First a Girl – 1935 | 93 mins | Comedy, Musical | B&W

Plot Synopsis

Jessie Matthews star vehicle, First a Girl was a remake of German film Viktor und Viktoria, (1933). The original film also inspired the Blake Edwards remake Victor/Victoria (1982) starring Julie Andrews. Despite being disliked by critics this version was a hit with the public. Matthews takes the film in the direction of her “clean and cheerful” persona, the opposite of the highly ambiguous rendering of the same character by Renate Muller.

Jessie Matthews stars as Elizabeth, a messenger girl and aspiring entertainer who meets famed female impersonator Victor (Sonnie Hale) on the French Riviera during a storm. Victor catches a cold and develops laryngitis, so she takes his place on a show – as a boy impersonating a girl, impersonating a boy! The change of gender is accompanied by a change in social status: the poor shop girl is transformed into a highly successful female impersonator; with Victor now as her manager. Both men and women fall in love with the image of a man who is really a woman. A wealthy Princess (Anna Lee) and her fiancé (Griffith Jones) suspect there’s more to this new singing star than meets the eye, and vow to find out what it is.