The Gay Divorcee (1934)

Director:

Mark Sandrich

Writers:

Dwight Taylor (from the book by)
Kenneth S. Webb (musical adaptation) ...
(more)

Release Date:

12 October 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Musical | Romance

Tagline:

The King and Queen of 'Carioca'

Plot:

Mimi Glossop wants a divorce so her Aunt Hortense hires a professional to play the correspondent in apparent infidelity...

Plot Keywords:

Divorce | Aunt | Dancer | Dance | Password

Awards:

Won Oscar. Another 5 nominations

Cast

Fred Astaire	...	Guy Holden
Ginger Rogers	...	Mimi Glossop
Alice Brady	...	Aunt Hortense
Edward Everett Horton	...	Egbert 'Pinky' Fitzgerald
Erik Rhodes	...	Rodolfo Tonetti
Eric Blore	...	The Waiter
Lillian Miles	...	Singer - Continental Number
Charles Coleman	...	Guy's Valet
William Austin	...	Cyril Glossop
Betty Grable	...	Dance Specialty
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Norman Ainsley	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Jimmy Aubrey	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Finis Barton	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
De Don Blunier	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Jack Chefe	...	Table Extra (uncredited)
Cy Clegg	...	Porter (uncredited)
E.E. Clive	...	Chief Customs Inspector (uncredited)
George Davis	...	French Waiter #1 (uncredited)
Charles Dunbar	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Leslie Goodwins	...	Baggage Man (uncredited)
Jack Grant	...	Porter (uncredited)
Charlie Hall	...	Messenger at Dock (uncredited)
Shep Houghton	...	Dancer (uncredited)
Arthur Jarrett	...	Vocalist (uncredited)
Sydney Jarvis	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Vivian Keefer	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
Lois Lindsay	...	Chorus Girl (uncredited)
J.G. MacMahon	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Alphonse Martell	...	French Waiter #2 (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Ted Oliver	...	Customs Inspector #3 (uncredited)
Paul Porcasi	...	French Headwaiter (uncredited)
Sonny Ray	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Ronald R. Rondell	...	Dancer - Continental Number (uncredited)
Larry Steers	...	Extra (uncredited)
Mary Stewart	...	Dancer / Singer (uncredited)
Cyril Thornton	...	Customs Inspector #2 (uncredited)
William Wagner	...	Waiter (uncredited)
Florence Wix	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Bruce Wyndham	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Sandrich

Writing credits
Dwight Taylor		(from the book by)
Kenneth S. Webb		(musical adaptation) (as Kenneth Webb) and
Samuel Hoffenstein		(musical adaptation)
George Marion Jr.		(screen play) &
Dorothy Yost		(screen play) and
Edward Kaufman		(screen play)
Robert Benchley		contributor to dialogue (uncredited)
H.W. Hanemann		contributor to dialogue (uncredited)
J. Hartley Manners		unproduced play "An Adorable Adventure" (uncredited)
Stanley Rauh		contributor to dialogue (uncredited)
Dwight Taylor		musical play "Gay Divorce" (uncredited)

Produced by
Pandro S. Berman	....	producer (uncredited)

Original Music by
Max Steiner		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
David Abel		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
William Hamilton

Art Direction by
Carroll Clark
Van Nest Polglase

Costume Design by
Walter Plunkett		(costumes)

Makeup Department
Mel Berns	....	makeup artist (uncredited)
Robert J. Schiffer	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Production Management
J.R. Crone	....	production manager (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ray Lissner	....	second assistant director (uncredited)
Argyle Nelson	....	assistant director (uncredited)
Ivan Thomas	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Thomas Little	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
George Marsh	....	sound cutter
Hugh McDowell Jr.	....	recordist
Carl Dreher	....	sound director (uncredited)
Robert Wise	....	sound effects editor (uncredited)

Special Effects by
Vernon L. Walker	....	photographic effects (as Vernon Walker)
Harry Redmond Jr.	....	special effects (uncredited)
Harry Redmond Sr.	....	special effects supervisor (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Willard Barth	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Joseph F. Biroc	....	camera operator (uncredited)
Jim Davis	....	grip (uncredited)
Fred Hendrickson	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Clifford Stine	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
James Vianna	....	electrician (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Claire Cramer	....	wardrobe (uncredited)

Music Department
Philip Faulkner Jr.	....	music recordist (as P.J. Faulkner Jr.)
Murray Spivack	....	music recordist
Max Steiner	....	musical director
Maurice De Packh	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Howard Jackson	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Bernhard Kaun	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Gene Rose	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Eddie Sharpe	....	music arranger (uncredited)
Clifford Vaughan	....	music arranger (uncredited)

