au revoir monsier
bonjour mademoiselle
2009
April Ashley-glamorous cabaret star, model, actress, socialite, and one of the first
and still the most notorious Brit to have a sex change operation-lives alone in
London in a small flat with a large cat, not much of a view, and enough colorful
and somewhat scandalous memories to entertain multitudes for a very long time.
It is our luck that she is willing to share her story. It's our further luck
that she's a great storyteller. Au Revoir Monsieur, Bonjour Mademoiselle is
a documentary film about April's life, told from her point of view.
Born George Jamieson in a Liverpool slum in 1935, she endured a violent upbringing
full of ridicule and abuse. A short and unhappy time spent in the merchant navy
led to a suicide attempt at age 16 followed by a harrowing enforced stay in a mental
hospital, where he received electroshock therapy. In a dramatic change of scene,
he began calling himself Toni April, moved to Paris in 1955, and soon became a cabaret
star at Le Carrousel, where he met and befriended the rich and famous, a pattern
that would continue. Bob Hope, Jean-Paul Sartre, Elvis Presley, and Sarah Churchill
are just a sampling of the people he met in those years.
By the time he was 24 he had saved enough money for a sex change operation. He went
to Casablanca, one of the only places where the operation was performed, and was
warned that there was a good chance he wouldn't survive the procedure. He did
survive, transformed into April Ashley, became a model and actress, married heir
Arthur Corbett, separated after two weeks, and was subjected to a sensational, widely
publicized trial in 1970 when Corbett sued for annulment on the grounds that April
was male.
April spent time with Churchill, met Einstein, befriended Peter O'Toole, Omar
Sharif, Picasso, and John Lennon, and lived in London, Paris, Wales, San Diego,
and the South of France. Despite the judgmental nature of the times, she lived large,
and she lived on her own terms. In a world where many people are scared to change
jobs or move to the next town, April changed her gender and forged a path of her
own.
Today, April is an icon for gays, transsexuals, and others. She receives more than
15,000 e-mails a month from all over the world, and endeavors to answer all of them.
Despite the passage of time, she remembers exactly how it felt to be trapped in
the wrong body, in the wrong place, among the wrong people. And she is acutely aware
of the costs and rewards of freedom.
Filmmaker/Artist Philip Brooker has known April for more than 30 years. Au Revoir Monsieur,
Bonjour Madame is in many ways the record of a conversation that has taken place
between the two over time, as April has recounted her story. The documentary is
filmed in the South of France, Paris, London, Liverpool, and Miami, as April and
those who have known her tell of her life.
