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A glamorous and enthralling Depression-era diversion, Top Hat is nearly flawless, with acrobatics by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that make the hardest physical stunts seem light as air. Read critic reviews
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Movie Info
The story centers on wealthy Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), on holiday in London and Venice. She assumes that American entertainer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick) -- who's actually the wife of Jerry's business manager Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton).
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Genre: Musical, Romance
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Original Language: English
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Director: Mark Sandrich
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Producer: Pandro S. Berman
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Writer: Aladar Laszlo, Károly Nóti, Allan Scott, Dwight Taylor
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Release Date (Theaters): wide
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Release Date (Streaming):
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Runtime:
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Distributor: RKO Radio Pictures
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Production Co: RKO Radio Pictures Inc.
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Sound Mix: Mono
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Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.37:1)
Cast & Crew
Critic Reviews for Top Hat
Audience Reviews for Top Hat
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It's not much more than a series of contrivances and excuses to get Fred and Ginger to dance but it's not like that's a problem.
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Fred Astaire is a fantastic dancer, sure, so light on his feet and making difficult moves look easy, but he's also an engaging as an actor. With his slicked back hair and those sly eyes, his interest and wooing of Ginger Rogers is charming. He's also smooth as he breaks out into several songs from the fantastic score by Irving Berlin, including 'Cheek to Cheek' ("Heaven...I'm in heaven...") and 'Top Hat, White Tie and Tails' ("I'm...puttin' on my top hat...tyin' up my white tie..."). It's such an iconic moment when the men's chorus momentarily disappears in the latter number, and the lights dim while Astaire dances solo; it's as if we're seeing a genius creating something out of nothing. I think my favorite performance was Ginger echoing Fred's moves in 'Isn't This a Lovely Day (To Be Caught in the Rain)?' She is something special as well, with as great a timing in the delivery of her lines as the timing in her dance moves, which she often performed in heels, a cumbersome dress, and needing to go backwards more often. While the film revolves around the music and Fred and Ginger's dancing, the supporting cast is quite entertaining as well, particularly Edward Everett Horton (Astaire's producer), Eric Blore (Horton's manservant), and Helen Broderick (Horton's wife). The premise is that Rogers thinks Astaire is the one married to Broderick, which, while silly, creates a number of humorous moments between the various characters. Blore is delightful in his cheeky role, and sometimes seems to be at the center of it all. There is little to find fault in the film; maybe the fact that 'Venice' looks like it's straight out of Las Vegas? Maybe that under the production code, some of the edge is sanded down? I don't know. For the musical genre, this is a landmark film, and I almost feel guilty not giving it an even higher score. There were certainly transcendent moments for me in the dancing; it was as if I was watching perfection, two people so supremely skilled and alive that it was if they never could have possibly aged, or been broken down by time. Perhaps with this film, we can imagine that they never really were.
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Yes it is unbelievably silly as most o fthe Astaire and Rogers films are but who can't love a bit of top flight dancing. This is the ultimate Astaire and Rogers treatment and it is a delight.
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"Heaven, I'm in heaven". The fourth film to pair up legendary duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, "Top Hat" features some legendary songs by Irving Berlin ("Top Hat, White Tie and Tails", and "Cheek to Cheek") and some very charming dance sequences by the two stars. When Horace and Madge (Edward Everett Horton, Helen Broderick) seek to set up their two friends on a date, the woman, Dale (Rogers) mistakes Jerry (Astaire) for Madge's husband, Horace. As Jerry woos Dale, she can only resist as a good friend should when said friend's husband is making plays for her. Dale's friend, Alberto Beddini is a fashion designer with eyes on his model, but she doesn't take him seriously. Then there's Bates, the butler of Horace who always refers to himself as a small group ("we will take your hat for you, sir") and lives to antagonize his boss. It's a light romantic comedy to be sure, but between all the nonsense there's some amazing dance numbers. There's something so familiar to the Astaire/Rogers asthetic that it may as well be ingrained in our collective subconscious. It is elegance and class personified, a depression-escaping fantasy to be sure, but it is beauty and art, both basic and complex. That these two still resonate so deeply within our hearts and minds, nearly eighty years later, is a testament to just how great they really were.
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