|
The Gay Divorcee
 1934 US Dir Mark Sandrich Cast Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward E Horton, Alice Brady IMDb
|
I am unabashedly the sort of person who falls in love with dance sequences. This predisposition stretches back to that first all-consuming obsession, beloved ice dancers Torvill & Dean, extends to stopping on PBS every time they air ballroom competition and even to following the first season of
Dancing with the Stars (John & Charlotte forever!; I’ve since lost interest), and it even goes deep enough to enjoy films like the J-Lo & Gere clunker,
Shall We Dance. In the first phase of my love affair with classic Hollywood cinema, I fell and hard for Gene Kelly’s choreography and magnificent bod. (To this day, the only person in the world I think of in terms of having a ‘bod’ is Gene Kelly.) But somehow, the only exposure I had to Fred Astaire was
The Band Wagon, which I admired but didn’t love. (Problematically, I adore dance films and typically am put off by that variety of popular American musical.) I watched
Roberta last fall and while Fred & Ginger took my breath away and indeed stole the whole show, I was then ensconced in my self-topping Irene Dunne fixation. Where I would normally have been inclined to follow them through their joint career, at the time I couldn’t give them a thought; it was very much my loss because…
The Gay Divorcee is the most exhilarating film I have seen in… I don’t know, maybe ever. This is what old Hollywood did best, and anyone who doesn’t have a place for it in their lives must know a very sad existence indeed. It’s a rollicking screwball plot with plenty of saucy zingers and hilarious running gags; every character from major to minor is given plenty to do and played to the hilt; and of course there are plenty of creatively staged dance numbers, including, to my delight, my favorite perennial sidekick Edward Everett Horton knocking knees. The pace never slows and the jokes don’t stop coming until it carelessly casts aside its central predicament at the end and Fred & Ginger dance gaily toward matrimony. And, at last properly acquainted, I’m right behind them.
RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed,
HTML allowed:
<a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <strike> <strong>
Hurrah! I have Barkleys on hold at the library, so should finish out their films presently. I ought to go back and rewatch Top Hat and Swing Time. Their dancing is so wonderful. The only movie I might warn about is The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, which is plot driven and serious–not the frivolity all their other films are.
I really ought to own the collection. I could watch them dance forever.
P.S. Gene Kelly does have a bod. He looks like a greek statue, but moves like water. Whoa.
Comment by Mango — 6 April 2008 @ 6 April 2008I am unabashedly the sort of person who doesn’t falls in love with dance sequences. I have never seen an Astaire/Rogers film I truly enjoy, although I’m still looking forward to Top Hat. This film was somewhat enjoyable for me as a minor comedy, but doesn’t really stand as something I’d enjoy watching more than once. I don’t think I’ve ever really liked Astaire, something about him irks me. Ironically, people who hear me say this often recommend The Band Wagon which you seem to not be entirely enamored with.
Gene Kelly is the sex, while I have countless classic Hollywood crushes he’s the only of the few that I’d ever think of describing as “sexy”. He has an amazing body, and his style of dancing accentuates his masculinity and strength. It’s just so damn hot. I still have so many of his films I want and need to see. He was such a brilliant choreographer.
Comment by Justine — 11 April 2008 @ 11 April 2008We should have a Gene Kelly binge. I watched a lot of his stuff when he was Star of the Month last year, but there are still some important musicals I seem to be missing–why haven’t I seen Anchors Aweigh yet? I should get on it.
But first I am going through Astaire. Love that Fred!
I am surprised you don’t fall in love with dance sequences, Justine–wait, didn’t you have a list of favorite sequences on your old blog? Dance sequences are the best. It is the releasing of all that pent-up energy channeled against any confines of social pressure and respectability. Eh, the comedy music numbers, anyway. They are rockin. They make me so happy.
Comment by Mango — 12 April 2008 @ 12 April 2008