Top Hat (1935) is one of the great 30s dance musicals, and possibly the best, most characteristic and most profitable Astaire and Rogers musical ever, with wonderful, magical dance and song numbers (with straight-on, full-length views of the dancers without a lot of camera cuts or unusual camera angles). Its tagline was: “They’re Dancing Cheek-to-Cheek Again.”
Some consider it as a glorified re-make of their earlier film The Gay Divorcee (1934), with its familiar story of mistaken identity and a similar cast. The film’s witty script, written specifically for Astaire and Rogers, was written by Dwight Taylor (author of The Gay Divorcee) and Allan Scott – and was based on the play The Girl Who Dared, by Alexander Farago and Aladar Laszlo.
This film, directed by Mark Sandrich (who directed five of the dance team’s films – see * below), was the fourth of nine films that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers appeared in for RKO (between 1933 and 1939), and it became RKO’s greatest box-office hit of the 30s (the moneymaker brought in $3 million).
Top Hat is a 1935 American screwball musical comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick’s valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini, a fashion designer and rival for Dale’s affections, and Helen Broderick as Hardwick’s long-suffering wife Madge.
The film was written by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor. It was directed by Mark Sandrich. The songs were written by Irving Berlin. “Top Hat, White Tie and Tails” and “Cheek to Cheek” have become American song classics. It has been nostalgically referred to — particularly its “Cheek to Cheek” segment — in many films, including The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985) and The Green Mile (1999).
Top Hat (1935)
Directed by: Mark Sandrich
Starring: Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore, Helen Broderick, Lucille Ball, Tito Blasco, Phyllis Coghlan, Gino Corrado, Lorinne Crawford, Jay Eaton
Screenplay by: Dwight Taylor, Allan Scott
Cinematography by: David Abel
Film Editing by: William Hamilton
Costume Design by: Bernard Newman
Art Direction by: Van Nest Polglase
Distributed by: RKO Radio Pictures
Release Date: September 6, 1935
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