First a Girl

Gaumont British, 1935

Starring Jessie Matthews, Sonny Hale, Anna Lee, and Griffith Jones

Directed by Victor Saville

Music and Lyrics by Maurice Sigler, Al Goodheart, and Al Hoffman

If the story here seems familiar, this is not the first time we've seen it at this blog. I reviewed the 1982 remake Victor/Victoria way back in January 2019. The British, however, got there almost 50 years before MGM did. Evergreen was such a massive success, a follow-up with Matthews and Hale was likely inevitable. This time, Gaumont turned to Germany, where Viktor und Viktoria had been a hit in 1933. They adapted it for the enchantingly gamine Matthews and for English sensibilities. How does the story of a woman who dresses as a man who dresses as a woman look today? Let's begin as shop girls watch a lavish society fashion show and find out...

The Story: Shop girl Elizabeth (Matthews) loses her job when she wears the clothes she's supposed to be delivering to an audition instead. Caught in the rain, she meets Shakespearean actor Victor (Hale), who is currently performing a music hall drag act he calls "Victoria." After he comes down with laryngitis, he convinces Elizabeth to take his place as a female impersonator. They play the act for comedy and are such a success, promoter McLintock (Alfred Drayton) offers Elizabeth a contract. Elizabeth takes the name "Bill," and Victor is her manager.

Elizabeth eventually falls for the handsome and wealthy Robert (Jones), while Victor pursues his fiancee Princess Mironoff (Lee). Robert, however, still thinks Elizabeth is a man. She even drinks whiskey and smokes cigars to convince him she's the gender she claims to be. It's not until he rescues her from drowning on the French Riviera that he realizes she's all woman. Elizabeth is tired of the charade, but first Victor has to explain to the Princess that he and Elizabeth are only friends, and then they both have to figure out how to get Victoria off the stage for good.

The Song and Dance: Hale and Matthews are having just as much fun as Robert Preston and Julie Andrews would 50 years later, if not more. In fact, considering the subject matter, this is downright adorable. Hale and Matthews were married at the time, which explains their delightful chemistry and how they worked so well together. The costumes are gorgeous, the production sumptuous, and the farcical script hilarious at times. Heck, just the fact that they can get away with the female impersonator thing in 1935 is notable. This would not have been made in the US in 1935. 

The Numbers: We open with "Little Silkworm," that society fashion show. Elizabeth and the shop girls watch from windows looking into the auditorium. At one point, Elizabeth does an incredibly limber dance full of such high kicks, she actually kicks a shoe into the main theater! She does make a joke about it, but it gets her into trouble. She joins a mass audition singing in chorus, but is pulled quickly. Her first number as a female impersonator is "It's Written All Over Your Face." She's not entirely sure what to do...and then geese come out in the middle of the number. 

She's the toast of Europe by the time of "Half and Half." This one starts out looking normal, with women in male tuxes...before we see they're half in tuxes, and half in frilly dresses. "I Can Wiggle My Ears" is a big chorus routine in a lavish Art Deco nightclub. Singer Donald Stewart performs with the ladies in stripes, while Victor sings to the Princess. Elizabeth revels in wearing women's clothes while basking in the paradise of the French Riviera in "Say the World and It's Yours." "Everything's Rhythm In My Heart" showcases Elizabeth as literally a bird in a cage, as the other birds pamper and dress her. Victor reprises it in drag near the end of the film.

What I Don't Like: Alas, this doesn't have Rodgers and Hart writing songs. The music here is disappointingly bland, with only "I Can Wiggle My Ears" as a stand-out. And although the story makes slightly more sense than Evergreen, this is still a fluffy 30's musical. It's not for those looking for something deeper, or even the slightly naughty things Victor/Victoria did with this material in 1982. 

The Big Finale: Charming and hilarious, I enjoyed this even more than Evergreen. Highly recommended for fans of big 30's musicals, Matthews, or vintage British cinema.

Home Media: Too bad this one can only be found on YouTube at press time.

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Evergreen

Gaumont British, 1934

Starring Jessie Matthews, Sonny Hale, Betty Balfour, and Barry MacKay

Directed by Victor Saville

Music and Lyrics by various

Come with us across the Atlantic on a holiday trip to jolly old England this week as we take a look at the two most popular vehicles featuring beloved British dance star Jessie Matthews. Matthews started out as a dancer on the London stage in revues for Noel Coward and producer Andre Charlot. She'd been making movies since 1923. By the time this came out in 1934, she had just appeared in the successful movie version of The Good Companions and was looking to follow up on that success. How does the story of a young woman who poses as her own mother to get publicity look nowadays and on this side of the pond? Let's begin "yesterday" with popular music hall singer Harriet Green (Matthews) and her adoring audiences and find out...

