The Gay Divorcee
The Gay Divorcee
NR | 12 October 1934 (USA)
The Gay Divorcee Trailers

Seeking a divorce from her absentee husband, Mimi Glossop travels to an English seaside resort. There she falls in love with dancer Guy Holden, whom she later mistakes for the corespondent her lawyer hired.

Reviews
Hellen

I like the storyline of this show,it attract me so much

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CheerupSilver

Very Cool!!!

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Robert Joyner

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

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Logan

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

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atlasmb

The pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in "Flying Down to Rio" was so successful the studio wanted another pairing. Fred had appeared in the Broadway production of "The Gay Divorce", so when RKO purchased the film rights, things fell into place, despite Fred's fear of becoming defined as half of a dance partnership (as he had been with his sister, Adele).The title was changed to "The Gay Divorcée", because it was unwholesome by the day's standards to suggest that divorce could be a happy state of affairs, but individual people can be happy despite divorce.The story is very simple: a woman (Ginger) wants a divorce, but her leech of a husband won't cooperate, so her attorney stages an assignation with an actor so that her husband will be goaded into granting the divorce.All other aspects of this film are superior. The sets, the photography, the singing, the dancing, the choreography, the wardrobe, and especially the music by Cole Porter. Eric Blore (as a waiter) adds levity. Erik Rhodes (as tenor and gigolo Rodolfo Tonetti) gives a strong, but nuanced performance.Watch for the complex production of "The Continental", which won the first Oscar for Best Original Song.

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weezeralfalfa

This was the second film pairing of Fred and Ginger, and their first as the starring couple. Already, Fred had enough clout to demand that the dance scenes, in particular, be devised and filmed according to his specifications, which were quite different from those of the competing popular dance-oriented musicals of Warner, choreographed by the innovative Busby Berkeley. Fred insisted that all dance routines be filmed in one shot, if possible, and show the dancer's entire body throughout. No zooming in on one body part, such as the face or legs, as often done at times in the Berkeley films. No overhead shots of interesting geometric patterns of masses of dancers or single couples: a staple of the Berkeley films. Songs and dances were to be integrated into the screen play, helping move it along, rather than being stage productions that had little or nothing to do with the screenplay, as in the typical Berkeley film. Fred always had at least one solo dance(two in this film), usually did most of the solo singing, usually with a back and forth duet or two with Ginger, and usually included at least one purely romantic partnered dance, along with one or more novelty, comedic or pure energy partnered dances. He very rarely did duet vaudeville-styled dances with other males, exceptions occurring in the later "Broadway Rhythm of 1940" and "Ziegfeld Follies", for example. Throughout his RKO period, he always worked closely with choreographer/dance director Hermes Pan, who had been the assistant choreographer in the previous "Flying down to Rio", which included Fred. Pan would leave RKO soon after Fred, to serve as dance director for many of Fox's musicals during the '40s, then to MGM during the '50s, again as dance director/choreographer, including the occasional Astaire musical. Typically, Fred and Pan worked up the dance routines, Pan taking the role of Ginger, then brought Ginger in to learn her part. Unlike Fred, who did virtually no other films without Ginger during this period, Ginger was usually busy taking part in various non-musical films. For example, 5 films were released including her in '34 vs. just this one including Fred. Besides the presence of Ginger and Pan, Fred had several advantages in this film to ease his responsibility as the featured male. He, as well as Erik Tonetti and Eric Blore, reprised their roles from the Broadway play this screenplay is based upon. Although only Porter's classic "Night and Day" was retained from among the original songs from the play, the humorous complicated plot of the play was mostly retained.Besides "Night and Day", 4 new songs were composed by others, of which only "The Continental" is memorable as a song: so memorable that it won the Oscar as The Best Original Song, and was played to death during the extremely long dance production it was the center piece of. It wasn't until the much more varied ballet production in the '51 "An American in Paris" that a slightly longer dance production was staged. Here, it includes several segments featuring Fred and Ginger as the exclusive or main dancers, interspersed with segments with many dancers, sometimes acting as if they were in a Berkeley film. As in the long "Carioca" dance production, in the previous "Flying down to Rio", the lyrics were periodically sung by 3 soloists, beginning with Ginger. In addition, Fred comes up with a very imaginative way of fooling Tonetti into thinking that he and Ginger were still upstairs, when they go down to join the other dancers.Early in the film, Fred does two solo dances, to "Don't Let it Bother You" and "Needle in a Haystack". The second of these has him dancing around his room, including on the furniture, though not on the ceiling, as in the later "Royal Wedding". The point of the lyrics is that he desperately wants to find Ginger, whom he briefly interacted with, by chance, with no clue where to find her."Let's K-nock K-nees" is a fun romantic novelty song and dance, begun by a very fresh-faced 18 y.o. Betty Grable, while trying very hard to 'put on the make' with the puzzled middle-aged E.E. Horton, who eventually joins in(I'm surprised this passed the censors). Later, it's taken over by a squad of male and female dancers, with Betty and Horton again dominating near the end. Unfortunately, Betty would make little further progress toward becoming a leading lady until 6 years later, when she moved to Fox, and lucked out as a last minute replacement for the ailing Alice Faye.Fred is still trying to woo the non-receptive Ginger, as they happen to be alone on a danceable floor at a beach. Fred begins to sing the lovely "Night and Day". Ginger tries to leave, but Fred keeps pulling her back, 'forcing' her to dance with him. During the dance, it appears she tries to leave several times, but Fred pulls her back. But at the end, she looks enthralled with Fred briefly, but then becomes angry again, as she mistakenly believes he is the man she expecting to show up, relating to her desire to divorce her estranged husband. This is one of the best of the Fred and Ginger romantic dances, through their film series, with Ginger's periodic reluctance actually adding to its interest.The supporting actors E.E.Horton, Erik Rhodes and Eric Blore, as well as Ginger's scripted aunt, Alice Brady, are all great in contributing humor to the screenplay. Ginger's acting, which largely consists of trying to resist Fred's advances, is also superb. I really miss Alice's humor and Grable's independent number in the subsequent Fred & Ginger films.

