only tracks that were never recorded.

The three “fan albums” are Silver Monk Time, which details demos and live cuts of what’s on Black and also… Gold Monk Time, which features no overlapping songs with Black. The third are stray “modern” recordings by members of the band. Just for fun, also included is the live reunion album and more solo projects, as well as a list of what exists, but I couldn’t find.

THE MONKS – SILVER MONK TIME

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Boys Are Boys (1964)”
2. “Monk Time”
3. “Love Came Tumblin’ Down”
4. “Space Age”
5. “We Do Wie Du”
6. “Boys Are Boys (1965)”
7. “Pretty Suzanne”
8. “Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy”

SIDE B

1. “Oh, How To Do Now (1965)”
2. “I Hate You”
3. “Boys Are Boys (1966)”
4. “Oh, How To Do Now (1966)”
5. “Complication”
6. “I Can’t Get Over You”
7. “Cuckoo”

THE MONKS – GOLD MONK TIME

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. “Monk Chant”
2. “I Can’t Get Over You”
3. “Cuckoo”
4. “Love Can Tame the Wild”
5. “He Went Down to the Sea”
6. “Pretty Suzanne”

SIDE B

1. “Hushie Pushie”
2. “There She Walks”
3. “Julia”
4. “P.O. Box 3291”
5. “I Need U Shatzi”
6. “Yellow Grass”
7. “I’m Watching You”

GARY BURGER & DAVE DAY – IT IS CHARLES TIME

TRACKLISTING

SIDE A

1. The Spectors – “Oh, How To Do Now” (1993)
2. Alec Empire & Gary Burger – “Monk Time” (2006)
3. The Fall & Gary Burger – “Higgle-Dy Piggle-Dy” (2006)
4. The Havletones & Dave Day – “That’s My Girl” (2006)

SIDE B

1. Charles Paul Wilp & The Monks – “It Is Charles Time” (2006)
2. Faust & Gary Burger – “Beware (The Transatlantic Feedback)” (2006)
3. Gary Burger – “I Feel Fine” (2013)

LINKS

1. The Monks – Black Monk Time (1966) – Spotify, YouTube
2. The Monks – Silver Monk Time (1966) – YouTube, Spotify (Incomplete)
3. The Monks – Gold Monk Time (1967) – Spotify, YouTube
4. Minnesoda, Featuring Eddie Shaw – Minnesoda (1972) – YouTube
5. Lightning, Featuring Eddie Shaw – “William Tell Overture (The Lone Ranger Theme)” (1975) – Spotify, YouTube
6. The Monks – Let’s Start a Beat – Live from Cavestomp (2000) – Spotify, YouTube
7. Gary Burger & Dave Day – It Is Charles Time (2013) – Spotify, YouTube
8. Eddie Shaw & The Hydraulic Pigeons – Jass In Six Pieces (2013) – Spotify, YouTube
9. Gary Burger – BurgerMONK 2010 (2016) – Spotify, YouTube

MISSING RECORDINGS

1. Dave Day – “I Want The Right To Be Free” (1979)
2. Dave Day – “G.I. Blues” (1979)
3. Dave Day – “Application For Your Love” (1985)
4. Dave Day – “Stars Shining In The Night” (1985)
5. Gary Burger – What’s Your Limit (1992)
6. Dave Day – Having A Party With Dave Havlicek (1994)
7. Dave Day – “I Want The Right To Be Free” (1997)
8. Dave Day – “Don’t Ha Ha” (1997)

THE MONKS ARE

• Gary Burger – lead guitar, lead vocals, tambourine
• Larry Clark – organ, backing vocals, piano, tambourine
• Dave Day – banjo, rhythm guitar, banjo guitar, tambourine, backing vocals
• Roger Johnston – drums, backing vocals
• Eddie Shaw – bass guitar, backing vocals, trumpet, brass instruments

This is a passion of mine and if one person likes what I do, I’ll feel honored. I like suggestions on what artist to cover next, so if you know of one you’d like me to look at, feel free to suggest ‘em!

Four 1880s Filmmakers Review

Passage de Venus 2: Electric Boogaloo

In the minds of some, essentially the only filmmaker of the 1880s is Eadweard Muybridge. While that’s not too far from the truth, there were others. This is a look at the people who put life to screen in this early decade of cinema. Insignificant as they may feel due to the 1890s improving on them, these function as novel documents of the past.

