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This morning, I got up to see which Fred & Ginger movie my Patrons had voted to watched. That's when life threw me a screwball of its own: the results were a three-way tie. I only had time to revisit two before work, so I chose the two I've written about and seen least as per one of my Patron's request.

And I'm glad I did revisit Gay Divorcee, too, because I enjoyed it much more than my initial watch. Turning off my modern sensitivities and predilections, and giving myself to the thrall of its daffy, Looney Tunes love story was a great way to start a weekend getaway with my lover.

Fred and Ginger's mis-matched energy is what grounds this picture. They are aggressors and transgressors in each other's worlds, prying and poking and picking at each other. Circumstance puts them at odds with one another, and chance puts them in each other's arms. The audience's reward for their patience is quick-witted chemistry and electric synchronization that would seal the pair as a box office juggernaut for the remainder of the decade.

Watching these two today, it's easy to see how audiences wanted more of them. Their dynamic is a psychosexual tapestry of gender anxieties, class struggles, and - above all - changing attitudes about relationships in depression era America. Mimi encapsulates a trapped woman in a loveless, dull marriage; flirtations that may obnoxious or even threatening are nevertheless enticing because they're something that reminds her she's a human that can be desired, not a dusty object to keep on a shelf.

Dances in Divorcee are fantastic, with an early showstopper solo from Astaire that sets the bar high for the rest of the film. While Ginger's steps in this are decidedly less confident than her later collaborations, she nevertheless manages to add in some stylistic flourishes, quirks, and eccentricities to her dances that make her as compelling - if not as technically trained - as Astaire here. 'Night And Day' is a lovely sequence, and 'The Continental' is as electrifying as a large number in this era could be.

At the root of this film is a winning structure, something that can be distilled and shaded with different colors. A mis-matched pair, intrigued by each other. They meet by chance, then - fascinated by one another - they clash in an escalating series of encounters. And then there's the 'give,' as they let each other into their worlds and help tie up their lover's loose ends. Finally, they can dance freely out the door, into the night, the sunset, what have you.

The encounters don't have to be dances. The pair can hate each other's guts at the outset. The story can be as violent, ugly, lustful as possible. But if it follows this structure - this golden structure - odds are, it's going to be a compelling yarn in the right hands.

And what a fun yarn The Gay Divorcee is. Stay tuned for another Fred & Ginger revisit in a little bit.