Customer Reviews

Top Hat

5 star:		(46)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The fourth Fred & Ginger (F&G) movie, Top Hat is considered by many to be the quintessential one and is my personal favorite. In the Top Hat musical number, Fred cleverly uses his gentleman's cane as a "machine gun." And the ever-so-tender cheek to cheek number where he is singing and dancing with Ginger makes me feel like I am dancing in heaven as well. A deleted scene in some prints in which Bates (Eric Blore) insults a policeman, is present in this DVD.

A running commentary with Ava Astaire McKenzie (daughter) includes background information about the supporting actors and trivia, such as the significance of the ring Fred wears in the film. And even though Ginger rides the horse in this movie, we learn that Fred is the real horse lover. Ava admits she does not know everything about her dad and his career, which adds to the authenticity of what she does know and contributes.

A behind-the-scenes look, the featurette, "On Top: Inside the Success of Top Hat" explains many intricacies and attention to detail in the making of the movie. Nothing is left to chance. You will appreciate all the names in the opening credits. It includes interviews with Ava Astaire McKenzie, archivists, and biographers with a mix of F&G photographs and film clips. (Run time 18:20)

"Watch the Birdie" is a comedy short with a young Bob Hope playing a prankster on a cruise ship who himself gets "pranked." It's sort of a let down after Top Hat, so I am not sure why it's included on the same DVD. (B&W, Run time 18:16)

"Page Miss Glory" (1936) is an old Merrie Melodies cartoon about the exploits around a bell boy in an upscale hotel. It has a touch of Busby Berkeley near the end. (Run time 7:43)

Theatrical Trailer (Run time 1:02)

This is a musical for those people who hate musicals...
I think you would have to be the biggest curmudgeon in the world not to find this movie fun and joyful. If this movie does not improve your mood, there is probably something seriously wrong with you.

I'm not kidding.

Not only am I not a fan of musicals, but I also am not a fan of dancing. I mean, watching dancing is okay, but I don't go out of my way to watch it.

But the dancing that Fred and Ginger do, here, is nothing short of brilliant. Not only that, it is so joyous. You can just tell that they (Fred, especially) just LOVES dancing! You feel it, and it makes YOU love dancing, too; you just can't help but love what they do, it is infectious.

Also, the story is very funny, full of improbably twists and turns, and very good comedic timing and jokes.

And of course, Ginger... Oh, to have been Fred, with those gorgeous eyes, that gorgeous face looking at me like that... She was way before my time, and is not "Playboy" beautiful. She's just so damned cute. How could anyone not find her irresistable?

I don't usually gush like this, you can check my other reviews. I guess this movie brings out the sap in me. What can I say?

I love this movie.

By the way, there seem to be 2 major camps: those who think this is the best of the Ginger and Fred movies, and those who think that honor goes to "Swing Time". My wife and I both found "Swing Time" to be far less satisfying than "Top Hat". Basically, the dancing and singing are about equally great; but the story of "Top Hat" is much better and the jokes much funnier in "Top Hat".

[...]