The 1882 Transit of Venus (1882) – The Only Film By David Peck Todd

Who knew there was a sequel to the 1874 transit of Venus film? This is reminiscent of a 1970s Sci-Fi flick that has a very sterile and clinical look to the sets. Thus, it has less realism than the previous film, but is no less interesting as a look at what humans found worth recording. At least the print I viewed was slower than the last, which if intended by Todd suggests an attempt to be methodical, like this was worth seeing in more detail.

Louis Le Prince Available Films (1887-1888)

To say the least, Louis Le Prince has an interesting story. Not only is he sometimes called the “Father of Cinematography”, not only does watching his entire surviving works take about ten seconds, but he mysteriously went missing, leading to ample speculation about what happened to him. He is a victim of lost media, with only four of his works being available; Man Walking Around a Corner (1887), Accordion Player, Roundhay Garden Scene, and Traffic Crossing Leeds Bridge (all 1888).

There is the sense of progressively learning the craft along the way. Corner is a relatively static shot that isn’t even parallel to the ground. Accordion features perhaps a type of dance, with the subject smiling and seeming to enjoy himself, capturing an emotion, unlike in the first. A set of stairs and an open door give a depth to the scene, like this is a real space. The first film fails to take such an opportunity as we don’t see behind the corner the man walks by. Roundhay is perhaps the most famous film here, considered a classic of the 80’s. It benefits from featuring a wider shot. The further lack of emotional depth doesn’t make it as interesting as the second. The people depicted don’t feel natural, feeling like actors. Overall, it’s pretty dank. Bridge doesn’t even attempt to capture people per say, appearing to be taken from a roof looking down at traffic. The image captured is more dynamic and is relatively striking compared to the other three. I wonder if it’s a coincidence that each of these four films captures a wider and wider space.

It’d be interesting to see what would’ve been next for Le Prince, as he was improving his craft as he went. The frame composition noticeably was improving throughout. They can feel like lesser versions of some 1890s films, Sallie Gardner at a Gallop and Arrival of a Train at La Ciotat as examples, though the former is from the 70’s. A Letterboxd review of Accordion Player is certainly more worthwhile than the film itself, not that the movie should be faulted for lacking a narrative.

Ottomar Anschütz Available Films (1888, possibly before and/or after)

Of the four filmmakers here, this was the one I had the hardest time finding information on. It appears Anschütz may have done an exceptional number of films, though various sites only catalog Horse and Rider Jumping Over an Obstacle. A video on YouTube appears to feature that and a few more of Anschütz’ works. While he’s sometimes attributed with being the first to film images at a decent quality, these films hardly distinguish themselves from Muybridge. While Muybridge seemed to attempt to capture realism, scenes like the horse riding ones feel off. The riders feel like sculptures based on how stiff they are. The white background also makes them look a little surreal. The actions going on aren’t interesting enough to match that and the overall experience can be a little jarring.

William Friese-Greene Available Films (1889-1890)

Friese-Greene’s work sadly hasn’t survived much, either. It seems Leisurely Pedestrians, Open Topped Buses and Hansom Cabs with Trotting Horses (1889) might be the only complete one. The camera is too high up, which makes it look somewhat sloppy, as if it was supposed to be lower down. At least it doesn’t feel stagey, unlike the similar Roundhay. Two excerpts that probably aren’t from the same film are both credited as Hyde Park Corner (1889). One plays like Leisurely, except its subjects are gracefully further from the camera. The other is a nice scene of a policeman with a child, illuminated with good lighting. A frame of it could make a pretty photograph. I’m curious if this is the first depiction of a policeman in film history. Traffic in King’s Road, Chelsea (1890) takes advantage of sharp angles and more realistic filming. Some of the movement is a little punchier, with people moving with more speed, as if depicting people in a hurry. The policeman excerpt and Chelsea both have visuals good enough to justify a viewing.

To learn more about William Friese-Greene, go to: https://friesegreene.com/

Mädchen in Uniform (1931) Review

Left: protagonist, Manuela; Right: supporting character, Ilse

Here it is, one of the only Lesbian films of the black and white era. Perhaps the most Lesbian of them all. Films like Morocco and Borderline do have sprinkles of Homosexuality in them, but this one has an unmissable amount. Due to most countries having Anti-gay laws, Homosexual depictions are few and far between in this time. This is not helped by America’s adoption of the Hays Code and Germany’s adoption of Nazism, both of which were against positive gay depictions. In fact, the Nazis tried to destroy every copy of Mädchen in Uniform, but numerous copies of it had been sent overseas at that time.

