First A Girl

New RESTORED print of this gem of a 30s musical -the inspiration for "Victor/Victoria"
First off, when reading the reviews for this film here on Amazon please NOTE THE DATE of the review. Amazon has a policy of grouping ALL releases of ALL prints of a film together. I noted that there are reviews from 2008 talking about inferior prints. Not so any longer. Read on...

I was not familiar with the film or Jessie Matthews for that matter until this DVD arrived from VCI. As their title page on all their DVDs (when you start one) "Good movies never go out of style". And that is certainly the case with this one. It was the film that inspired Blake Edwards hit musical film "Victor/Victoria" and the Broadway musical of that name. But this was made in 1935.

It is a true delight and anyone who loves the 1930s musicals directed by Busby Berkeley will want this. No, Berkeley didn't direct it but there are plenty of production numbers and the number "I can Do Anything With You" uses the kind of special effects that Berkeley was famous for and has LOTS of gorgeous...

Jessie Matthews is Charming!
During the 1930s, the charming dancer Jessie Matthews was known as the "Queen of the British musical". She was to the British cinema what Eleanor Powell was to American movie audiences.

Unfortunately, for a various reasons, this talented performer never worked in Hollywood films, and her delightful musicals have not been made available on DVD to audiences in the USA...until now.

As part of their Rank Collection, VCI Entertainment has released Ms. Matthews' FIRST A GIRL (1935), which, years later, served as the basis for Blake Edward's VICTOR/VICTORIA starring Julie Andrews.

FIRST A GIRL is a fun, extremely entertaining movie with some enjoyable songs (e.g. "Everything's In Rhythm With My Heart"). The dance numbers are also quite spectacular, sort of Busby Berkeley light.

Matthews is marvelous as the young woman, who pretends to be a man in order to play a woman on stage, where she is a major nightclub star, and her real-life husband,...

I enjoyed it
It was enjoyable although it was not as entertaining or as funny as Victor/Victoria. I'll be adding it to my collection of older films.

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