Fun
Frisky
Nostalgic
Intense
Adventurous
Choked Up
Curious
Romantic
Weird
Today is International Treasure Julie Andrews’ birthday, a day we should all be celebrating by thinking of the grand dame who played the magical nanny in Mary Poppins (for which she won an Oscar) and the plucky governess in The Sound of Music (for which she nabbed her second Oscar nomination). While those bright-eyed, cheery women are no doubt her best-known characters, the triple threat didn’t stick to family-friendly musicals.
In 1969, Andrews wed Blake Edwards, who had already proven himself a successful director, helming classics such as Breakfast at Tiffany’s and The Pink Panther films (which he also wrote). His most famous, and daring, film might be the sex comedy 10, which starred Dudley Moore as an older man lusting after a much younger woman played by Bo Derek, a role that made her a star and a fashion icon. Andrews co-starred as Moore’s age-appropriate lover. The film was a box-office smash, which reinvigorated Andrews’ career after a few flops earlier in the decade (two other films directed by Edwards: Darling Lili and The Tamarind Seed).
Edwards and Andrews followed up the success of 10 with another dark comedy, the controversial and divisive S.O.B. It’s a satirical film, a thinly veiled look at the disastrous production of Darling Lili, and one that showed the prim and proper Andrews in a completely shocking light: topless (albeit briefly). S.O.B. was heralded and criticized with equal measure; its script was nominated for both a Writers Guild of America Award and a Razzie Award.
But it was their third sex comedy that really hit a home-run: the deliciously funny Victor Victoria. It was a modest box office success, but a critical achievement: it earned Oscar nominations for Andrews as well as her costars Robert Preston and Lesley Ann Warren (Edwards’ script also got a nod). While there’s no breast-baring, it does feature some pretty taboo elements one wouldn’t normally associate with Julie Andrews, as she plays a struggling opera singer in Paris who dresses in drag — double drag, really — posing as a man who performs as a woman. Don’t worry: it’s not a complex plot, but it does feature some screwball hijinx and a particularly hilarious and downright vulgar musical performance from Lesley Ann Warren:
Did you spend your childhood hoping that Julie Andrews would swoop in and make it more exciting, musical, and magical? Well, Blake Edwards definitely made that fantasy a little bit weirder by making Mary Poppins suddenly so damn sexy.
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Photos: Everett Collection