My expectation was for this to be a more or less standard romance. There’s romance in this, but the film is not a full-on love piece. The story is mainly about the development and actions of the protagonist, Manuela, played by Hertha Thiele. She is driven, at least somewhat, by her being lovestruck. However, lots of the screen time is unrelated to the main plot. The filmmakers seem more interested in what the numerous other characters are doing. Characters like Ilse get lots of screen time and the time spent on them adds little to the main story. The other girls do partially drive Manuela. They show off how they handle the strict rules, which include things like no writing letters and no pictures of boys. The most interesting part of the scenes with the other characters is that several of them are shown to be Lesbians or Bisexuals. The previously mentioned Ilse has several pictures of a male movie star that she idolizes, but she also openly expresses her love for the Governess, Fräulein von Bernburg. The strict headmistress, Fräulein von Nordeck zur Nidden (‘Fräulein’ refers to an unmarried German woman, numerous characters are referred to as such), doesn’t seem to mind the Homosexuality in and of itself, but instead the girls non-conformity in general. Seeing as this is the 1930s, one would imagine that she would be bothered by them being gay.

It’s not like the Homosexuality is buried under subtext, every night the beloved Governess Fräulein kisses the foreheads of all the girls before they go to bed. Ilse is excited to get a kiss from her. In that scene, there’s numerous close up shots of girls excited for their kiss. Another scene features a girl showing her ability to break a button off her dress with her developed breasts. Ilse proclaims “What a body!” and the other girls seem excited by this talent.

I am a bit of a sucker for movies which focus on showing off the environment and characters by letting us see what’s going on, which this film certainly does. However, this does not usually make good narratives and films, as every scene should add to the main plot. The three characters most relevant to the main plot are Manuela, Governess Fräulein, and the headmistress. There’s often times where those characters are absent for notable portions of the film. The girls are fun characters to watch, but many of their scenes should be cut if the goal is to have the best possible story.

SPOILERS

There are some weird little plot holes in the filler. As an example, the headmistress said she intentionally doesn’t give out a lot of food in order to make the girls more ordered, but she’s upset when one complains about it, as if she thought the girl was ungrateful. The only thing the headmistress does is give the opposite of what everyone wants. That’s not a bad thing, but the movie wants the character to be three-dimensional. The end features all the girls looking down at the headmistress as she walks away saddened for indirectly pushing Manuela to kill herself. As a wooden character, she shouldn’t get this time for a redemption (for lack of a better term) or introspection as the film didn’t care to give her a real character. Most scenes with her focus on how the girls feel in relation to her, not how she feels.

Any scenes with the girls and Manuela work. They emphasize Manuela. She’s uncomfortable in this boarding school and it’s good for the story to see that. In contrast, the girls are more or less content with being there. The girls get some nice payoff at the end when they prevent Manuela from committing suicide by jumping to her death. That scene gets some nice foreshadowing when two girls discuss how high up the stairs are.

Manuela got drunk and loudly proclaimed her love for her Governess. This was a very big deal in the film. Manuela narrowly avoided being expelled, but was told she would be moved to where she would never see her Governess again. This led to her suicide attempt. The romance between the Governess and Manuela is odd. They both show affection for each other, most notably when during the before bed kissing, the Governess kisses Manuela on the lips, which she doesn’t do for any of the other students. However, there is not much screen time for the two and there’s no closure on their relationship. After Manuela is prevented from jumping, the movie is over and we don’t see what happens next. That’s a shame as that seemed to be the main thrust of the movie. Will They or Won’t They? is a big part of the main plot.

What would have been interesting to see is a more straight forward romance story, but it’s gay. The film is in many ways like a typical romance, but it’s incomplete. The protagonist never gets the girl, but the setup is similar to a romance. Two characters want to be together but circumstance keeps them apart. Their kiss is highly stylized and romanticized, as if it’s the first big step in a blossoming romance. It’s the kind of thing I’ve seen in many romance films.

OVERVIEW

Mädchen in Uniform is an engaging and enjoyable watch. I was always eager to see what happened next. One that wants any one genre like a romance, a drama, or a comedy will be let down due to the film’s inability to focus on one thing or flesh out an idea fully. However, even with it’s faults, you could say it’s a gay old time.