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.

Tippi: A Memoir by Tippi Hedren

Alfred Hitchcock is known mainly for his impressive catalog of films (including Psycho, Rear Window, Vertigo, and my personal favorite, Shadow of a Doubt), but anyone with even a mild interest in the director is likely familiar with the term "Hitchcock Blonde"...and just how questionable (often-times indecent) his behavior really was behind the scenes.

Tippi Hedren was, of course, one of those "Hitchcock blondes" and as I am a big fan of her and her work both as an actress and as a wildlife advocate, I knew I wanted to read her story in her own words.

Tippi: A Memoir was published in November 2016 by William Morrow and Company. The book begins with Hedren's childhood experiences growing up in Minnesota in the 30's and early 40's and how those experiences helped to shape her.

Her modeling career began in 1945 when, after school one day during her sophomore year of high school, she was approached by a woman from Donaldson's Department Store who expressed an interest in hiring Tippi to model in their Saturday fashion shows.

Her stint with Donaldson's came to an abrupt end when her father announced the entire family would be moving to Southern California (with the hope that the milder weather would improve his poor health). Teenaged Tippi was understandably devastated, but as she had no choice in the matter, she and the family headed out west to Los Angeles.

Two years later in 1947, Tippi graduated from Huntington Park High School. A few years later, after a brief stint at college, she found she still had the modeling bug, so she sent her portfolio to Ford Modeling Agency and shortly after, in 1950, the agency sent their new model out to New York.

During the next ten years, she married (then later divorced) Peter Griffith, gave birth to their daughter, Melanie, and moved back to L.A. in the wake of her broken marriage. Upon her return to Los Angeles, she took the odd modeling job, including an appearance in a television commercial advertising a meal replacement shake named Sego. This commercial was seen by Alfred Hitchcock and thus began her meteoric rise to fame...

At 355 pages (with large font size) Tippi: A Memoir is not a lengthy book, but it is an interesting read. She details some of the ups and downs of her three marriages (nearly four), as well as her relationship with her daughter, which clearly is the most important relationship of her entire life. She describes Melanie as the greatest love of her life and the best thing that ever happened to her. 

The book does mention Hedren's complicated (and often horrible) dealings with Hitchcock, but she does not go into great detail (obviously thinking about that time of her life could not have been a pleasant experience). She mentions that there were many positive moments and experiences with filming The Birds and Marnie and I think the chapters pertaining to those films would have been more detailed had Hitchcock's obsession with her not cast such a pall over it all.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to the events leading up to and including the making of the film Roar. In 1969, Hedren traveled to South Africa to film a movie and there she had her first experience with lions. From then on she and her husband at the time, Noel Marshall, became absolutely obsessed with big cats and the idea of making a film about them, which took them nearly eleven years to complete. 

I really enjoyed this section of the book (even though I haven't seen Roar) and I was amazed at Tippi Hedren's dedication, passion and resolve throughout this time of her life. The film was not easy to make, with injuries, money troubles and a failing marriage, but she never gave up. She seemed most driven by her desire to use the film to raise awareness for the preservation of wildlife and to ensure that she'd be able to keep and care for the big cats (and a variety of other animals) that she'd adopted during those eleven years. (I was more tickled than I probably should have been to read that I share a name with a tigon cub named Noelle and I learned that a tigon is different from a liger. A tigon is the offspring of a male tiger and a female lion, and a liger is the offspring of a female tiger and a male lion.)

As an animal lover myself, I was touched by the respect and love she developed for big cats (all animals, really) and that those feelings led her to become an advocate for animal rights. She formed a non-profit organization called The Roar Foundation, which supports Shambala Preserve, her wildlife sanctuary (which was initially the "set" for the film). Shambala, located in Acton, California, is open to the public one weekend each month (by reservation) and I would love to visit someday.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and Hedren's way with words. She tells her story in a succinct, friendly and humorous way. Even with everything she went through over the years, she strikes me as a generous and kind person and after reading her memoir I have even greater respect for her. I think my only complaint is that I wish the book had included more photos of the animals! 

The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg (1927)

I'm a relative latecomer to silent movies. I really only began watching silents a few years ago and, of course, I started with the biggies: Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, etc.

Recently I've begun to explore a wider variety of silent movies, and since I usually enjoy Ernst Lubitsch's films, I figured I'd give The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg a whirl.

Released by MGM in 1927, this romantic drama primarily takes place in the early 1900s and tells the story of young Crown Prince Karl Heinrich (Ramon Novarro), heir to the Kingdom of Karlsburg, currently under the rule of his uncle, King Karl VII (Gustav von Seyffertitz).

He is sent to live with his uncle as a young boy and he is forbidden to play with children his own age (presumably due to the class-difference). He's isolated and lonely until the arrival of Dr. Friedrich Jüttner, a kind, mild-mannered gentleman hired on as the boy's tutor.

Dr. Jüttner is Karl Heinrich's only companion throughout the years and he helps him with his studies, from boyhood all the way through to his final high school exam. Shortly after graduation, Karl Heinrich's uncle arranges for him to continue his education at Heidelberg University located in Heidelberg, a town near Frankfurt which is also home to Heidelberger Schloss (Heidelberg Castle, a gorgeous Gothic structure built sometime before the 12th century). 

Karl Heinrich arrives at a roadside inn run by the family of Ruder: Old Ruder (Otis Harlan) and his niece, Kathi (Norma Shearer).  Karl Heinrich's personal servant inspects the rooms and objects, stating the establishment isn't good enough for the prince. This insult will not stand with Kathi and she launches into a passionate defense of the inn and of the rooms, which she herself situated.

Karl Heinrich is instantly infatuated with her and he promptly agrees to stay. Not long after he meets some of Heidelberg University's students when they gather for a pint of beer (or, more accurately, several) at the inn. He receives an enthusiastic welcome and becomes fast friends with the other young men.

It doesn't take him long to settle into his new life with his new friends...and with Kathi, whom he grows to love very seriously. 

Of course, it isn't long before his "real world" duty rears its ugly head...

---

Evidently Ernst Lubitsch was not the first choice to make The Student Prince in Old Heidelberg, and by the time he was brought on as producer/director, the studio had settled on Ramon Novarro and Norma Shearer as the romantic leads. Lubitsch was apparently unhappy with these casting choices, but I liked their performances, particularly Novarro's. Clearly he is a very good looking man, but he also brings a boyish charm and enthusiasm to the role of Karl Heinrich that I found appealing (although some viewers will likely find his enthusiasm a bit too enthusiastic). 

Norma Shearer is lovely as Kathi. I enjoyed the character's moxie. She's good-humored and hardworking, but she isn't a pushover or a simpering idiot, even after she learns that Karl Heinrich is a prince.

I really enjoyed the shots of the castle (which look to me to be genuine footage of Heidelberg Castle, but I could be wrong) and this led to extensive reading on the history of the castle and of the college-town. Heidelberg University is Germany's oldest university, founded in 1386, and I really wish the film had included actual footage of the school. (Lubitsch apparently sent a team to Heidelberg to shoot location footage for the movie, but none of it made it into the final cut for reasons unknown to me!)

The film has many lovely scenes, both in look and in material, but the story is more sentimental and traditional than I expected, without much of the "Lubitsch Touch" but I still enjoyed it and would recommend the movie to anyone interested in silents (or Ramon Novarro 😍). I would love to see the film restored; the copy I watched was quite grainy and it would be great to re-watch it with a sharper, clearer look.