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The Gay Divorcee

The Gay Divorcee

Comedy · Romance · 1934

Seeking a divorce from her absentee husband, Mimi Glossop travels to an English seaside resort. There she falls in love with dancer Guy Holden, whom she later mistakes for the corespondent her lawyer hired.

Movie details

The Gay Divorcee

“The King and Queen of 'Carioca'”

1934 Comedy · Romance 1h 45m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.9 / 10

Community rating

Seeking a divorce from her absentee husband, Mimi Glossop travels to an English seaside resort. There she falls in love with dancer Guy Holden, whom she later mistakes for the corespondent her lawyer hired.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Gay Divorcee?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Mark Sandrich

Written by

Dorothy Yost · George Marion Jr. · Edward Kaufman

Fred Astaire

Fred Astaire

Guy Holden

Ginger Rogers

Ginger Rogers

Mimi Glossop

Alice Brady

Alice Brady

Hortense

Edward Everett Horton

Edward Everett Horton

Egbert Fitzgerald

Erik Rhodes

Erik Rhodes

Rodolfo Tonetti

Eric Blore

Eric Blore

Waiter

William Austin

William Austin

Cyril Glossop

Court is in session

Put The Gay Divorcee on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.