Even when she’s coaxing a cockroach out of her purse as a down and out chanteuse in 1930’s Paris, as she does as Victoria in the 1982 Blake Edwards directed comedy Victor/Victoria, Julie Andrews is classy. Screened at the Hamptons International Film Festival this weekend, just prior to a Q&A with Alec Baldwin, a Lifetime Achievement Award presentation, and a private party to celebrate the actress most well known as Mary Poppins and Maria from The Sound of Music, the movie’s gender bending issues feel charming and slightly retro in today’s world, and make for excellent entertainment. While Victor/Victoria earned several Oscar nominations, it won for Henry Mancini’s original music; Mancini’s widow was in attendance at the Guild Hall ceremony, a highpoint of this premier film festival, now in its 25^th year.

Julie Andrews won an Oscar for Mary Poppins, her very first film. Noting that the new Mary Poppins, to star Emily Blunt, takes off from other material by P. L. Travers, she was pleased to say, this is not just a remake. When it came time to cast My Fair Lady, for the movie, Andrews understood that Disney needed a bigger name than hers, even though she had starred in the stage play, and of course they cast Audrey Hepburn. Andrews said she still feels sad that she was not filmed as Liza, not begrudging Hepburn, but as a matter of theater history. When Alec Baldwin asked who among her many leading men was the best kisser, she declined to kiss and tell, but rattled off Robert Preston, Christopher Plummer, James Garner, etc. We could have gone on forever with her wonderful anecdotes about her extraordinary career

At the party, Julie Andrews, called Jules by close family and friends, greeted each well-wisher, asking pairs who came before her if they were a couple or an item. “That’s Hollywood speak,” she laughed, grounded, elegant, and gracious as a queen.

Regina Weinreich

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