Sylvia Scarlett (1935)

Faced with being exposed as an embezzler, a widower (Edmund Gwenn) and his daughter (Katharine Hepburn) residing in France escape to England. The girl disguises herself as a boy in order to avoid detection. Once in England, they join forces with a Cockney con man (Cary Grant). A notorious box office flop in its day, the film's reputation has grown through the ensuing years. Hepburn's gender bending performance probably confused audiences of the day or perhaps the film was ahead of its time but it signaled a downturn in Hepburn's career that would eventually get her labeled box office poison by the end of the decade. Directed by George Cukor, this is actually a rather charming little movie with Hepburn displaying a discreet sex appeal as the androgynous "Sylvester" Scarlett. Grant was beginning to show signs of his actor's screen presence though it would be a few more years before he became the Cary Grant we know and love. It's a lovely looking film with Joseph August's lensing doing an excellent job of turning the California coastline into the Cornwall coast. From the novel by Compton MacKenzie (WHISKY GALORE). With Brian Aherne, Dennie Moore and Natalie Paley.