The Gay Divorcee
| The Gay Divorcee | |
|---|---|
 theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Mark Sandrich |
| Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
| Screenplay by | George Marion Jr. Dorothy Yost Edward Kaufman |
| Based on | Gay Divorce by Dwight Taylor |
| Starring | Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers |
| Music by | Score: Max Steiner Songs: (see below) |
| Cinematography | David Abel |
| Editing by | William Hamilton |
| Studio | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
| Release date(s) |
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| Running time | 107 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $520,000[1] |
| Box office | $1,774,000[1] |
The Gay Divorcee is a 1934 American musical film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.[2] It also features Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore and Erik Rhodes, and was based on the Broadway musical Gay Divorce written by Dwight Taylor from an unproduced play by J. Hartley Manners,[3] which was adaptated into a musical by Kenneth S. Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein.[4] The film's screenplay was written by George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost and Edward Kaufman. Robert Benchley, H. W. Hanemann and Stanley Rauh made uncredited contributions to the dialogue.
The stage version included many songs by Cole Porter, most of which were left out of the film, "Night and Day" being a notable exception. Although the film's screenplay changed most of the songs, it kept the original plot of the stage version. The film features three members of the play's original cast repeating their stage roles - Astaire, Rhodes, and Eric Blore.[5] The Hays Office insisted on the name change, from "Gay Divorce" to "The Gay Divorcee", believing that while a divorcee could be gay or lighthearted, it would be unseemly to allow a divorce to appear so.
The Gay Divorcee was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1935.[6]
Contents |
Plot [edit]
Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers) arrives in England to seek a divorce from her geologist husband Cyril (William Austin), whom she hasn't seen for several years. Under the guidance of her domineering and much-married aunt Hortense (Alice Brady), she consults a bumbling and less-than-competent lawyer Egbert Fitzgerald (Edward Everett Horton), who happens to be one of Hortense's previous fiancés. He arranges for her to spend a night at a seaside hotel and to be caught in an adulterous relationship, for which purpose he hires a professional co-respondent, Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes). But Egbert forgets to arrange for private detectives to "catch" the couple.
By coincidence, Guy Holden (Fred Astaire) an American dancer and friend of Egbert's, who briefly met Mimi on her arrival in England, and who is now besotted with her, also arrives at the hotel, only to be mistaken by Mimi for the co-respondent she has been waiting for. While they are in Mimi's bedroom, Tonetti arrives, revealing the truth, and holds them "prisoner" to suit the plan. They contrive to escape and dance the night away.
In the morning, after several mistakes with the waiter, Cyril Glossop (William Austin) arrives at the door, so Guy hides in the next room, while Mimi and Tonetti give a show of being lovers. When Cyril doesn't believe them, Guy comes out and embraces Mimi in an attempt to convince him that he is her lover, but to no avail. It is an unwitting waiter (Eric Blore) who finally clears the whole thing up by revealing that Cyril himself is an adulterer, thus clearing the way for Mimi to get a divorce and marry Guy.
Cast [edit]
- Fred Astaire as Guy Holden
- Ginger Rogers as Mimi Glossop/Mrs. Green
- Alice Brady as Aunt Hortense
- Edward Everett Horton as Egbert Fitzgerald
- Erik Rhodes as Rodolfo Tonetti
- Eric Blore as Waiter
- Betty Grable as Guest
- Lillian Miles as singer, "The Continental"
- Charles Coleman as Guy's Valet
- William Austin as Cyril Glossop
Songs [edit]
- New songs introduced in the film
- The Continental (w. Herb Magidson m. Con Conrad) which won the very first Academy Award for Best Original Song, and is the music to the twenty-minute dance sequence towards the end of the film, sung by Ginger, Erik Rhodes and Lillian Miles, danced by Ginger and Fred
- Don't Let It Bother You (w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel) opening number, sung by chorus, danced by Fred
- Let's K-nock K-nees (w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel) at the beach resort, sung by Betty Grable, danced by Betty Grable, Edward Everett Horton and chorus
- Needle in a Haystack (w. Herb Magidson m. Con Conrad), sung and danced by Fred
- Other songs
- Night and Day (Cole Porter) sung by Fred, danced by Ginger and Fred in a hotel suite overlooking an English Channel beach at night
Awards and honors [edit]
The film was nominated for the following Academy Awards, winning in the category Music (Song):[7]
- Art Direction (Van Nest Polglase, Carroll Clark) (Nominated)
- Music (Scoring) (Max Steiner) (Nominated)
- Music (Song) - "The Continental" (Won)
- Best Film (Nominated)
- Sound Recording (Carl Dreher) (Nominated)
References [edit]
Notes
- ^ a b Richard Jewel, 'RKO Film Grosses: 1931-1951', Historical Journal of Film Radio and Television, Vol 14 No 1, 1994 p55
- ^ http://www.reelclassics.com/Teams/Fred&Ginger/fred&ginger2.htm
- ^ Gay Divorce at the Internet Broadway Database
- ^ "Screenplay ino" on TCM.com
- ^ http://broadwaytalk.com/regional/sanfran/s913.html
- ^ "The Gay Divorcee". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
- ^ "The 7th Academy Awards (1935) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved 2011-08-07.
External links [edit]
- The Gay Divorcee at the Internet Movie Database
- The Gay Divorcee at the TCM Movie Database
- The Gay Divorcee at AllRovi
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