Herb Magidson while under contract to Warner Bros. to write music for films. In 1934, he won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song along with Con Conrad for his lyrics to "The Continental", used in "The Gay Divorcee" (1934) starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Magidson also co-wrote the lyrics to the 1937 Allie Wrubel song "Gone with the Wind" (no connection to the novel of the same name nor used in the 1939 film). Magidson received Oscar nominations for the songs, "Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There" from the film "Hers to Hold" (1943), and "I'll Buy
The Gay Divorcee Time: An Autobiography"), the change was made by a proactive effort from RKO. He claims that director, Mark Sandrich, told him that "The Gay Divorcee" was selected as the new name because the studio "thought it was a more attractive-sounding title, centered around a girl." RKO even offered fifty dollars to any employee who could come up with a better title. In the United Kingdom, the film was released with the original name of the play, "Gay Divorce". This film was the second of ten (after "Flying Down to Rio", 1933) pairings of Rogers and Astaire on film. Mimi Glossop