Other crew
Dave Gould	....	dance ensembles staged by
Zion Myers	....	production associate
Harry Cornbleth	....	stand-in: Fred Astaire (uncredited)
Peter Croft	....	technical director (uncredited)
Bill Hamberry	....	projectionist (uncredited)
Ben Holmes	....	dialogue director (uncredited)
Elizabeth McGaffey	....	researcher (uncredited)
Marie Osborne	....	stand-in: Ginger Rogers (uncredited)
Hermes Pan	....	assistant dance director (uncredited)
Hermes Pan	....	choreographer (uncredited)
Frank Warde	....	doll dance director (uncredited)
Trudy Wellman	....	continuity (uncredited)
Trudy Wellman	....	script clerk (uncredited)
Bill Williams	....	photography co-operator (uncredited)
Madeline Wilson	....	stand-in: Alice Brady (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Radio Pictures (present)

Distributors

• RKO Radio Pictures (1934) (USA) (theatrical) (as A Radio Picture)
• C&C Television Corporation (1955) (USA) (TV)
• Bio-Kuva (1935) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Chapel Distribution (2009) (Australia) (theatrical) (35mm print)
• Castle Video (198?) (Finland) (VHS)
• Epoca (????) (Argentina) (VHS)
• PTV (1994) (Finland) (TV)
• Turner Home Video (1999) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2010) (Canada) (DVD) (4 film collection)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2000) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2010) (USA) (DVD) (4 film collection)
• YLE Teema (2010) (Finland) (TV)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (2002) (Finland) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

107 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French | Italian

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

UK:U (video rating) (1986) (1997) (2007) | USA:Approved (PCA #282) | Canada:G (Ontario) | UK:A (original rating) | Argentina:Atp | UK:U (tv rating)

Filming Locations:

Santa Monica, California, USA

Company:

Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The second (of ten) dancing partnership of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: After the car chase when Fred catches Ginger, the sound of someone coughing can be heard.

Quotes:

The Waiter:Whumsical is more Whimsical than Whamsical.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: Episode #26.192" (2010)

Soundtrack:

The Continental

High point of Astaire and Rogers

Fred and Ginger, two perfect partners, two of the best dancers in history. In 1934, the toast of RKO. What a great pair the studio that would become defunct in a matter of years had on their hands!

In 1933, the pair had proven themselves as second leads in "Flying Down to Rio", a musical heavily relying on special effects and little else. They stole the show, proven with "The Carioca", the erotically charged dance number which started an American craze of pressing foreheads and even got the Best Song Oscar nod over the supposed show stopping title song. Before, Ginger had "42nd Street" to her name, while Fred had the famous screen test analysis of "Can't sing. Can't act. Can dance a little."

"The Gay Divorcee" is the establishing musical of Astaire and Rogers. Silly, dated, slight, even stupid to a certain degree is the entire story. Without a doubt, high comedy and immense creativity make up for it. The mistaken identity plot was recycled for "Top Hat" the following year, but it hardly matters. It is littered entirely with hilarity! Writing was never the strongest point of these musicals anyway. The performances were not Oscar calibre but they were publicly loved, and it's obviously Astaire and Roger's singing, acting and most of all, dancing, that makes the movie what it is.

A top wealth of talent was assembled for the movie. Erik Rhodes is absolutely side splitting as the Italian guy Tonetti, wielding the fabulous line, "Your wife is safe with Tonetti, he prefers spaghetti!". Alice Brady is there as Aunt Hortense, but Edward Everett Horton is another stand out performer as the lawyer. His fumbling voice provides a character of clumsiness and two seem to go hand in hand. He was definitely one of the best supporting comedians of the 1930s and 1940s, in other Astaire and Rogers musicals, and movies like "Lost Horizon", "Holiday", "Here Comes Mr Jordan" and "Arsenic and Old Lace".

Only one song was retained for the filmic version of "The Gay Divorcee". The censors even crashed down on the stage's original title "The Gay Divorce". Fred performs a great rendition of the immortal Cole Porter song "Night and Day". "The Continental", the Best Song of 1934 is thrown there in the mix too. Other great numbers in there include "Looking for a needle in a haystack", "Don't Let it Bother You" and "Let's K-nock- K-nees". The latter is performed by a young Betty Grable. This is notable for the only time Edward Everett Horton sings and dances on screen. We can see from the results there's an obvious reason.

The stylish period of courtship and even set decoration and costumes evoke great memories of eras gone by. RKO hasn't helped preservation of these technical elements by throwing what always appears to be mediocre sets, but it doesn't matter anyway. The whole thing is irresistible, spectacular and unforgettable. This is one of the forgotten musicals of the time which has it all.

Rating: 8/10