The Gay Divorcee: Difference between revisions
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The stage version included many songs by [[Cole Porter]] which were left out of the film, except for "[[Night and Day (song)|Night and Day]]". Though 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 Eric Blore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://broadwaytalk.com/regional/sanfran/s913.html |title=Talkin' Broadway Regional News & Reviews: San Francisco – "Gay Divorce" – 4/29/07 |website=Broadwaytalk.com |date=November 29, 1932 |access-date=July 23, 2016}}</ref> |
The stage version included many songs by [[Cole Porter]] which were left out of the film, except for "[[Night and Day (song)|Night and Day]]". Though 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 Eric Blore.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://broadwaytalk.com/regional/sanfran/s913.html |title=Talkin' Broadway Regional News & Reviews: San Francisco – "Gay Divorce" – 4/29/07 |website=Broadwaytalk.com |date=November 29, 1932 |access-date=July 23, 2016}}</ref> |
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⚫ | The [[Production Code|Hays Office]] insisted that [[RKO Pictures|RKO]] change the name |
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This film was the second (after ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'', 1933) of ten pairings of [[Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers|Astaire and Rogers]] on film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=0&roles=nm0000001,nm0001677&sort=year&title_type=feature,tv_episode,video,tv_movie,tv_special,mini_series,documentary,game,short |title=Earliest Videos/TV Episodes/Feature Films/Short Films/Documentaries/Video Games/Mini-Series/TV Movies/TV Specials With Fred Astaire And Ginger Rogers |website=IMDb.com |access-date=July 23, 2016}}</ref> |
This film was the second (after ''[[Flying Down to Rio]]'', 1933) of ten pairings of [[Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers|Astaire and Rogers]] on film.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.imdb.com/search/title?at=0&roles=nm0000001,nm0001677&sort=year&title_type=feature,tv_episode,video,tv_movie,tv_special,mini_series,documentary,game,short |title=Earliest Videos/TV Episodes/Feature Films/Short Films/Documentaries/Video Games/Mini-Series/TV Movies/TV Specials With Fred Astaire And Ginger Rogers |website=IMDb.com |access-date=July 23, 2016}}</ref> |
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The car driven by Ginger Rogers was her own, a 1929 [[Duesenberg Model J]], and it still exists, and has been displayed at least once, at the Amelia Island Car show, ''[[Concours d'Elegance]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/ginger-rogers-1929-duesenberg-stars-at-2012-amelia-island-concours|title = Ginger Rogers' 1929 Duesenberg stars at 2012 Amelia Island| date=December 20, 2011 }}</ref> |
The car driven by Ginger Rogers was her own, a 1929 [[Duesenberg Model J]], and it still exists, and has been displayed at least once, at the Amelia Island Car show, ''[[Concours d'Elegance]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oldcarsweekly.com/news/ginger-rogers-1929-duesenberg-stars-at-2012-amelia-island-concours|title = Ginger Rogers' 1929 Duesenberg stars at 2012 Amelia Island| date=December 20, 2011 }}</ref> |
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===Censorship |
===Censorship concerns=== |
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James Wingate, Director of the Studio Relations Office 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.<ref name="afi.com"/> |
James Wingate, Director of the Studio Relations Office 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.<ref name="afi.com"/> |
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⚫ | There are differing accounts as to why the film's name was change from the play's ''Gay Divorce'' to ''The Gay Divorcee''. In one, the [[Production Code|Hays Office]] insisted that [[RKO Pictures|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.<ref>Sarris, 1998. p. 43</ref> 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."<ref>{{Cite book |title=Steps in Time: An Autobiography |last=Astaire |first=Fred |publisher=Harper |year=2008 |isbn=978-0061567568 |location=New York |pages=198 |quote="The Gay Divorcee" was selected as the new name because the studio "thought it was a more attractive-sounding title, centered around a girl."}}</ref> RKO even offered fifty dollars to any employee who could come up with a better title.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://catalog.afi.com/Film/7108-THE-GAYDIVORCEE |title=Detail view of Movies Page |website=www.afi.com |access-date=December 16, 2016}}</ref> In the United Kingdom, the film was released with the title ''The Gay Divorce''.{{fact|date=January 2023}} |
