"The Gay Divorcée" (RKO Radio, 1934), directed by Mark Sandrich, reunites the supporting young couple who supplied the "comedy relief" and very little dancing to the previous year's success of FLYING DOWN TO RIO (RKO, 1933). The couple in question are Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. With this being their first starring film musical as a team, in reality, they are virtually supporting players, this time supporting the supporting character actors who seem to be on more than the stars themselves. Even several production numbers are performed by others, but Astaire does manage to get at least one big solo spotlight to himself before doing his couple of twists and turns with Rogers. However, this doesn't take away from the chemistry they have, making this the one to set the pattern for their future films ahead.
The plot centers upon Guy Holden (Fred Astaire), a famous American dancer, traveling with his lawyer friend, Egbert Fitzgerald (Edward Everett Horton). After a brief stay in Paris they head for London where Egbert finds himself filling in for his attorney father who's away in Scotland. As for Guy, he encounters Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers), traveling with her matron aunt, Hortense Ditherwell (Alice Brady). A situation involving a dress caught in her aunt's luggage leads Guy to help only to accidentally rip it and loaning her his raincoat to cover up her embarrassment, leaving her his calling card where to return it. Later, Hortense has her unhappily married niece, Mimi, seek divorce proceedings through Egbert Fitzgerald (whom she almost married three ex-husbands prior). Egbert takes the case and hires a gigolo, Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes), to act as Mimi's hired correspondent so to have her geologist husband, Cyril (William Austin) "catch them in the act" and agree to a divorce. Before Tonetti accepts the job, and not knowing who the client is, he is given a secret password, "Chance is the fool's name for fate," a line from one of Guy's shows. When Mimi meets up with Guy again, Guy uses that phrase in conversation, and stunned that the man she's been avoiding to be working for her attorney, she reluctantly invites Guy to her hotel room about the same time Tonetti arrives, further complicating matters to the situation.
A drawing room farce if ever there was one, sometimes amusing, often silly, with this being typical of 1930s musicals. While essentially a filmed staged play, "The Gay Dibvorcee" does break away from drawing room settings with a car chase and brief street scenery. Taken from the hit play, "The Gay Divorce" (1932), which also starred Astaire, with Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore reprising their roles, the film succeeds due to the presence of Astaire and Rogers. Of the songs from the stage production, only Cole Porter's "Night and Day" remains.
The musical program with new score by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, Con Conrad and Herb Magidson, include: "Don't Let It Bother You" (sung by French chorus girls/ followed by a tap dance solo by Fred Astaire); "Looking for a Needle in a Haystack" (sung and danced by Astaire); "Let's Knock K-neez" (sung by Betty Grable and Edward Everett Horton); "Night and Day" (sung by Astaire/ danced by Astaire and Rogers); "The Continental" (sung by Ginger Rogers/ danced by Astaire and Rogers, and others); and "The Continental" (finale).
While some of the earlier songs are forgettable, with "Needle for a Haystack" inventing the Astaire character, "Night and Day" marks the first Astaire and Rogers dance on screen in its entirety. "The Continental," a lively song that would be the first Academy Award winning song, is lavishly produced, interestingly choreographed (resembling "The Carioca" from FLYING DOWN TO RIO), it focuses more on couples dressed in black and white attire dancing in montage sequences, with time out for singing by Erik Rhodes playing his Constantina, and another, Lillian Miles, who appears, sings and is never seen or heard from again, before Astaire and Rogers take center stage going into their dance of Spanish, Hungarian, Viennese and jazz steps before its conclusion.
Of the supporting players, Alice Brady comes off best with her amusing combination mixture of Margaret Dumont and Gracie Allen. She, like her counterpart, Edward Everett Horton, would become type-cast with such roles, but later proved her ability as a dramatic actress with her Academy Award winning role of IN OLD CHICAGO (20th-Fox, 1937). Other character actors in support include William Austin, briefly appearing as Mimi's husband, presenting himself close to the mannerisms of future character actor, Billy DeWolfe; Eric Blore as the waiter would have his share of comedic scenes with Astaire and Rogers in three additional musicals.
Of the ten Astaire and Rogers musicals, "The Gay Divorcée," "Top Hat" (1935) and "Shall We Dance?" (1937) , all with Edward Everett Horton, were the most commonly revived from local television through much of the 1960s to the 1980s, many substituting the Movietime or C&C Television logos over the original RKO Radio during its introduction and closing credits. Aired regularly on American Movie Classics during the stations beginning to 2000, it's also shown frequently on Turner Classic Movies. Availability on home video dating back to the 1980s from the now extinct Nostalgia Merchant to Turner Home Entertainment has paved the way for future generations to discover and enjoy the legend of Astaire and Rogers.
"The Gay Divorcée" being one of the twelve feature films to be nominated for Best Picture of 1934, is vintage fun. Even as the latter Astaire and Rogers musicals started to wear thin, namely CAREFREE (1938), they never ceased to amaze in what the team can do with their dancing feet. (****)
The plot centers upon Guy Holden (Fred Astaire), a famous American dancer, traveling with his lawyer friend, Egbert Fitzgerald (Edward Everett Horton). After a brief stay in Paris they head for London where Egbert finds himself filling in for his attorney father who's away in Scotland. As for Guy, he encounters Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers), traveling with her matron aunt, Hortense Ditherwell (Alice Brady). A situation involving a dress caught in her aunt's luggage leads Guy to help only to accidentally rip it and loaning her his raincoat to cover up her embarrassment, leaving her his calling card where to return it. Later, Hortense has her unhappily married niece, Mimi, seek divorce proceedings through Egbert Fitzgerald (whom she almost married three ex-husbands prior). Egbert takes the case and hires a gigolo, Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes), to act as Mimi's hired correspondent so to have her geologist husband, Cyril (William Austin) "catch them in the act" and agree to a divorce. Before Tonetti accepts the job, and not knowing who the client is, he is given a secret password, "Chance is the fool's name for fate," a line from one of Guy's shows. When Mimi meets up with Guy again, Guy uses that phrase in conversation, and stunned that the man she's been avoiding to be working for her attorney, she reluctantly invites Guy to her hotel room about the same time Tonetti arrives, further complicating matters to the situation.
A drawing room farce if ever there was one, sometimes amusing, often silly, with this being typical of 1930s musicals. While essentially a filmed staged play, "The Gay Dibvorcee" does break away from drawing room settings with a car chase and brief street scenery. Taken from the hit play, "The Gay Divorce" (1932), which also starred Astaire, with Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore reprising their roles, the film succeeds due to the presence of Astaire and Rogers. Of the songs from the stage production, only Cole Porter's "Night and Day" remains.
The musical program with new score by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel, Con Conrad and Herb Magidson, include: "Don't Let It Bother You" (sung by French chorus girls/ followed by a tap dance solo by Fred Astaire); "Looking for a Needle in a Haystack" (sung and danced by Astaire); "Let's Knock K-neez" (sung by Betty Grable and Edward Everett Horton); "Night and Day" (sung by Astaire/ danced by Astaire and Rogers); "The Continental" (sung by Ginger Rogers/ danced by Astaire and Rogers, and others); and "The Continental" (finale).
While some of the earlier songs are forgettable, with "Needle for a Haystack" inventing the Astaire character, "Night and Day" marks the first Astaire and Rogers dance on screen in its entirety. "The Continental," a lively song that would be the first Academy Award winning song, is lavishly produced, interestingly choreographed (resembling "The Carioca" from FLYING DOWN TO RIO), it focuses more on couples dressed in black and white attire dancing in montage sequences, with time out for singing by Erik Rhodes playing his Constantina, and another, Lillian Miles, who appears, sings and is never seen or heard from again, before Astaire and Rogers take center stage going into their dance of Spanish, Hungarian, Viennese and jazz steps before its conclusion.
Of the supporting players, Alice Brady comes off best with her amusing combination mixture of Margaret Dumont and Gracie Allen. She, like her counterpart, Edward Everett Horton, would become type-cast with such roles, but later proved her ability as a dramatic actress with her Academy Award winning role of IN OLD CHICAGO (20th-Fox, 1937). Other character actors in support include William Austin, briefly appearing as Mimi's husband, presenting himself close to the mannerisms of future character actor, Billy DeWolfe; Eric Blore as the waiter would have his share of comedic scenes with Astaire and Rogers in three additional musicals.
Of the ten Astaire and Rogers musicals, "The Gay Divorcée," "Top Hat" (1935) and "Shall We Dance?" (1937) , all with Edward Everett Horton, were the most commonly revived from local television through much of the 1960s to the 1980s, many substituting the Movietime or C&C Television logos over the original RKO Radio during its introduction and closing credits. Aired regularly on American Movie Classics during the stations beginning to 2000, it's also shown frequently on Turner Classic Movies. Availability on home video dating back to the 1980s from the now extinct Nostalgia Merchant to Turner Home Entertainment has paved the way for future generations to discover and enjoy the legend of Astaire and Rogers.
"The Gay Divorcée" being one of the twelve feature films to be nominated for Best Picture of 1934, is vintage fun. Even as the latter Astaire and Rogers musicals started to wear thin, namely CAREFREE (1938), they never ceased to amaze in what the team can do with their dancing feet. (****)