The stage version included many songs by Cole Porter that were left out of the film, except for "Night and Day". Although most of the songs were replaced, the screenplay kept the original plot of the stage version. Three members of the play's original cast repeated their stage roles: Astaire, Rhodes and Blore.[5]
Guy Holden, a famous American dancer, is at a night club with his friend, scatterbrained lawyer, Egbert Fitzgerald, when they both realize that they have forgotten their wallets. After Guy dances for the audience to avoid washing dishes to work off the bill, Egbert discovers his wallet in a different pocket.
Traveling to England by ship, Guy encounters Mimi Glossop, whose dress has been caught when closing a trunk and is stuck in place, asking Guy to call a porter to open the trunk to free her. Taking advantage of the situation, Guy teases her and attempts to free her dress, but ends up tearing the skirt at thigh level, angering Mimi. Chastised, Guy apologizes and gives Mimi his coat to cover up, and asks for her address to retrieve his coat, but Mimi insists that she will mail it back at the address he provides.
Mimi returns the coat, paying the courier not to disclose her contact information. After searching for Mimi in London for two weeks, Guy ends up serendipitously rear-ending her car in traffic. As Mimi drives away and races to avoid him, he chases her into the country. Taking a shortcut, Guy sets up a fake roadblock, trapping her, offering her an impromptu picnic and casually proposing marriage. Convinced that he is crazy, she rebuffs his attempts to charm her and tears up notes with his phone number, but he learns that her name is Mimi.
Coincidentally, Mimi seeks a divorce from her geologist husband, Cyril Glossop, who she has not seen for some time. Under the guidance of her domineering and much-married Aunt Hortense, she consults bumbling lawyer, Egbert Fitzgerald, once a fiancé of her aunt. He arranges for Mimi to spend a night at a seaside hotel and to be caught in a staged "adulterous relationship", a purpose for which he hires a professional co-respondent, Rodolfo Tonetti. In an unrelated previous conversation with Guy, Egbert had been impressed when Guy philosophically used the phrase, "Chance is the fool's name for fate". Without Guy's knowledge and without intending any connection, Egbert gives Mimi the code phrase to identify her co-respondent.
Accompanying his friend Egbert to the hotel, the besotted and unaware Guy encounters Mimi, who has warmed up to him, and admits that she attempted to contact the phone number that he gave her. He sings the Cole Porter song, "Night and Day", to her, and they fall under a spell while dancing together. Wanting to impress Mimi, Guy waxes philosophical, inadvertently using the code phrase that Egbert has given Mimi to identify the professional co-respondent. Appalled, Mimi mistakes him for the co-respondent who she has been expecting, considering him not much more than a gigolo.
When Mimi "brazenly" gives Guy her room number and makes it clear that she expects him "at midnight", Guy is astonished by her seemingly promiscuous attitude. Guy keeps the "appointment" in Mimi's bedroom, and Tonetti arrives, revealing the truth and clearing up the misunderstandings. Not trusting Tonetti alone with Mimi, Guy insists on staying, potentially thwarting the point of a professional co-respondent for Mimi's divorce case. Tonetti insists that Mimi and Guy not foil the plan by being seen together outside of the bedroom. While Tonetti is busy playing cards in another room, Guy and Mimi contrive to escape and dance the night away. An elaborate 16-minute dance sequence, "The Continental", follows, with Mimi singing the introduction, another singer and ensembles of dancers doing routines, and Guy and Mimi joining in.
In the morning, after several mistakes with the waiter, Guy hides in the next room when Cyril arrives at the door, while Mimi and Tonetti pretend that they are lovers. When Cyril does not believe that Mimi would fall for Tonetti, Guy comes out and embraces Mimi in an attempt to convince Cyril that he is her lover, but to no avail. Cyril does not want a divorce from a wealthy wife. An unwitting waiter finally clears up the whole thing by revealing that Cyril is an adulterer, having come to another hotel on previous occasions with another woman, thus clearing the way for Mimi to get a divorce, and marry Guy.[7]
"Don't Let It Bother You" (lyrics: Mack Gordon; music: Harry Revel), thr film's opening number, sung by chorus, danced by Astaire.
"Let's K-nock K-nees" (lyrics: Mack Gordon; music: Harry Revel) at the beach resort, sung by Betty Grable, with talking verses vocalized by Edward Everett Horton, danced by Grable, Horton and chorus.
