The Gay Divorcee Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		5.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.5
Overall		4.0

The Gay Divorcee Blu-ray Movie Review

"I was chasing you, you shouldn't run away like that."

Reviewed by Randy Miller III March 26, 2026

Best remembered as the second of ten on-screen pairings of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire, Mark Sandrich's The Gay Divorcee is the condensed adaptation of a 1932 Broadway musical by Dwight Taylor. The original stage version featured several songs by Cole Porter that aren't carried over here, but Sandrich's film is still a buoyant and music-driven affair with plenty of great opportunities for the light-footed leads to strut their stuff. Also featuring likable supporting roles for Edward Everett Horton and William Austin (best remembered as the first actor to play Bruce Wayne's butler, Alfred), among others, it's quickly approaching its 100th birthday but still entertains with energy to spare.

After an episodic character introduction where famous American performer Guy Holden (Astaire) literally dances for his supper in Paris, he and his English lawyer pal Egbert Fitzgerald (Horton) take a boat ride to England. It's there that Guy first meets the lovely Mimi Glossop (Rogers), who seems to be stuck in two unfortunate situations: part of her dress is currently caught in a suitcase, and she's also unhappily married to an estranged geologist (Austin) who prefers rocks. Accidentally ripping the fabric while trying to free her, Guy offers his coat to cover up those scandalous calves and she promises to mail it back. Needless to say, he's completely infatuated with this mystery woman (whose name he doesn't even know yet), so Guy repeatedly attempts to track her down; he finally does so after running into her car, following it for several miles, and even setting up a fake roadblock. Now that's dedication, folks.

What follows is, of course, something of a cat-and-mouse game where Guy pursues the hopefully soon-to-be-divorced Mimi, who just might go through with it with the help of her loopy Aunt Hortense (Alice Brady, in fine form): she enlists the help of none other than Guy's lawyer pal Egbert, who's coincidentally one of Hortense's many former fiancés. Their complicated solution to a simple problem is to stage a potential affair with handsome "co-respondent" Rodolfo Tonetti (Erik Rhodes), which turns into a mountain of misunderstandings when Mimi confuses her as-yet- unknown secret lover for Guy himself. It's a mistake that he's happy to play along with, and we're glad he does.

The Gay Divorcee's plot is certainly a bit convoluted and it surprisingly only adds up to about 10 minutes of dancing, with sporadic musical breaks that sometimes smoothly advance the plot and sometimes only exist for decoration. No matter -- this show is completely and effortlessly carried by the immediate lead chemistry of Astaire and Rogers, who had only appeared together once in Flying Down to Rio the previous year, and in supporting roles. This time, they have no trouble grabbing the reins and their chemistry makes them practically impossible to root against. Other highlights include its terrific dialogue and those numerous enjoyable performances by The Gay Divorcee's secondary players, not to mention the extravagantly staged musical number "The Continental", which is broken up into multiple sections and ended up winning the very first well-deserved Academy Award for "Best Original Song" the following year.

Quickly establishing an on-screen partnership and enduring formula that would pave the way for Top Hat, Swing Time, and Shall We Dance, The Gay Divorcee's important place in the careers of Rogers and Astaire -- whose later work was just collected in a four-film set from Warner Archive -- makes it an ideal film for the boutique label, who as usual have lavished plenty of well-deserved attention on it with another nicely appointed Blu-ray edition.

The Gay Divorcee Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

As seen in these direct-from-disc screenshots, Warner Archive has served up another sparkling restoration that rivals something seen during first-run theatrical showing. It's no surprise, of course, given that the boutique label was able to work directly from the original nitrate camera negative, scanning it in full 4K and treating it to a careful round of their proprietary manual cleanup process. As usual, the result is a clean but textural image that's loaded with fine detail and absolutely dazzles with clarity, enough so that the lovely screenshot of Rogers up there could likely sell more than a few copies by itself. I've long been a fan of Warner Archive's purist-friendly approach to film restorations and consider them "best in class" for catalog releases like this, so it should come as no surprise that The Gay Divorcee earns the boutique label another perfect five-star rating for its visual precision and excellent disc encoding.

The Gay Divorcee Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Coming in a close second is the DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track which, as always, splits the film's mono source into a split two-channel track for wider but still authentic playback. Dialogue and music sound exceptionally clean and crisp with only a hint of thinness at the high end, allowing viewers to enjoy all of the musical numbers in true lossless quality that, like the visuals, clearly outpaces previous home video presentations including their parent company's DVD edition from 2006. In short, it sounds almost as terrific as it looks, which is high praise indeed.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the bonus features listed below.

The Gay Divorcee Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover art and a handful of era-specific extras.

• Art Trouble (20:50) - This pre-Code comedy short from Vitaphone was directed by Ralph Staub and stars Harry Gibbon and Shemp Howard. Perhaps its greatest claim to fame, though, is that future film icon Jimmy Stewart makes his first-ever onscreen appearance in an uncredited supporting role.

• Masks and Memories (32:14) - This mid-length Vitaphone feature stars Lilian Roth (Animal Crackers) as one of three people who try to goad their uncle into finally letting loose at Mardi Gras. Sadly, its conversion from a standard-definition source has resulted in extremely heavy aliasing.

• Classic Cartoons - Two restored black-and-white Merrie Melodies shorts for your viewing pleasure.

• I Like Mountain Music (7:01) - When the cat's away, a drugstore comes to life at night as various characters from the magazine rack spring from the pages, including unruly mobsters and Sherlock Holmes himself. This classic short was last seen on Warner Archive's Blu-ray edition of Little Women.
• Shake Your Powder Puff (6:20) - Friz Freleng directs this 1934 short about a lively barn variety show that gets interrupted by a heckling dog. Likewise, it was last seen on WAC's Blu-ray of Sadie McKee.

• Radio Shows - A pair of vintage audio-only extras.

• Radio Promotional Trailer (13:45) - Another installment of the short-lived NBC radio show "Hollywood on the Air", this one promoting the main feature and its musical numbers.
• Screen Guild Players (27:58) - Originally airing on March 6, 1944, this abridged radio adaptation of The Gay Divorcee stars Frank Sinatra (!) and Gloria De Haven in the lead roles.

• Theatrical Trailer (1:18) - This vintage promotional piece can also be seen here. It's extremely rare to see a surviving RKO trailer (especially in decent condition), so this is an especially nice extra to have on board.

• Song Selection - Instant access to the film's main music cues and performances including "Don't Let It Bother You", "A Needle in a Haystack", "Let's K-nock K-nees", and several versions of "The Continental".

The Gay Divorcee Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Mark Sandrich's The Gay Divorcee doesn't always gel in its juxtaposition of music and dramatic comedy, but it's still endlessly entertaining thanks to the irresistible chemistry of its two leads, who would of course go on to star in many more films together. This is an important film in the careers of Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and still impresses more than 90 years later with great dialogue and supporting performances too. Warner Archive's Blu-ray presents it in style with outstanding A/V merits and a solid collection of vintage bonus features. Highly Recommended.