The Story: Harriet gives up her career to marry the Marquis of Staines (Ivor McLaren), only to leave him and return to South Africa when her former partner George Treadwell (Hartley Power) tries to blackmail her over her illegitimate daughter. She leaves that daughter to be raised in the country by her old nursemaid. Years later, her daughter, Harriet Hawkes (Matthews), comes to London to get into show business herself. Handsome young publicity man Tommy Thompson (MacKay) sees Harriet's resemblance to her mother and convinces producer Leslie Benn (Hale) to feature her in a new revue as her well-preserved mother. Trouble arises when Harriet falls for Tommy, and not only does the public believe he's her son, but Treadwell comes knocking too, still looking for money. After they discover that they could get arrested for the deception, they have to figure out how to let Harriet be herself, without ending up in jail.

The Song and Dance: No wonder this was a huge hit in 1934 on both sides of the Atlantic. Matthews is simply luminous, an adorable cross between the dainty elegance of Audrey Hepburn and the ingenue proficiency of Eleanor Powell. Some of the numbers simply defy description. They're stranger than what even Busby Berkeley was doing in 1934, especially the "through the years" routine that begins with Matthews singing "When It's Springtime In Your Heart" in 1934 and ends up with women dressed in metal-covered robot costumes being turned into robotic workers in 1918 and people doing the waltz in 1904. The costumes and sets are absolutely gorgeous, with Mathews floating in acres of ruffles, lace, and fluff against a curving Art Deco backdrop. 

The Numbers: We open with Harriet Green wowing her audiences with an instrumental dance in a frilly gown, then singing the traditional music hall number "Daddy Wouldn't Buy Me a Bow-Wow." She and fellow actress-turned-titled lady Maudie (Betty Balfour) sing another music hall ditty, "I Wouldn't Leave My Little Wooden Hut For You" singing and dancing on the tables at their reception. Harriet sings "When You've Got a Little Springtime In Your Heart" twice, as an audition for Leslie Mann and Tommy Thompson after Tommy comes up with the idea of her being her mother, and later in that insane "through the years" number I mentioned above. The number starts with Matthews performing the song in one of her floaty dresses. She keeps turning a time piece, going further and further back, from the Charleston to the women turned into robots for Great War industry, to a waltz. 

Harriet wants to sing "If I Give In to You" and does a wonderful dance to it, but Maudie tells her it would give her away as a young woman. Leslie does the charming "Tinkle Tinkle" with the chorus at a rehearsal. Harriet goes Spanish in another instrumental dance, this time in a ruffled senorita outfit swirling with a passionate matador. Tommy's not really happy with Harriet when they rehearse "Dear Dear." Harriet keeps avoiding giving him a kiss, despite Leslie's insistence on it. The standard from this one is Rogers and Hart's "Dancing on the Ceiling," which Harriet dances in her living room while Tommy listens in his. 

"Over My Shoulder" begins as a romp in 1900, with Harriet and Tommy playing mother and son on an outing in their car. It turns into a more typical Berkeley-esque chorus girl routine in wild costumes. Harriet, finally fed up, comes out and does a striptease during her dance, ditching her "old lady" costume to reveal the young woman she truly is. Harriet reprises "Springtime," singing with her mother's own recording in court, then in a literal heavenly chorus. We end with Harriet singing "Over My Shoulder" with an angelic chorus. 

Trivia: Ever Green debuted at the Adelphi Theater on London's West End in 1930, with Matthews and Hale in MacKay's role. It originally had an all Rodgers and Hart score, but only "Dancing On the Ceiling," "Dear, Dear," and "If I Give In to You" were used in the movie. "In the Cool of the Evening" turned up as background scoring. To my knowledge, it has never made it to this side of the pond and has not been revived.

What I Don't Like: While I give the British credit for getting cheeky in a way no American musical would even attempt in 1934, this is still a fluffy 30's musical. MacKay is cute but otherwise dull as Harriet's love interest, and Hale can get annoying, especially early on when he's barking at everyone. And I do wish they'd kept the full Rodgers and Hart score! Though I do like "Over My Shoulder" (and it became a signature number for Matthews), most of the other non-Rodgers and Hart songs are pretty dull.

The Big Finale: If you love big 30's musicals or vintage British cinema, you'll want to step across time and join Harriet in her backstage adventure, too.

Home Media: Not on disc in North America, but it can be found on streaming.

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