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The title from the musical – Gay ''Divorce'' – was dropped "as too frivolous toward marriage by the censors" (i.e. a "divorcee" could be implied as "gay", but the act of "divorce" itself not) and modified to ''Divorcee''.<ref>Sarris, 1998. p. 43</ref> |
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==Reception== |
==Reception== |
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''The Gay Divorcee'' was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] in 1934.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19311/The-Gay-Divorcee/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017091334/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19311/The-Gay-Divorcee/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 17, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2012 |title=The Gay Divorcee|access-date=December 7, 2008}}</ref> |
''The Gay Divorcee'' was nominated for the [[Academy Award for Best Picture]] in 1934.<ref name="NY Times">{{cite web |url=https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19311/The-Gay-Divorcee/details |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121017091334/http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/19311/The-Gay-Divorcee/details |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 17, 2012 |department=Movies & TV Dept. |work=[[The New York Times]] |date=2012 |title=The Gay Divorcee|access-date=December 7, 2008}}</ref> |
Revision as of 16:37, 30 January 2024
The Gay Divorcee | |
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![]() theatrical release poster | |
Directed by | Mark Sandrich |
Screenplay by | George Marion Jr. Dorothy Yost Edward Kaufman |
Based on | Gay Divorce 1932 musical by Dwight Taylor |
Produced by | Pandro S. Berman |
Starring | Fred Astaire Ginger Rogers |
Cinematography | David Abel |
Edited by | William Hamilton |
Music by | Score: Max Steiner Songs: (see below) |
Production company | |
Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 107 minutes |
Land | Vereinigte Staaten |
Sprache | Englisch |
Budget | $520,000[1] |
Box office | $1.8 million[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. The screenplay was written by George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost, and Edward Kaufman. It was based on the Broadway musical Gay Divorce, written by Dwight Taylor with Kenneth S. Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein[3] adapting an unproduced play by J. Hartley Manners.[4]
The stage version included many songs by Cole Porter which were left out of the film, except for "Night and Day". Though 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 Eric Blore.[5]
This film was the second (after Flying Down to Rio, 1933) of ten pairings of Astaire and Rogers on film.[6]
Plot
Mimi Glossop seeks a divorce from her geologist husband Cyril Glossop, whom she has not seen for some time. Under the guidance of her domineering and much-married Aunt Hortense, she consults incompetent and bumbling lawyer Egbert Fitzgerald, once a fiancé of her aunt. 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. But Egbert forgets to arrange for private detectives to "catch" the couple.
By coincidence, Guy Holden, an American dancer and friend of Egbert's, who briefly met Mimi on his 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 arrives at the door, so Guy hides in the next room, while Mimi and Tonetti give a show of being lovers. When Cyril does not 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 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.[7]
Cast
- Fred Astaire as Guy Holden
- Ginger Rogers as Mimi
- Alice Brady as Hortense
- Edward Everett Horton as Egbert
- Erik Rhodes as Tonetti
- Eric Blore as The Waiter
- William Austin as Cyril Glossop
- Charles Coleman as The Valet
- Lillian Miles as Guest
- Betty Grable as Guest
Songs
New songs introduced in the film
- "The Continental" (w. Herb Magidson m. Con Conrad) won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song for its elaboration in the over-17 minute song and dance sequence towards the end of the film, as sung by Rogers, Erik Rhodes and Lillian Miles, and danced by Rogers, Astaire and ensemble performers. Arthur Fiedler and the Boston Pops Orchestra recorded the music in their very first RCA Victor recording session, in Boston's Symphony Hall, on July 1, 1935; the recording can be heard on YouTube.
