The first of many versions of an oft done story has elements familiar to the smash hot 1982 movie, done quite stylishly by director Reinhold Schünzel with Renate Muller quite charming as Suzanne and her on stage personal Victoria, utilizing this as the male version of her character offstage while out socially. Victor (played by Hermann Thimig) is the very evcentric, straight best pal whose idea it is to perpetuate scheme to fool everyone, with Anton Walbrook as the gangster who becomes certain that there is a scam going on. Hilde Hildebrand and Friedel Pisetta play two different women whose characters were asked into one for the 1935 remake "First a Woman", and the Oscar nominated performance of Lesley Ann Warren in the 1982 version. Muller truly gives her all, hysterically funny, and it's obvious where Julie Andrews got a lot of her mannerisms which she essayed to perfection.
While most of the dialogue is in German, there are some moments when they break into English, and that is one of the few points in the film where the dialogue is not sung. The musical numbers are quite lavish, almost Busby Berkeley like in nature, and the film seems to be greatly influenced by Ernest Lubitch's "Love Me Tonight" made the previous year. The kaleidoscopic photography in the dance numbers really adds a period feel, and there are also a couple of moments that are more pantomimed than spoken, as if they were going for a bit of a ballet, particularly when Muller is having a makeover. The character played by Thimig is quite different than Robert Preston in the later version, with different elements addes to the story, and that really makes no difference in the way this version is developed, because it is fascinating nonetheless even though it is a bit dated in certain aspects. Definitely worth a look from a historical aspect, showing the pre-Nazi Germany film era at its most creative.
While most of the dialogue is in German, there are some moments when they break into English, and that is one of the few points in the film where the dialogue is not sung. The musical numbers are quite lavish, almost Busby Berkeley like in nature, and the film seems to be greatly influenced by Ernest Lubitch's "Love Me Tonight" made the previous year. The kaleidoscopic photography in the dance numbers really adds a period feel, and there are also a couple of moments that are more pantomimed than spoken, as if they were going for a bit of a ballet, particularly when Muller is having a makeover. The character played by Thimig is quite different than Robert Preston in the later version, with different elements addes to the story, and that really makes no difference in the way this version is developed, because it is fascinating nonetheless even though it is a bit dated in certain aspects. Definitely worth a look from a historical aspect, showing the pre-Nazi Germany film era at its most creative.