First a Girl (1935)

Once you get past the improbability that anyone could fail to notice Jessie Matthews's obvious...female charms,
First a Girl is an enjoyable and entertaining British musical comedy.

Matthews stars as Elizabeth, a big city delivery girl who dreams of being a stage actress. One day while out on a delivery she meets Victor (Sonnie Hale), a female impersonator who longs to be a serious Shakespearean actor. Elizabeth soon finds herself out of a job, then Victor comes down with a bad cold and as he is unable to perform, he enlists Elizabeth to stand in for him (naturally).

Dressed in a gaudy gown, she impersonates a man impersonating a woman singing and dancing in a truly disastrous performance. Despite this, the audience loves her and seems to think the mishaps are all part of the show. Victor, seeing an opportunity here, urges her to take on the job full time, while he acts as her manager.

Mix in love interests and a suspicious reporter and soon we're wondering how Elizabeth and Victor will ever be able to fix the mess they're in (and get their happily-ever-after!)...

Released in 1935 by Gaumont British Pictures, First a Girl was one of many films directed by Victor Saville and starring Jessie Matthews. (Evergreen was another of their hugely popular films, released the year before in 1934.)

The dance sequences were especially entertaining for me, particularly the scene in the beginning of the film which has Elizabeth (in her delivery uniform) dancing to a South American tune, which is absolutely adorable. Jessie Matthews is always fun to watch, even though (in my opinion) she is a somewhat awkward dancer. She seems to be "all limbs" at times, especially when compared with other female musical film stars of the thirties like Eleanor Powell.

Matthews's singing in the film is lovely as always, though! The film features many wonderful songs written by Al Goodhart, Al Hoffman and Maurice Sigler, including "Say the Word and It's Yours", "It's Written All Over Your Face", and "Everything's in Rhythm with My Heart".

Anna Lee and Griffith Jones are also in the film. Lee plays Princess Miranoff, a spoiled, rich woman who seems willing and able to do just about anything if it will bring her some amusement, and Jones plays the understandably confused Robert, who is disturbed to discover that the female he finds so attractive is in fact a female impersonator. I found both of their performances very enjoyable.

"Darling, getting engaged is like being vaccinated...
sometimes it takes and sometimes it doesn't."

Other highlights include the Busby Berkeley-esque scene featuring a chorus of female dancers sporting striped, sequined costumes that create a kaleidoscopic effect against the mirrored floor and shots of the gorgeous beach resort in Nice.

Of course, the scene wherein Elizabeth, in an attempt to keep up her charade as a man, drinks hard liquor and smokes cigars like a seasoned pro. Jessie Matthews in a tuxedo is just too cute.

I highly recommend this film, especially if you like films from the thirties. This is one of the best British musicals ever made (better than Evergreen, in my opinion) and there is a lot to enjoy here.

Roberta (1935)

I'm a big Ginger Rogers fan, so it's surprising me to that this was the first time I had seen Roberta (1935).  Irene Dunne gets top billing for this film, so it isn't a true Rogers/Astaire musical, but it should have been, considering that the two of them contribute the best parts of the film.

The first scene opens on a ship headed for Paris.  John Kent (Randolph Scott), a former college football hero, is traveling there with his good friend Huck Haines (Fred Astaire), a bandleader who has booked a gig in the city for his dance band, the Wabash Indianians.

Unfortunately, when their client (an excitable club owner played by Luis Alberni) discovers that they're a dance band - not a band of American Indians - he fires them immediately, despite their attempt at changing his mind with a fun, creative performance in which Huck plays the "organ".

Randolph Scott as John and Fred Astaire as Huck

Astaire et al performing The Pipe Organ Number

Now in Paris with no job, the group has nowhere to stay and no idea what to do next, until John reveals that his aunt Minnie (played by the fabulous Helen Westley) lives in Paris - and happens to be the famous, wealthy dressmaker "Roberta".  He thinks maybe she can help the band land a gig, so he pays her a visit at her dress shop.

Helen Westley as Aunt Minnie

There John meets Aunt Minnie's assistant Stephanie (Irene Dunne).  He is instantly charmed by her and she seems to think he's pretty adorable, too.

Irene Dunne as Stephanie

While John is talking with his aunt, he meets Countess Scharwenka (Ginger Rogers), a fiery Polish nightclub entertainer who has taken Paris by storm.  Wanting to impress John, she tells him she can get his friend's band a job at her nightclub - assuming they're good - so, since Huck and the Indianians happen to be at Roberta's, he forces her to hear them play right then.

Huck and the Wabash Indianians perform Let's Begin

To Countess Sharwenka's dismay, she discovers that John's friend the bandleader just so happens to be an old boyfriend of hers - and the one person in Paris who knows her true identity: not as a Polish Countess, but as Lizzie Gatz, a small town girl from Indiana.

Lizzie convinces Huck to keep her identity a secret in exchange for a gig for his band at the nightclub where she performs.  (She manages to get it for him, too - even though her boss is the same nightclub owner that fired the band when they first arrived in Paris.)

Lizzie and Huck renew their friendship and reminisce about old times.

Then Lizzie, as Countess Scharwenka (Polish accent and moxie galore) performs I'll Be Hard to Handle, my favorite song of the film:

A wonderful dance number follows:

Meanwhile, John grows more and more interested in Stephanie, but he hasn't quite gotten over Sophie (played by gorgeous Claire Dodd), a girl who just recently dumped him because she felt he wasn't sophisticated enough for her.  Huck thinks that Sophie is a self-involved snob and John is probably better off without her, anyway.

Things seem to be going swimmingly...and then Aunt Minnie suddenly passes away.  Everyone knows Minnie intended to leave the shop to Stephanie (who, we find out, has secretly been the shop's head designer all along), but because she didn't leave a will, the shop goes to her next of kin, John.  John has no interest in running the shop by himself, so he and Stephanie agree to a partnership.  All the while their attraction continues to grow.

Unfortunately, Sophie learns about John's inheritance in a recently published newspaper article and decides she wants her old country bumpkin boyfriend after all, so she heads to Paris intent on winning him back.

What little plot that follows is mostly uninspired and contrived, with only the Rogers/Astaire song-and-dance scenes to save the film.  Ginger Rogers looks positively gorgeous in every scene and she is hands-down my favorite part of the movie.

Rogers and Astaire sing one of my favorite duets of all time, I Won't Dance, followed by a fantastic tap solo performed by Astaire.

Irene Dunne, who is usually so smart and funny and striking on screen, is dreadfully boring in this film. Anyone would have been with the lackluster lines she was given.

I did enjoy listening to Dunne sing - she performed four solos in the film, all beautiful ballads, and three of them were written by genius composer Jerome Kern: Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, Yesterdays and Lovely to Look At.

Irene Dunne performing Smoke Gets in Your Eyes

The song and dance numbers were definitely the best scenes of the movie, but another highlight for me was the fashion.  There are a TON of glamorous dresses in this movie, so that was fun to watch, especially then-unknown Lucille Ball in a non-speaking role as one of the fashion models.

Overall, Roberta is a cute movie.  Lots of laughs (courtesy of Rogers and Astaire), musical numbers and beautiful gowns kept me entertained, but the silly plot kept getting in the way.

Rogers and Astaire make it worth a watch, though!