Classic Film Review: The Gay Divorcee (1934)

The Gay Divorcee stars Fred Astaire as Guy Holden, a dancer visiting London who comes to the aid of Mimi Glossop (Ginger Rogers) when she traps her skirt in a trunk in the middle of customs. Guy is enamoured but Mimi apparently less so. While he is literally scouring London for her, she and her Aunt Hortense (Alice Brady) are trying to orchestrate a divorce from Mimi's unwilling husband. They turn to a reluctant old solicitor flame of Hortense's, Egbert Fitzgerald (Edward Everett Horton), who also happens to be the friend hosting Guy in London. The idea is for Mimi and a co-respondent to be caught in a hotel in Brighton but a depressed Guy, who still doesn't know the truth about Mimi's situation, is dragged along by Egbert and the stage is set for an amusing showdown.

This is only Fred and Ginger's second film together but, for the most part, they've already found their rhythm. Leaving aside the dance numbers, the comedic interplay between the pair of them when Mimi's dress is stuck at the beginning is brilliant. These two could bounce off each other as well as Hepburn and Tracy and it makes for a thoroughly enjoyable film. Equally, the main supporting cast of Alice Brady as the forgetful aunt and Edward Everett Horton as the bumbling solicitor are brilliant, not to mention the fact that Betty Grable has a small role. Watching Horton and Grable dancing together in 'Let's K-nock K-nees' is a delight, especially since Horton is no natural dancer.

The other songs are pretty good too. I was charmed by 'Needle in a Haystack', a song and dance solo performed by Guy as he gets ready to go out. The stand-out song from the film is 'Night and Day', part of a beautiful yielding moment when Mimi gives in to her growing feelings - only for another spanner to be thrown in the works quite quickly. Watching Fred and Ginger dance that number together is riveting, there's no other word for it. 'The Continental', coming in at over seventeen minutes long, is spectacular with its rows of dances and catchy song, but it does tend to flag a little when Fred and Ginger aren't involved.

Ultimately, this is a gorgeous musical comedy, with Fred and Ginger melding together perfectly as they would in another eight films. It's not their best collaboration but it's no less enjoyable for that.

Classic Film Review: The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)

Based on the lives of two dance icons in pre-war American, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle stars Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in the title roles. It deals with their marriage and struggle for success, then the tragedy that hits just a few years after their marriage. The cast also includes Edna May Oliver as agent Maggie Sutton, Walter Brennan as Walter the servant and Lew Fields as himself.

This is an altogether more serious film than other Astaire/Rogers collaborations I've seen. As a biopic, closely superintended by Irene Castle herself, it means fewer fun and games which, in turn, means the film is probably more memorable than some of their fluffy pieces. Rogers, of course, excels in dramatic roles, though the modern era has pigeon-holed her somewhat as Astaire's dancing partner. Two of the earliest films I reviewed on this blog were Kitty Foyle (1940, reviewed here) and Primrose Path (1940, reviewed here) which served to cement Rogers as one of my favourite actresses and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle definitely feeds into that.

There are, though, plenty of humorous moments early in the film. I adored Vernon and Irene's first meeting as they both dash to rescue a drowning dog then Vernon's horror at Irene's attempts to show off her dancing skills on a makeshift stage at her parents' house. Once the action shifts to Paris and Edna May Oliver is introduced as their agent, there are many hilarious moments. She never fails to lighten up a film but there are moments of wonderful seriousness from her as well. There's a gorgeous moment on the train as Irene is travelling to see Vernon where a simple movement betrays the strength of relationship that has sprung up between them all and it's a nice touch. Walter Brennan, too, is excellent, particularly in the final moments of the film.

Ultimately, this isn't about the dance numbers, it's about preserving a legacy and it does that very well. As the last Astaire/Rogers film at RKO and the only one based on a true story, it occupies a special place in their history - as it should.

Classic Film Review: Swing Time (1936)

Swing Time tells the story of Lucky Garnett (Fred Astaire), a dancer who is forced to leave his fiancée Margaret (Betty Furness) to go out and raise $25,000 so that her father will let him marry her. When he and his friend Pop (Victor Moore) get to New York, they encounter dance instructor Penny Carroll (Ginger Rogers). Lucky tricks Penny into 'teaching' him to dance and they have the potential to be successful but conductor Ricky Romero (Georges Metaxa) wants Penny for himself and Lucky realises he's getting far too close when he should be itching to go home and marry Margaret. The wonderful Helen Broderick rounds out the main cast as Mabel.

I absolutely adored this film. It's rare that a musical of this era has numbers which are not only entertaining but also further the plot and characters. The score by Jerome Kern and Dorothy Fields is exquisite, including such gems as 'Pick Yourself Up' when Penny's trying to teach Lucky how to dance and 'A Fine Romance' when they're trying to resist each other in a gorgeous snow scene. Astaire's rendition of 'The Way You Look Tonight' is sweet, enjoyable for its sentiments and not the strength of his singing voice. The pinnacle of this film, though, is the majestic 'Never Gonna Dance' near the end. It not only serves as a visual representation of Lucky and Penny's romance, from their first walk around the dance floor to the Penny's walking away, but it's also a deeply sensual and passionate representation of love as a whole. I could easily watch it for hours and those dozens of takes it took to produce such brilliance was well worth Ginger's poor bleeding feet.

There are plenty of comic moments in this one, plenty coming from Victor Moore and Helen Broderick as Pop and Mabel. I enjoyed Broderick in the generally lacklustre The Bride Walks Out (also 1936, reviewed here) and she reasserts her comedic credentials in this one. In addition, Astaire and Rogers bounce off each other so well that every one of their scenes in a delight, from Lucky's first pursuit of Penny down the street to retrieve his lucky quarter to the finale. The plot, though light, is at least coherent and there are several link backs and pointers that demonstrate that the film was conceived as a whole, for example the trouser gag which begins and ends the story. Perhaps there was too much focus on Lucky's friends at the beginning, but once he got to New York, all that was forgotten.

Ultimately, if a film makes me smile just thinking about it then it's a good one. I haven't stopped smiling while I've been writing this review so take that as your recommendation.