La alegre divorciada

Looking at THE GAY DIVORCEE through the lens of 85 years, I can see flaws with it. The big dance number goes on too long, and the comedy writing isn't sharp enough. Still, this was the first star pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and it's amazing how much they got right, right off the bat. There's the basic structure of Astaire courting Miss Rogers through a set of dances, while in between there are jokes and pulled faces and Edward Everett Horton doing several hundred double takes per minute as everyone's straight man.

It's based on Astaire's stage success The Gay Divorce. The name change was the result of the Breen office meddling. It's more a variation on the Princess Theater musical comedies of the 1920s, and the camerawork, although seemingly startling and original under the direction of David Abel, is more an outgrowth of German Expressionist camerawork, and bits and bobs from the best of contemporary British musicals. Add in Astaire's insistence on being seen full length while dancing -- which sounds obvious now, although not at the time -- and the formula required only a bit of refinement to produce a series of masterpieces.

You may notice Betty Grable at the bottom of the title card. She's the platinum blonde who makes love to Horton in the "Let's Knock Knees" number. She had been kicking around Hollywood since 1929, sometimes with a credit, sometimes, like her previous movie, without. She would never go uncredited again.