After the Ball on AllMovie

After the Ball is a well-mounted (if turgidly paced) filmed biography of legendary British music hall entertainer Vesta Tilley. You may not have heard of Ms. Tilley, but if you've seen Victor/Victoria, you'll have some inkling of the nature of her act. At the peak of her fame at the turn of the century, Vesta was a male impersonator who pretended to be a female impersonator. Pat Kirkwood acquits herself nicely as Ms. Tilley, while Laurence Harvey makes a good early impression as Lord Walter de Frece, Vesta's manager and devoted husband. Other famous showbiz personalities represented in After the Ball include Tony Pastor (played by George Margo), Oscar Hammerstein I (Peter Carlisle), Dan Leno Jr. (Terry Cooke) and George M. Cohan (impersonated by future Dr. Who Tom Baker).