One marked SPOILER below.
I watched First a Girl after seeing the 1933 German version, Viktor und Viktoria.. And of course I know the Julie Andrews version, Victor/Victoria. So it is fun to make comparisons. I was hoping that First a Girl would help me a bit with the German one (no subtitles!), but after the first section it goes off on a tidier and kinder version of the girl-posing-as-guy-falls-in-love-with-guy plot.
And a good thing, too! In both the other movies there is a long sequence in which the two 'men' go out together, and it is a wee bit sadistic, though in different ways, in each one. The charming thing about First a Girl is that Victoria's lover really likes her as a boy, and seems a bit distressed when he finally discovers the truth! The 'problem' of Mr. Victoria as a probably gay man is raised frankly and casually, and Jessie Matthews is delightful proving that 'he' is a real he-man by smoking a very large cigar and getting drunk. (In the German version it looks as though the prospective lover, who knows the truth, might be planning to take Viktoria to visit some prostitutes, though they are distracted by a brawl.)
I really liked Renate Müller in the German version, as the girl pretending to be a female impersonator. She was a marvelous actress and the most charming and vulnerable of the three heroines. Her 'manager' Viktorthe original ViktoriaHermann Thimig, is really funny, an energetic actor who, like Bottom the Weaver, wants to play every part ever writtenyou can see how he got into drag, though he is a mighty homely woman. (Robert Preston in the later version was not saddled with this bit of the plothe comes up with the idea of selling Victoria as a drag queen, but she is not taking over his own gig.)
Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale play these roles in First a Girl, and the great difference is that they are wonderful dancers and decent singers, so the big production numbers that are an essential part of the plot really take off. In this version, Victor is not just Victoria's manager but her dance partner, and they do a lovely fake-Brazilian number that seems to have wandered in from Flying Down to Rio (1933). But even in the absurd 'bird in a gilded cage' number which is spoofed at the end, Matthews is a delightful performer. My favorite bit of dancing, though, is a little solo she does as a delivery girl at the beginning. It actually looks as if she were improvising, not in the polished Astaire manner, but with great rhythm and fun. SPOILER. And when Victor gets hired as a replacement Victoria at the end, Sonnie Hale is so talented (though of course he clowns around like anything) that you are willing to believe it.
The British version boils the German plot down so that instead of six people in love there are only four, and the two high-society types get more screen time. Anton Walbrook in the German movie has extraordinary charm and humor as the man in love with Viktoria, though he is not very romantic with him/her. Griffith Jones in the same role mostly just looks pleasantly muddled, but as I say the plot gives him a bit more room to get to know and like Victoria as a person. Anna Lee is delightful in the beefed-up role of the naughty Princess, nicknamed 'Lady Wiggle-waggle.'
I watched First a Girl after seeing the 1933 German version, Viktor und Viktoria.. And of course I know the Julie Andrews version, Victor/Victoria. So it is fun to make comparisons. I was hoping that First a Girl would help me a bit with the German one (no subtitles!), but after the first section it goes off on a tidier and kinder version of the girl-posing-as-guy-falls-in-love-with-guy plot.
And a good thing, too! In both the other movies there is a long sequence in which the two 'men' go out together, and it is a wee bit sadistic, though in different ways, in each one. The charming thing about First a Girl is that Victoria's lover really likes her as a boy, and seems a bit distressed when he finally discovers the truth! The 'problem' of Mr. Victoria as a probably gay man is raised frankly and casually, and Jessie Matthews is delightful proving that 'he' is a real he-man by smoking a very large cigar and getting drunk. (In the German version it looks as though the prospective lover, who knows the truth, might be planning to take Viktoria to visit some prostitutes, though they are distracted by a brawl.)
I really liked Renate Müller in the German version, as the girl pretending to be a female impersonator. She was a marvelous actress and the most charming and vulnerable of the three heroines. Her 'manager' Viktorthe original ViktoriaHermann Thimig, is really funny, an energetic actor who, like Bottom the Weaver, wants to play every part ever writtenyou can see how he got into drag, though he is a mighty homely woman. (Robert Preston in the later version was not saddled with this bit of the plothe comes up with the idea of selling Victoria as a drag queen, but she is not taking over his own gig.)
Jessie Matthews and Sonnie Hale play these roles in First a Girl, and the great difference is that they are wonderful dancers and decent singers, so the big production numbers that are an essential part of the plot really take off. In this version, Victor is not just Victoria's manager but her dance partner, and they do a lovely fake-Brazilian number that seems to have wandered in from Flying Down to Rio (1933). But even in the absurd 'bird in a gilded cage' number which is spoofed at the end, Matthews is a delightful performer. My favorite bit of dancing, though, is a little solo she does as a delivery girl at the beginning. It actually looks as if she were improvising, not in the polished Astaire manner, but with great rhythm and fun. SPOILER. And when Victor gets hired as a replacement Victoria at the end, Sonnie Hale is so talented (though of course he clowns around like anything) that you are willing to believe it.
The British version boils the German plot down so that instead of six people in love there are only four, and the two high-society types get more screen time. Anton Walbrook in the German movie has extraordinary charm and humor as the man in love with Viktoria, though he is not very romantic with him/her. Griffith Jones in the same role mostly just looks pleasantly muddled, but as I say the plot gives him a bit more room to get to know and like Victoria as a person. Anna Lee is delightful in the beefed-up role of the naughty Princess, nicknamed 'Lady Wiggle-waggle.'