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kenjha

Ginger's aunt concocts a scheme to get her out of her unhappy marriage, but complications arise. This film became the template for all the Astaire-Rogers films to follow - a silly plot involving mistaken identities, snappy musical numbers, and supporting cast featuring some combination of scene stealers Horton, Blore, and Rhodes. The formula would be perfected the following year with "Top Hat," but this is entertaining enough in its own right. The big musical number is "The Continental," which is enjoyable despite going on for more than 17 minutes. Sandrich directs the first of his five Astaire-Rogers films, borrowing a few tricks from Busby Berkeley.

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Alex da Silva

Guy Holden (Fred Astaire) meets Mimi (Ginger Rogers) and pursues her for marriage. However, unknown to him, she is already married and is planning a set-up involving a hired co-respondent to facilitate her divorce. She mistakes Guy for the hired gigolo which makes for an amusing scene in her bedroom. However, events work out so that everyone is happy at the end.As with all the Fred and Ginger films, there are great songs and dances. They have 3 dances together, 2 of them with the songs "Night And Day" and "The Continental", and a routine at the end of the film. The other songs are "Needle In A Haystack" sung by Fred, and "Don't Let It Bother You" sung by a chorus of showgirls at the beginning of the film. The film also has Betty Grable singing and dancing in "Let's K-nock K-nees" alongside Edward Everett Horton and you just can't help but wonder how she and Fred Astaire may have done as a dance team. Not that Ginger Rogers is bad.The supporting cast are all good, especially Erik Rhodes as "Rodolfo Tonetti" - "Your wife is safe with Tonetti......he prefer spaghetti". It's a story of misunderstandings and it has genuine funny moments and funny lines delivered by the whole cast. Watch it and enjoy the magic of the 1930's - great sets and some black-and-white escapism. The story is ripped-off with pretty much the same cast in a film that they did the following year - "Top Hat" - but that film isn't as amusing or as good as this one.

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