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TOP HAT
RKO Studios spared no expense in the mounting of 1935's Top Hat, a lavish musical comedy that features a clever screenplay, a flawless supporting cast, a melodic song score, and of course, the greatest dance team to ever grace the silver screen...Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Astaire plays Jerry Travers, an American hoofer who arrives in London to star in a show there for his pal, producer Horace Hardwicke (Edward Everett Horton). An impromptu tap dance in his hotel room disturbs the rest of Dale Tremont (Rogers), a fashion model in the room below who meets Jerry and is immediately attracted to him, but through a classic case of musical comedy mistaken identity, is led to believe that Jerry is really Horace, which complicates Dale's feelings because Horace's wife, Madge (Helen Broderick) is Dale's BFF and her loyalty to Madge has her leave London and go to Italy, where Madge is and confesses everything, and is surprised by Madge's laid back reaction to the revelation that her husband came on to Dale.
Of course, Jerry and Horace fly to Italy as well to try and iron things out but it's not as easy as Jerry was hoping when Horace reveals he really is cheating on Madge. Throw in Horace's manservant, Bates (Eric Blore), who Horace orders to keep an eye on Dale and Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes), the arrogant fashion designer secretly in love with Dale, and you have the perfect 1930's musical comedy.
What separates this musical from most is a surprisingly well-crafted screenplay by Dwight Taylor and Allen Scott that keeps this mistaken identity plot credible, executed by a fantastic cast who mine every single laugh this almost credibility-stretching story provides but never gets in the way of the one-of-a-kind screen chemistry between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Rogers once again proved that, even without her tap shoes, that her comic timing was something to be reckoned with.
The lovely Irving Berlin score includes "Fancy Free", "No Strings", "Isn't it a Lovely Day", "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails", "The Piccolino" and the memorable "Cheek to Cheek" In the "Top Hat" number, Astaire is just dazzling...he is backed by about 20 male dances in the number who you barely notice and Hermes Pan's staging of "The Piccolino" rivals some of Busby Berkeley's best work.
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The supporting cast is perfection, from Edward Everett Horton's beffudled Horace, to the wisecracking Helen Broderick, and especially Rhodes, who had me on the floor as Bedinni, a character whose fractured English provided big laughs. The film also features exquisite production design, some stunning costumes, and even though the story is set in London and Italy, it's obvious that this movie never left a studio, but we're so caught up in the comedic and musical joy unfolding before us, that we easily forgive.
RKO Studios spared no expense in the mounting of 1935's Top Hat, a lavish musical comedy that features a clever screenplay, a flawless supporting cast, a melodic song score, and of course, the greatest dance team to ever grace the silver screen...Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.
Astaire plays Jerry Travers, an American hoofer who arrives in London to star in a show there for his pal, producer Horace Hardwicke (Edward Everett Horton). An impromptu tap dance in his hotel room disturbs the rest of Dale Tremont (Rogers), a fashion model in the room below who meets Jerry and is immediately attracted to him, but through a classic case of musical comedy mistaken identity, is led to believe that Jerry is really Horace, which complicates Dale's feelings because Horace's wife, Madge (Helen Broderick) is Dale's BFF and her loyalty to Madge has her leave London and go to Italy, where Madge is and confesses everything, and is surprised by Madge's laid back reaction to the revelation that her husband came on to Dale.
Of course, Jerry and Horace fly to Italy as well to try and iron things out but it's not as easy as Jerry was hoping when Horace reveals he really is cheating on Madge. Throw in Horace's manservant, Bates (Eric Blore), who Horace orders to keep an eye on Dale and Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes), the arrogant fashion designer secretly in love with Dale, and you have the perfect 1930's musical comedy.
What separates this musical from most is a surprisingly well-crafted screenplay by Dwight Taylor and Allen Scott that keeps this mistaken identity plot credible, executed by a fantastic cast who mine every single laugh this almost credibility-stretching story provides but never gets in the way of the one-of-a-kind screen chemistry between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Rogers once again proved that, even without her tap shoes, that her comic timing was something to be reckoned with.
The lovely Irving Berlin score includes "Fancy Free", "No Strings", "Isn't it a Lovely Day", "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails", "The Piccolino" and the memorable "Cheek to Cheek" In the "Top Hat" number, Astaire is just dazzling...he is backed by about 20 male dances in the number who you barely notice and Hermes Pan's staging of "The Piccolino" rivals some of Busby Berkeley's best work.
The supporting cast is perfection, from Edward Everett Horton's beffudled Horace, to the wisecracking Helen Broderick, and especially Rhodes, who had me on the floor as Bedinni, a character whose fractured English provided big laughs. The film also features exquisite production design, some stunning costumes, and even though the story is set in London and Italy, it's obvious that this movie never left a studio, but we're so caught up in the comedic and musical joy unfolding before us, that we easily forgive.