Many times when the subject of old-time, classic movies comes up, my father inevitably brings up the story of how as a child he was given a quater on his ninth birthday and sent off to a local Baltimore, movie theatre with his friends to see the now classic movie musical, "Top Hat". Just recently I purchased the DVD box set, "Astaire & Rogers Collection, Volume 1". Naturally, the first disc I viewed was "Top Hat". Well after seeing this disc, I now know, why my Dad over seventy years later, is still talking about this wonderful piece of cinematic, movie magic. To paraphrase an old Humphrey Bogart line, "this is the stuff that dreams are made of". Where do you start with what makes this movie great? You have to start with the pure magic of Fred Astaire & Ginger Rogers working together. This film is pretty much this duo's creative peak. You have Fred Astaire acting, cracking jokes, singing and best of all DANCING! If you wish to ever to see pure creative genuis at work, before your very eyes, then just watch this man's feet and body language. Astaire shows such elegance and grace, that he has now become the very definition of those words. As for Miss Rogers, her skills have been quite underrated in the past. You know the old cliche saying, "she could do anything he could do...but she could do it backwords (and in heels)". It's true! This pair's artistry and creative gifts perfectly match each other. My personal favorite moment in the movie is the extended dance sequence between the two during the song, "Cheek to Cheek". In the begining of the scene, when Astaire sings "I'm in heaven..." and then repeats the phrase, you really do believe him! The two dancers glide along the dance floor as though they are in a dream. When the music majestically swells and he dips her, there is truely a sense of romance and sensuality, that is completly overwelming. It really is a classic scene from movie history. Astaire & Rogers are joined by a classic cast of comic, character actors, who forever will go down in cinematic memory. There is Edward Everett Horton, who plays Astaire's stuffy show producer. He is the 'King of the comic, double-take'. His man-servant is played by the humorous actor, Eric Blore, who reminds me of a school boy, who knows he's played some sort of naughty prank. Horton's wife is played by actress, Helen Broderick, who seems to have made an art form out of delivering her lines with irony & sarcasm. Finally there is comic actor, Eric Rhodes with his hilariously way over the top, Italian accent (he puts Chico Marx to shame!) and his foppish ways. The songs in this film have now become popular standards, that have become engrained in our culture's musical consciousness. All are written by Composer, Irving Berlin and include classics such "Isn't This a Lovely Day", "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails", Cheek to Cheek" and "No Strings (I'm Fancy Free)". While countless performers have covered these songs, it is the Astaire & Rodgers renditions from this film, that is in our collective memory. Finally mention should be of the movies' beautiful costumes and especially the almost fantasy-like, art decco, stylized sets which seem to effortlessly transport the viewer to another world. Remember, this film was released during the height of the 'Great Depression'. It was tough times for many movie patrons back then. Well, for one hour fourty minutes through the singing, dancing, comedy and the fantastic visuals it must have made folks forget their troubles. These days I suspect this film can still work it's wonderful movie magic! The DVD picture itself is crystal clear and highlights the beautiful B&W photography. The sound is O.K. for a film from 1935. Extras include a short featurette on the making of the film, commentary from Astaire's daughter, a theatrical trailer, a Warner Bros. cartoon and a Bob Hope comedy short. For a night of great escapist entertaiment, I highly recommend the classic film "Top Hat"! Dad certainly liked it!

What a fantastic movie this is! It features wonderful music by Irving Berlin, wonderful elegance all around, and especially, wonderful Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, the best team in the history of movies. The movie glides along, and you glide with it, and are swept up in the sheer joy of it all. The plot is absurd: Ginger thinks Fred is her best friends' husband. Fred, of course has no idea of this and pursues Ginger relentlessly. All of this is just an excuse for singing and dancing, and there is plenty of it, to some timeless Irving Berlin songs. It is some of the best you'll ever see. From the first moment when Fred starts puttering around to the tune of "No Strings," you wind up with a big grin on your face and amazement at how good he is. Ginger Rogers was always his best partner, because she was a perfect foil and a great dancer as well. But there was more to it than that. She was also a good actress and had great comic timing and always seemed ready to go along with the silliness of the plot. Here her best moment (and the best dance in the movie) is "Isn't This A Lovely Day." It is set in a sort of gazebo in a rainstorm and it is marvelous- the two wind up moving into a little tap competition- then thunder is heard, Ginger leaps into Fred's arms, they break apart, the music begins getting faster and faster, and suddenly they are whirling around the gazebo in giddy joy. The whole movie is marvelous, in fact. There is not a moment where I was dissapointed. 100 minutes of sheer pleasure.

I expected fabulous dancing, but this movie is hilarious as well. I laughed until I cried. The plot centers around mistaken identity, which is a sure-fire comedic convention if done well, and it is done very well here indeed. Astaire and Rodgers are very funny, but the supporting players are masters of comedy. Highly enjoyable.

