THE GAY DIVORCEE

The Gay Divorcee
RKO, 1934, B/W, 107 minutes, ****
Released October, 1934
Class Act

After supporting roles in Flying Down to Rio sent their movie careers soaring, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers starred for the first time in this delightful escapade about marriage, divorce and all the romantic comedy complications in between. The Gay Divorcee set the style, tone and behind-the-camera talents for Astaire / Rogers classics to come and captured five Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Musical highlights here include the 17-minute marvel "The Continental" (the first Oscar winner for Best Song) and Cole Porter's haunting "Night and Day." Indeed, "if Astaire and Rogers had never danced a lick after 'Night and Day,' they still would have been screen immortals" (The Movie Guide).

It's love at first sight! Guy (Fred Astaire) falls madly in love with Mimi (Ginger Rogers) the first time he sees her, and he pursues her relentlessly until she finally begins to soften. But the problem is... she's married, though estranged, to a geologist (William Austin). So a plan is hatched for her to be caught with a "co-respondent" (Eric Rhodes), and the fun begins. In addition to the wonderful Astaire and Rogers musical numbers, E. E. Horton and Betty Grable's "Let's Knock Knees" is a standout. And the antics of Horton, Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore and Alice Brady are unforgettable. One of Fred and Ginger's best!

Produced by: Pandro S. Berman
Production Associate: Zion Myers
Directed by: Mark Sandrich
Screen Play by: George Marion, Jr.; Dorothy Yost and Edward Kaufman
From "The Gay Divorce," Book by Dwight Taylor, Musical Adaptation by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein
Musical Director: Max Steiner
Music and Lyrics: "Night and Day" (by) Cole Porter; "Don't Let It Bother You," "Let's Knock Knees" by Mack Gordon and Harry Revel; "A Needle in a Haystack," "The Continental" by Con Conrad and Herb Magidson
Music Recorded by: Murray Spivack and P. J. Faulkner, Jr.
Musical Score: Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein
Dance Ensembles Staged by: Dave Gould
Art Directors: Van Nest Polglase and Carroll Clark
Costumes by: Walter Plunkett
Recorded by: Hugh McDowell, Jr.
Photographed by: David Abel
Photographic Effects by: Vernon L. Walker
Edited by: William Hamilton

Awards: Won Best Song Academy Award ("The Continental"); Academy Award nominations for Best Picture, Best Score, Best Interior Decoration and Best Sound Recording

Cast: Fred Astaire [Guy Holden], Ginger Rogers [Mimi], Alice Brady [Hortense], Edward Everett Horton [Egbert], Erik Rhodes [Tonetti], Eric Blore [The Waiter], William Austin [Cyril Glossop], Charles Coleman [The Valet], Lillian Miles, Betty Grable [Guests], Additional Cast: Paul Porcasi [Nightclub Proprietor], E.E. Clive [Customs Inspector], George Davis, Alphonse Martell [French Waiters], Charles D. Hall [Call Boy at Dock]

Musical Program: [0:00] Overture: (played by Orchestra behind titles); [0:02] Don't Let It Bother You (sung by Chorus Girls with dancing finger-dolls); [0:06] Don't Let It Bother You (instrumental arrangement danced by Fred Astaire); [0:17] A Needle in a Haystack (sung and danced by Fred Astaire); [0:35] Let's K-nock K-nees (sung and danced by Betty Grable and Edward Everett Horton with Chorus); [0:51] Night and Day (sung by Fred Astaire, daned by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers); [1:15] The Continental (sung by Ginger Rogers, danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers); [1:20] The Continental (danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, production number danced by Chorus, segment sung and danced by Erik Rhodes, segment sung by Lillian Miles, ends with segment danced by Fred and Ginger with Chorus); [1:43] The Continental (played by Orchestra, danced by Fred and Ginger)