"A Needle in a Haystack" (lyrics: Herb Magidson; music: Con Conrad), sung and danced by Astaire.
Other songs
"Night and Day" (Cole Porter), sung by Astaire, danced by Rogers and Astaire in a hotel suite overlooking an English Channel beach at night.
Production
Development
After the success of Astaire and Rogers's first feature, Flying Down to Rio, RKO's head of production, Pandro S. Berman, purchased the screen rights to Dwight Taylor's Broadway hit, Gay Divorce, with another Astaire and Rogers matchup in mind. According to Fred Astaire's autobiography, director Mark Sandrich claimed that RKO altered the title to insinuate that the film concerned the amorous adventures of a recently divorced woman (divorcée).[8] In addition to the credited screenwriters, Robert Benchley, H. W. Hanemann, and Stanley Rauh made uncredited contributions to the dialogue.
Dance routines from the film, specifically "Night and Day" and the scene in which Astaire dances on the table, were taken from Astaire's performances in the original play, Gay Divorce.[9] The choreography to "Don't Let It Bother You" came from foolhardy antics during rehearsals, and became an in-joke in future Astaire-Rogers films.[10]
Filming
Exteriors set in what was supposed to be the English countryside were shot in Clear Lake, California. Additional exteriors were filmed in Santa Monica and Santa Barbara, California.[8]
James Wingate, Director of Studio Relations for RKO, warned: "Considering the delicate nature of the subject upon which this script is based... great care should be taken in the scenes dealing with Mimi's lingerie, and... no intimate article should be used." Wingate also insisted that no actor or actress appear in only pajamas.[8]
There are differing accounts of why the film's name was changed from the play's Gay Divorce to The Gay Divorcee. In one, the Hays Office insisted that RKO change the name, finding it "too frivolous toward marriage": while a divorcée could be gay or lighthearted, it would be unseemly to allow a divorce to appear so.[12] According to Astaire, however, the change was made proactively by RKO. The director, Mark Sandrich, told him that The Gay Divorcee was selected as the new name because the studio "thought it was a more attractive-sounding title, centered around a girl".[13] RKO even offered $50 to any employee who could come up with a better title.[14] In the U.K., the film was released with the title The Gay Divorce.[citation needed]
According to RKO records, the film earned $1,077,000 in the U.S. and Canada, and $697,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $584,000.[1]
Critical response
The New York Times critic, Andre Sennwald, said of the film on November 16, 1934: "Like the carefree team of Rogers and Astaire, The Gay Divorcee is gay in its mood and smart in its approach. For subsidiary humor, there are Alice Brady as the talkative aunt; Edward Everett Horton as the confused lawyer .. and Erik Rhodes ... as the excitable co-respondent, who takes the correct pride in his craftsmanship and objects to outside interference. All of them plus the Continental, help to make the new Music Hall show the source of a good deal of innocent merriment."[16]
Music (Song) – "The Continental" (Won) – the first winner of this award; it won against "Carioca", from the previous Astaire-Rogers film, Flying Down to Rio[18]
Top Hat is a 1935 American musical screwball comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American tap dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick. He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick's valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini, a fashion designer and rival for Dale's affections, and Helen Broderick as Hardwick's long-suffering wife Madge.
Ginger Rogers was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starring role in Kitty Foyle (1940), and performed during the 1930s in RKO's musical films with Fred Astaire. Her career continued on stage, radio and television throughout much of the 20th century.
Fred Astaire was an American dancer, actor, singer, choreographer, and presenter. He is widely regarded as the "greatest popular-music dancer of all time". He received numerous accolades including an Honorary Academy Award, three Primetime Emmy Awards, a BAFTA Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award. He was honored with the Film Society of Lincoln Center tribute in 1973, the Kennedy Center Honors in 1978, and AFI Life Achievement Award in 1980. He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960, American Theatre Hall of Fame in 1972, and the Television Hall of Fame in 1989.
Swing Time is a 1936 American musical comedy film, the sixth of ten starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Directed by George Stevens for RKO, it features Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Betty Furness, Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Set mainly in New York City, the film follows a gambler and dancer, "Lucky" (Astaire), who is trying to raise money to secure his marriage when he meets dance instructor Penny (Rogers) and begins dancing with her; the two soon fall in love and are forced to reconcile their feelings.
Gay Divorce is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Dwight Taylor, adapted by Kenneth Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein. It was Fred Astaire's last Broadway show and featured the hit song "Night and Day" in which Astaire danced with co-star Claire Luce.