Between 1933 and 1939, Astaire and Rogers appeared in nine pictures for RKO. The fourth of these, TOP HAT is easily the most popular among fans. It epitomizes their legendary elegance, charm, sophistication and dancing style. Indeed, if one film crystallized their screen personalities it would be this one! Irving Berlin regarded his score for this film as the best he ever wrote for a film and the thoughtfully conceived and beautifully executed dances in the film give resonanace and meaning to the slender plot surrounding the stars at their zenith. The able comic performances of such veterans as Eric Blore, Edward Everett Horton and Helen Broderick (as the sardonic Madge Hardwick) are exquisite. A silly plot, romance, dapper outfits, art deco sets and plenty of terrific song and dance numbers make this a classic thirties production. The Irving Berlin score is superb ("Top Hat", "Cheek to Cheek") and the duo are seen gallavanting from London to Venice; Ginger and Fred are sensational while the supporting cast shines: Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, Erick Blore, Donald Meek and, in a bit as a flower clerk, 24 year-old blonde Lucille Ball. The film cost just over $600,000 to produce and made a profit of 3 million. Katharine Hepburn once sized up the Astaire/Rogers chemistry quite frankly: "He gives her class, and she gives him sex"! TOP HAT has a special quality which goes beyond the excellence of the singing, dancing and acting. Together Ginger and Fred created a uniquely blissful and distinctive screen presence; together they created a style and mood which is still remembered - and as many would say - unequalled.

Ask fans of Astaire and Rogers what their favorite film of their's is with the two. Chances are "Flyin' Down to Rio" may come up even "The Gay Divorcee" but I bet with almost certainty that "Top Hat" will be one you'll hear most of them say. Sure, "Swing Time" is also considered their best among some fans, but, "Top Hat" is my all-time favorite. It's also one of my 10 favorite films. This is Astaire and Rogers at their best with one of the best scores they ever sang and dances to, though "Shall We Dance" is a close runner-up (That movie had "Lets Call The Whole Thing Off", & "They Can't Can't That Away From Me"). Every song in here has become a standard. "Cheek to Cheek", "Isn't It A Lovely Day", "Top Hat, White Tie, & Tails", & "I'm Fancy Free".

This was the team's 4th film and already by now there was plenty of chemistry going on. The two knew how to play off each other. "Top Hat" is the film most people think stealed the deal and made them an offical "team". In their film before this "Roberta" they were reduced to supporting players. And didn't get to sing many songs. Irene Dunne received that honor.

The plot to "Top Hat" has Fred playing Jerry Travers an American dancer who is going to perform in a show put on by Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Soon, Jerry meets Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers). But, Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace after many mishaps occur. Now, this is a bit used often in Astaire & Rogers films. They used it in "The Gay Divorcee", & "Shall We Dance". But, here I think it's used best. Infact, if I could only recommend one movie for someone to see by the team, I would suggest this film. It has all the elements that made the team famous. Wonderful songs, good chemistry, great dancing, and an unbelieveable amount of charm.

Highlight moments in the film have to include one of the team's best remembered moments, Fred telling Ginger he's "in heaven" as they dance "Cheek to Cheek". Check out Fred's dancing in the "Top Hat, White Tie & Tails" number. A song that to this day is STILL associated with him. And I personally love when they dance to "Isn't It A Lovely Day".

Bottom-line: A timeless classic Astaire and Rogers musical. For my money and time, their best! Many standout moments.

Like most Astaire-Rogers musicals, this one has a ridiculous plot.It's the old mistaken identity routine! Ginger Rogers mistakes Fred Astaire for her best friend's husband and thus is shocked when Fred makes a pass (or several passes) at her. How is it possible that Ginger has never met her best friend's husband? The story makes it clear these two have been married for some time. Most Astaire-Rogers fans completely forget the silly plots and concentrate on the dancing. In this movie, you will not be disappointed in the routines, particularly the Isn't It a Lovely Day to be Caught in the Rain? number. No top hats, no tails, no marabou-trimmed gowns, just two people sheltering in a gazebo while a summer shower passes by. Ginger is in riding breeches while Astaire wears classy mid-afternoon tweeds. The number is simplicity itself, yet showcases the incredible talent of the two stars. Enjoy!

My favorite films list is somewhat fluid, with various flicks moving in and out of the top ten, top twenty-five, or top fifty at any given moment in time. But for several years, the top spot has been quite consistent, headed up by TOP HAT (14 viewings) and SEVEN SAMURAI (7 viewings).

If you can forgive the film its mildly silly story, and a couple of inane plot devices (it seems impossible that Ginger could believe her best friend's husband was Fred Astaire instead of Edward Everett Horton for well over half the film), this film can enchant like no other. The magnificence of the movie lies not merely in the genius of Fred Astaire, but in a myriad of details that surrounds perfection with perfection.

The cast is utterly beyond reproach. In fact, remove any one of the main supporting actors and the movie would have been perceptibly lessened. What a loss if Erik Rhodes had not been able to deliver such immortal lines as, "Never again will I let a woman wear my dresses" or "For the woman, the kiss; for the man, the sword." Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick, and Eric Blore round out a perfect cast.

