George Silver Movies

On the verge of starvation in 1930s Paris, erstwhile entertainer Victoria (Julie Andrews) is rescued by gay cabaret performer Toddy (Robert Preston). What she needs to succeed, opines Toddy, is a gimmick. What if she becomes a male impersonator? Better still: what if she becomes a male impersonator, pretending to be a female impersonator? As "Victor/Victoria," s/he becomes the toast of Paree, and an object of fascination for big-time Chicago gangster King Marchan (James Garner), who can't quite understand the teasing sensations he experiences whenever watching her in action-especially since he, like everyone else, assumes that she is a he. Enjoyable though the stars of Blake Edwards' comedy may be, the film is stolen by Lesley Ann Warren, who won an Oscar nomination as King's screechy-voiced moll, and Alex Karras as King's chief henchman, who, assuming that his boss is "that way," literally comes out of the closet. Victor/Victoria was a remake of the 1931 German film Viktor und Viktoria, which had previously be reworked in 1937 as the Jessie Mathews vehicle First a Girl. In 1996, Victor/Victoria was transformed into a Broadway musical, again directed by Edwards and starring Andrews. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Comic actor Gene Wilder made his debut as a writer and director in this period comedy in which he plays Sigerson Holmes, the older bother of famous detective Sherlock Holmes. For years, Sigerson has been living in his little brother's shadow, and he is convinced that he must constantly prove his superiority to his brother in all things at all times. Of course, he often fails, but one can't argue with his determination. In this story, Sherlock (Douglas Wilmer) and his faithful assistant, Watson (Thorley Walters), are called away from England on an assignment, and Sherlock asks Sigerson if he wouldn't mind looking into a case for him. With typically misguided enthusiasm, Sigerson is hot on the trail of a cache of missing government documents, whose theft may be the dirty work of the wicked Moriarty (Leo McKern). Sigerson is assisted in his investigation by Olville Sacker (Marty Feldman), a bumbling Scotland Yard detective who claims to have photographic hearing, and the mysterious and seductive Jenny Hill (Madeline Kahn). Gene Wilder rose to fame in the offbeat comedies of director Mel Brooks, so it was fitting that, for his first film as a director, Wilder cast Brooks in a cameo role (he's heard but not seen after discovering that the door he chose had the tiger, not the lady). ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Part spoof and part "straight," Gumshoe comes off as an affectionate tribute to the hard-boiled detective films of yore. Albert Finney stars as Eddie Ginley, a Liverpool bingo-caller and erstwhile comedian who has been weaned on the novels of Raymond Chandler and Dashiel Hammett. Fancying himself an ace detective, Ginley quits his job to form his own agency. Before long, he is involved in a complex mystery with decided echoes of The Maltese Falcon and The Big Sleep, replete with femme fatale (Janice Rule) and sinister fat man (George Silver). Armed with little more than a slick line of patter, Ginley plunges into this baffling case, while his level-headed brother (Frank Finlay) and sister-in-law (Billie Whitelaw) try to talk him out of it. Despite its satirical content, Gumshoe turns out to be a fascinating mystery yarn on its own terms. Albert Finney also produced the film, while none other than Andrew Lloyd Webber supplied the musical score. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi