The Gay Divorcee (1934)

The Worst Film Ever

Thanks for the memories!

Powerful

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

There are movies that are meant to make you think, and movies meant to shock and keep you in suspense. Forget that. This is pure entertainment. Wonderfully cast, beautiful sets and art direction...and then, the dance. The magnificent Night and Day is meant to be absorbed and cherished as that one moment when everything was perfect. Just enjoy. Nothing recent comes close.

The Gay Divorcee, is technically Fred Astaire and Ginger Roger's second film (if you count Flying Down to Rio) and it's a fun little romantic comedy musical. It follows Ginger Rogers who travels to England to get a divorce from her husband, and meets Fred Astaire. Ginger's lawyer suggests that she be spotted with another man in order to get her husband to divorce her, and she mistakes Fred Astaire as the man who she is to be spotted with. The truth comes out, and they dance together. Of course, everything works out in the end.The plot is a bit stronger than Flying Down to Rio, and I liked the characters a lot more. You can really sympathize with Ginger Rogers as she feels ignored by her husband and is desperate for a divorce. Fred Astaire is a suave professional dancer, and falls in love with Ginger. The humor in this movie works. I think the scenes with Ginger's lawyer and her aunt are funny, and Erik Rhodes, the man who Ginger is to be spotted with is hilarious. Some of Fred Astaire's lines are funny.This is a classic movie musical, and it has the usual tropes. Near instant romance, miscommunication that could be solved with a two minute conversation, and elaborate dance numbers. Of course, the dance numbers were excellent. "The Continental" is a fun, beautiful dance sequence. Betty Grable's "Knock Knees" number is entertaining. "Night and Day" is a beautiful sequence with a beautiful dance by Fred and Ginger. And that's really why you watch these movies. Not for the practically non-existent plot, but the dance scenes.Overall, The Gay Divorcee is nowhere near the best musical ever made. It's not even the best Astaire/Rogers film. But it's still a fun, enjoyable, happy movie to watch.

. . . but Fred Astaire goes Jimmy one better by playing a shameless DEARSTALKER in this two-hit musical, THE GAY DIV0RCEE. Though "The Continental" is primarily notable for being a tune in the tradition of Glenn Miller's "In the Mood" (that is, a song that NEVER ends: "The Continental" drags on in one form or another for nearly 17 minutes!), as well as for winning the first-ever "Best Song" Oscar (apparently more Academy members ran marathons back then), Cole Porter's "Night and Day" steals "The Continental's" thunder. Beyond these two musical numbers, the next most remarkable ditty in this sex farce involves lyrics encouraging folks to Bump Uglies or Knock Knees or something. Though the movie studio RKO is desperately trying to ape Warner Bros.' Busby Berkeley in their geometric "Continental" chorus line groupings, this only serves to dilute the Oomph which Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers would otherwise provide to it. During the early going of DIV0RCEE, Freddy is nearly as creepy stalking Ginger as his ROYAL WEDDING character is in pursuing a Real Life sister, and likely could give Mr. Krueger a run for his money if they had a Creep-Out Race on ELM STREET.

Most of these reviews don't appear to understand the plot. As the law in England then stood, the only reliable way to get a divorce was on the grounds of adultery, which required citing a co-respondent (not 'correspondent'), who was required to have been discovered in flagrante delicto with the marriage partner, i.e. having breakfast in the same room. This was usually delegated to a professional co-respondent such as depicted in this movie, who was certainly not a 'would-be Latin lover' at all but just a guy hired to do a job and be seen by a chambermaid at a legally appropriate time.Stunning movie, perhaps my favourite of the series, with the unsurpassed 'Night and Day' number and an excellent large-scale production number for the Continental, using every inch of a vast RKO Big White Set, although it isn't quite as big as it appears in one shot: look for a bit of matte work.