The Gay Divorcée (1934)

Directed by Mark Sandrich. Starring Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Erik Rhodes, Edward Everett Horton, Alice Brady, Eric Blore, William Austin.

Frothy nonsense given the Astaire and Rogers treatment. She’s trapped in a loveless marriage and is seeking a divorce; he’s a dancer (what else?) who pursues her against her will, but apparently, “no” never really means “no” in a musical romantic comedy. The dance numbers are predictably resplendent—even the overlong “The Continental” production has enough dazzling moments to forgive its flabbiness (the tune was the first Academy Award winner in the incipient Best Original Song category)—but the comedy never really takes off besides the occasional witty line or broad reaction shot. In the rocky supporting cast, Rhodes’ foppish Italian stereotype wears thin fast (but sticks around for the long haul), and Brady also quickly overstays her welcome as Roger’s flighty aunt, whose saucy silliness feels poorly supported without a sitcom’s canned laughter. Reasonably enjoyable, and a must for die-hard fans of the stars, but they’d make some better pictures later in the decade. Based on the stage musical, Gay Divorce (you can guess why they tweaked the title); score includes Cole Porter’s “Night and Day” from the original show. Betty Grable has a bit part.

69/100