The Gay Divorcee

The Gay Divorcee, 1934. A woman who wants a divorce stages a hotel rendezvous.

Directed by Mark Sandrich. Written by George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost & Edward Kaufman, based on a musical by Dwight Taylor, Kenneth S. Webb & Samuel Hoffenstein. Starring Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers.

Concept: 1/4 (Bad)
Story: 1/4 (Bad)
Characters: 2/4 (Indifferent). This movie would be a lot shorter if Ginger would just carry some pepper spray.
Dialog: 3/4 (Good)
Pacing: 1/4 (Bad). I never want to hear "The Continental" again.
Cinematography: 2/4 (Indifferent)
Special effects/design: 3/4 (Good)
Acting: 3/4 (Good)
Music: 3/4 (Good). Mostly great, but I can't give full points thanks to the bizarre pacing problems. There'll be scene after scene with no songs, and then, out of nowhere, the 17-minute "Continental" (during much of which the characters are absent).
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, 2/4). It's the first movie starring Astaire & Rogers, and the studio clearly didn't know what they had. Heavy on farce, light on musical numbers. And the musical numbers are heavy on chorus lines and light on Astaire and Rogers.
Objective Rating (Average): 2.1/4 (Okay)