But what really delights--in addition to the extraordinary dance numbers--on constant reviewing is all the marvelous details. For instance, just before going onstage to perform his famous "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails" number, Fred gets a telegram in which he learns that Dale Tremont (Ginger, whom he has been pursuing) will be in Venice. He frantically and excitedly makes arrangements to fly to Venice the second the show is over. He walks onstage, still holding the telegram in his hand, and begins singing, "I just got an invitation in the mail . . . " and taps the telegram with his cane before tossing it aside. Not a deep moment, but the movie is filled with delightful details like that.

A piece of trivia #1: In their famous "Cheek to Cheek" dance, Ginger wore one of her most famous dresses, made of hundreds of feathers. Unfortunately, the dress constantly shed as she moved about. This necessitated retake after retake after retake, as shot after shot was ruined by feathers flying all over the place. This was especially problematic because Fred's trademark was always dance numbers filmmed in as few shots as possible, and preferably in only one. Finally, them managed to get a take in which only a few feathers floated about. But even now, if you watch carefully, you will see a few rogue feathers wafting around them as they dance.

A piece of trivia #2: I once read that Venetian blinds (which apparently were not invented in Venice) are so-called because they appeared in the eerily white Venice of TOP HAT. (Ages ago, when I was trying to learn Danish, I learned that in Denmark, Danish Pastries are called Vienna Bread, so a lot of misinformation seems to swirl around Vienna.)

Okay, stop arguing all you Astaire and Rogers purists out there! Many fans DO put this one at the top of their list and we will not quarrel, after all it has Fred's signature "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" number complete with the shooting gallery choreography... But then there is SWING TIME and SHALL WE DANCE...

So let's just say it is "among the best" and let it rest there.

It all begins with a top hat at the Thackeray Club, where Fred--who plays, what else, an American dancer--has been waiting over long for his friend and impresario, Edward Everett Horton. The members of the Club keep the place silent and stuffy, but irrepressible Fred gives them a sample of his tap dancing as they depart and that sets the tone for the rest of the film.

The two go to Horton's residential hotel, where Horton prevails upon Fred to stay as he is having a tiff with his manservant Bates, played with droll comic panache by Eric Blore. Horton advises Fred that he needs a wife but Fred relishes the fact that he has "No Strings, No Connections" and sings and dances to prove it. This is one of two outstanding solo numbers for Fred in this film, and in it he ranges from brilliant staccato tapping to...later...a sand dance to end all sand dances.

It is however much too late in the day, and his tap-dancing in the de luxe Deco apartment (someday I want a room like that!) awakens poor Ginger who is downstairs recumbent on a none too shabby satin swathed bed. She complains to the management, they call Horton, he leaves to speak with them and since the dancing has not yet subsided, Ginger takes matters into her own hands by going up to confront the culprit who turns out to be Fred.

Fred falls in love with her immediately and she thinks he is rather cute if a tad impish and their relationship moves into its next phase when he commandeers the hansom cab she is taking to the riding stables and ends up dancing with her in a gazebo to "Isn't It a Lovely Day to be Caught in the Rain?" (The set by the way was the inspiration for the "Sixteen Going On Seventeen" gazebo number from "The Sound of Music").

This is a good place to talk about Fred's concept of the marks of a successful film dance number. First, he believed that the camera should be stationary, viewing the dance from one position (it is okay to pan). Then, he also felt that there should be three different tempos in a dance routine. Third, if possible, the routine should move the action of the plot forward. All three of these are aptly demonstrated in this number. Here, as always, pay attention to the way Ginger looks at Fred while they are dancing. It is one of the secrets of their chemestry as a dance partnership. (And to my way of thinking one of the major flaws in the way that today's ballroom dancers dance, scarcely looking at each other. In contrast to Fred and Ginger's spark and liveliness, it makes them look like they are nothing more than very accomplished dance zombies). This is one of the few numbers in which Ginger's feet are not partially obscured by a long hemline--so the viewer gets to see just how deft she was on the dancefloor.