- "Don't Let It Bother You" (w. Mack Gordon m. Harry Revel) opening number, sung by chorus, danced by Astaire
- "Let's K-nock K-nees" (w. Mack Gordon m. 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" (w. Herb Magidson m. 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' 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 where Astaire dances on the table, were taken from Astaire's performances in the original play, The Gay Divorce.[9] The "Don't Let It Bother You" dance 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]
The car driven by Ginger Rogers was her own, a 1929 Duesenberg Model J, and it still exists, and has been displayed at least once, at the Amelia Island Car show, Concours d'Elegance.[11]
Censorship concerns
James Wingate, Director of the Studio Relations Office 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 as to why the film's name was change 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 fifty dollars to any employee who could come up with a better title.[14] In the United Kingdom, the film was released with the title The Gay Divorce.[citation needed]
Reception
The Gay Divorcee was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture in 1934.[15]
Box office
According to RKO records the film earned $1,077,000 in the US and Canada and $697,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $584,000.[1]
Critical response
The New York Times critic Andre Sennwald (November 16, 1934) said of the film: "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]
Awards and honors
The film was nominated for the following Academy Awards, winning in the category Music (Song):[17]
- Best Picture (Nominated)
- Art Direction (Van Nest Polglase, Carroll Clark) (Nominated)
- Music (Scoring) (Max Steiner) (Nominated)
- 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]
- Sound Recording (Carl Dreher) (Nominated)
References
Citations
- ^ a b c Richard Jewel, "RKO Film Grosses: 1931–1951", Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 14, No. 1, 1994, p.55
- ^ ReelClassics.com (December 16, 2008). "Ginger Rogers & Fred Astaire 2: The Gay Divorcee (1934)". Reel Classics. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ^ "Screenplay info" TCM
- ^ "Gay Divorce". IBDB.com. Internet Broadway Database.
- ^ "Talkin' Broadway Regional News & Reviews: San Francisco – "Gay Divorce" – 4/29/07". Broadwaytalk.com. November 29, 1932. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ^ "Earliest Videos/TV Episodes/Feature Films/Short Films/Documentaries/Video Games/Mini-Series/TV Movies/TV Specials With Fred Astaire And Ginger Rogers". IMDb.com. Retrieved July 23, 2016.
- ^ Green, Stanley (1999). Hollywood Musicals Year by Year (2nd ed.). Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 36. ISBN 0-634-00765-3.
- ^ a b c "Home".
- ^ "The Gay Divorcee (1934) – Notes". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ "The Gay Divorcee (1934) – Trivia". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ "Ginger Rogers' 1929 Duesenberg stars at 2012 Amelia Island". December 20, 2011.
- ^ Sarris, 1998. p. 43
- ^ Astaire, Fred (2008). Steps in Time: An Autobiography. New York: Harper. p. 198. ISBN 978-0061567568.
The Gay Divorcee" was selected as the new name because the studio "thought it was a more attractive-sounding title, centered around a girl.
- ^ "Detail view of Movies Page". www.afi.com. Retrieved December 16, 2016.
- ^ "The Gay Divorcee". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. 2012. Archived from the original on October 17, 2012. Retrieved December 7, 2008.
- ^ A. S. (November 16, 1934). "'The Gay Divorcee,' with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, at the music hall—'Redhead.'". The New York Times. ProQuest 101148306.
- ^ "The 7th Academy Awards (1935) Nominees and Winners". oscars.org. Retrieved August 7, 2011.
- ^ Mankiewicz, Ben (June 7, 2016) outro to the Turner Classic Movies showing of The Gay Divorcee
General sources
- Sarris, Andrew. 1998. "You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet": The American Talking Film, History & Memory, 1927–1949. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-513426-5.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/fa/Wikiquote-logo.svg/34px-Wikiquote-logo.svg.png)
- The Gay Divorcee at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films
- The Gay Divorcee at IMDb
- The Gay Divorcee at the TCM Movie Database
- The Gay Divorcee at AllMovie
- The Gay Divorcee at Rotten Tomatoes
- The Gay Divorcee at Box Office Mojo
- The Gay Divorcee full film in YouTube
- 1934 films
- 1934 musical comedy films
- American musical comedy films
- American screwball comedy films
- American black-and-white films
- 1930s English-language films
- Films set in Brighton
- Films that won the Best Original Song Academy Award
- RKO Pictures films
- Films directed by Mark Sandrich
- Films produced by Pandro S. Berman
- Films scored by Cole Porter
- Films scored by Max Steiner
- Films with screenplays by Dorothy Yost
- Films about divorce
- 1930s American films