This film, released a year before the 19th Amendment was passed, is a delightfully pro-feminist work. The heroine, Damophilia Illington (Phil for short), is a hard-working, supremely intelligent woman. Her father, a Greek professor, has trained her well in the classics, and Phil can hold her own with any college graduate. When Phil's father dies unexpectedly, the stuffy town banker, who wants to marry Phil, has himself declared her guardian. (How he does this when he is not related to Phil is unclear; when this film was made, however, this may have been a common practice.) Phil promptly dresses as a boy and runs away from home, finding a job at a nearby university (after returning to female garb). She is the assistant to a Greek professor, John Alden, who is still smarting over the recent breakup of his engagement to a duplicitous woman. Alden is now firmly misogynistic, but Phil's intelligence, charm, and wit gradually win him over. Lots of fun to watch.
Review of Phil-for-Short