This is also one of those numbers for which the team became famous in which we were asked to believe that Fred was making it up on the spot and that Ginger was such a quick study that she followed his every move as if by mental telepathy. And yes, the premise workes splendidly. There is an "anything you can do I can do better" character to this number that makes it as fresh today as it was when it was in first run movie houses.

Fred has a strange power over horses (horsepower) and seems to be winning over Ginger, too, but that only lasts till she gets mixed up and thinks that Fred is Horton who is married to her dear friend Madge (Helen Broderick) who is off in Venice but has wired to Ginger to come and visit her, in a telegram worded as if penned by Gertrude Stein. Are you still with me?

By the way, Ginger is a professional model, hired by Eric Rhodes in another of his pseudo-Italian comedic roles (this time, as a dressmaker), whose professional arrangement is that as Ginger wears his creations among the "smart people", the commissions will come rolling in. Not everyone sees the arrangement as quite so innocent including the hotel lobby florist and his assistant, played by Lucille Ball - look quick or you will miss her. After all, Rhodes is paying for all of Ginger's niceties, and as the florist says, "Her niceties are very nice!"

Phew! Fred finally gets to the theater and does the Top Hat number. This is one of the best solo dances ever filmed and has style and wit throughout. We could say it is Fred's signature dance, just as "Singin' in the Rain" is Gene Kelly's. Here, Fred shows us both his classy and his clever side as he finds himself beset by wanna-be lookalikes who he bests by turning his taps into 'amunition'. Stage designers take note, a simple backdrop and a hidden set of stairs can do wonders. And unlike the Warner musicals, where it would have been impossible to fit the sets on a stage even if it was the size of the airship hanger at Lakehurst, we BELIEVE that this is really happening on a real stage in a real London theatre.

While dressing for this dance, Fred finds out via Horton that Ginger is off to Venice and so has Horton order up a plane for the weekend. And off to Venice they go.

Walt Disney must have spent way too much time looking at the Hollywood version of Venice set; he stole it for his ride "It's a Small World".

No, Venice was never this white and never this moderne and the canals were never so pristine that you could put on a pair of water wings and go splashing about in them. Even so, is is an eye-popper.

Enough said. We aren't looking at the scenery so much as Ginger when she and Fred dance their romantic number "Cheek to Cheek" and the feathers literally fly from her fabulous gown. But as with Lucy, you have to keep a sharp eye to see them. This is a good routine to watch what Fred does with his hands--every bit as poetic as what they are doing with their feet. He thought his hands overly large and you can see how he holds his fingers in order to try to minimize their apparent size, throughout this dance.

Plot-wise... Ginger still thinks that Fred is married to Helen Broderick and so more mix ups and madcap mayhem ensue, with Fred thinking Ginger is a scheming woman and telling her she is a certain (fictitious) Madeline whom he met in Paris and who he called "Mad for short" and then adds comedic insult to injury by saying, "You've put on a little weight!"

About this same time, Horton hears more than a who as he confesses a slight indiscretion involving the bird house and a little chickadee, and more witty bon mots are tossed about.

Yet, it all comes out right in the end.

Oh, wait... There is still the big dance number--this time called the "Piccolino". Oh dear, it is a snappy tune with cute lyrics but it is filmed at a multitude of wrong angles and with ill chosen cuts, to boot (which is why this film does not get my top pick of their series). This is a major gaffe and something which no other reviewer mentions, here. Yes, Astaire and Rogers look swell and do some fancy footwork and we get to see it up close, but the movements of the other dancers are waisted -- spliced together so piecemeal that we miss what a good job they are doing. It would have been nice to see the number in its entirety without this choppy cutting--and given his ideas about how numbers should be photographed, Fred must have cringed. My guess, and I have never read anything to prove this, is that the number went on much longer a la "The Continental" in THE GAY DIVORCEE, but the front office insisted on a shorter running time. The end result is that one longs for the smoothly sophisticated photo work of "The Continental" or, if you prefer creative camera angles and cutting, just about anything by Busby Berkeley.

No wonder, for years afterward, couples across the USA were still dancing the Carioca (Flying Down to Rio) and the Continental (The Gay Divorce) but, pray tell, who but Ginger and Fred ever danced the Piccolino?

Even so, the happy pair concludes by dancing over the stairway of a canal bridge instead of their usual furniture, with Fred once more in a top hat, so all ends well.

It is an RKO Radio Picture--so of course it goes without saying--marvelous!