"The Continental" is a dance to a song written by Con Conrad with lyrics by Herb Magidson, and was introduced by Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in the 1934 film The Gay Divorcee. "The Continental" was the first song to win the Academy Award for Best Original Song. In the film it was sang by Ginger Rogers, Erik Rhodes and Lillian Miles.
Flying Down to Rio is a 1933 American pre-Code RKO musical film famous for being the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, although lead actors Dolores del Río and Gene Raymond received top billing. Among the featured players are Franklin Pangborn and Eric Blore. The songs in the film were written by Vincent Youmans (music), Gus Kahn and Edward Eliscu (lyrics), with musical direction and additional music by Max Steiner. During the 7th Academy Awards, the film was nominated for the new category of Best Original Song for "Carioca", but it lost to "The Continental" from The Gay Divorcee, the next Astaire and Rogers film.
Erik Rhodes was an American film and Broadway singer and actor. He is best remembered today for appearing in two classic Hollywood musical films with the popular dancing team of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers: The Gay Divorcee (1934) and Top Hat (1935).
Follow the Fleet is a 1936 American RKO musical comedy film with a nautical theme starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their fifth collaboration as dance partners. It also features Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in supporting roles. The film was directed by Mark Sandrich with script by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor based on the 1922 play Shore Leave by Hubert Osborne.
Carefree is a 1938 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers and Ralph Bellamy. With a plot similar to screwball comedies of the period, Carefree is the shortest of the Astaire-Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers. Carefree is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to "I Used to Be Color Blind," all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied.
Shall We Dance is a 1937 American musical comedy film directed by Mark Sandrich. It is the seventh of the ten Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers films. The story follows an American ballet dancer (Astaire) who falls in love with a tap dancer (Rogers); the tabloid press concocts a story of their marriage, after which life imitates art. George Gershwin wrote the symphonic underscore and Ira Gershwin the lyrics, for their second Hollywood musical.
Pandro Samuel Berman, also known as Pan Berman, was an American film producer.
Mark Sandrich was an American film director, writer, and producer.
David Abel was a cinematographer.
Roberta is a 1935 American musical film released by RKO Radio Pictures and directed by William A. Seiter. It stars Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and features Randolph Scott, Helen Westley, Victor Varconi and Claire Dodd. The film was an adaptation of the 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, which in turn was based on the novel Gowns by Roberta by Alice Duer Miller. It was a solid hit, showing a net profit of more than three-quarters of a million dollars.
Claire Luce was an American stage and screen actress, dancer and singer. Among her few films were Up the River (1930), directed by John Ford and starring Spencer Tracy and Humphrey Bogart in their feature film debuts, and Under Secret Orders, the English-language version of G. W. Pabst's French-language feature, Salonique, nid d'espions (1937).
"The Carioca" is a 1933 popular song with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Edward Eliscu and Gus Kahn, as well as the name of the dance choreographed to it for the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio. The number was sung in the film by Alice Gentle, Movita Castaneda and Etta Moten and danced by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers as part of an extended production dance introducing it. The dance, which was choreographed by the film's dance director, Dave Gould, assisted by Hermes Pan, was based on an earlier stage dance with the same name by Fanchon and Marco.
Mel Berns was an American make-up artist. He was the Head of Makeup at RKO Pictures for more than twenty years.
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were dance partners in a total of 10 films, nine of them released by RKO Radio Pictures from 1933 to 1939, and one, The Barkleys of Broadway, by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1949, their only film in Technicolor.
Smartest Girl in Town is a 1936 American comedy film directed by Joseph Santley, written by Viola Brothers Shore, and starring Gene Raymond, Ann Sothern, Helen Broderick, Eric Blore, Erik Rhodes and Harry Jans. It was released on November 27, 1936, by RKO Pictures.
References
Citations
1 2 3 Richard Jewel, "RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1994, p.55
↑ Astaire, Fred (2008). Steps in Time: An Autobiography. New York: Harper. p.198. ISBN978-0061567568. The Gay Divorcee" was selected as the new name because the studio "thought it was a more attractive-sounding title, centered around a girl.
↑ A. S. (November 16, 1934). "'The Gay Divorcee,' with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, at the music hall—'Redhead.'". The New York Times. ProQuest101148306.
Sarris, Andrew. 1998. "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet": The American Talking Film, History & Memory, 1927–1949. Oxford University Press. ISBN0-19-513426-5.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
