Top Hat

The stage star, Jerry Travers, disturbs a young woman's sleep by tap-dancing on the floor of a hotel room directly above hers. The young woman is Dale Tremont, a beautiful fashion model. In the course of the movie plot, by way of London, Venice and the usual snags of mistaken identity, the two youngsters flirt, dance and fall in love.

Fred Astaire was a huge Broadway star and social lion long before he ever saw the inside of a film studio. A lucky pairing with Ginger Rogers (a film star in her own right) in "Flying Down To Rio" (1933) led on to a series of smash hits throughout the 1930's. "Top Hat" was the third film the couple made together, and for this one RKO Radio started getting serious, bringing in the legendary Irving Berlin to write the sparkling songs.

This picture was preceded a year earlier by "The Gay Divorcee", and is a repeat prescription of that successful formula - wealthy, elegant characters, frivolous lifestyles, light-hearted love and sumptuous dance numbers. It is not merely the storyline of 'Divorcee' that is repeated here - alongside Fred and Ginger, several of the cast members reappear. Edward Everett Horton was the lawyer Egbert in the earlier film, and here he is Horace the impresario, but is still Fred's bumbling buddy. Eric Blore was the wisecracking waiter, now he is the sarcastic valet: Erik Rhodes plays Italian buffoons in both films - Tonetti in 'Divorcee', Beddini here. Watch out for the girl florist ... it's Lucille Ball, two years into a very long and busy showbiz career.

The film's first number is "Fancy Free", an amiable little ditty which sets the prevailing tone of easy gaiety. Fred leads into it very nicely, his speech becoming more and more rhythmic until he lifts off into song.

"It's A Lovely Day" has a great tune, witty choreography, a thunderstorm and a superb bandstand set. Yet the song everyone associates with this movie is "Top Hat, White Tie And Tails": it doesn't involve Ginger at all, but Fred makes up for that by being in breathtaking form, his performance exuding athleticism, grace, poise and assurance.

Ginger gets her turn to sing with "The Piccolino", a song designed to accord with the plot's Venetian setting. It is the weakest number in the movie, and Ginger sings it without conviction.

In order for the plot knots to unravel, it is necessary for Horace to be kept apart from his wife Madge for 24 hours, even though they haven't met for weeks and they are staying in the same hotel. This is highly artificial, but such flaws are rendered negligible by the sweeping climax of "Cheek To Cheek", the splendid finale in which Fred and Ginger get to dance as lovers.

Verdict - Immortal stylish music and dance.

When whipping up the froth of a musical comedy most creators and commentators forget that fateful second word . . . COMEDY. Not to take away from Astaire & Rogers' beautiful balletic grace, but no one ever gave more comedy more modestly yet more professionally than Edward Everett Horton. His triple-barreled name alone suggests haughty dignity and sniffing puritanism, and his role in this film, as in so many others, gives him ample scope to screw up his mouth in petty disdain, look aghast at social blunders, and sputter in disbelief over the foibles of others while generously ignoring his own idiocies. Horton is a reactor, one which boosts a fairly pedestrian plot to the Moon & beyond. Like Margret DuMont with the Marx Brothers, there is something about the pernickity Horton that begs us to tilt his top hat and fling a banana peel his way just for the delightful reaction we are sure of getting. Perplexed or chagrined, the hatchet-faced Horton is a monument to the lost art of supporting clown -- those dumb bunnies and prissy busybodies that used to inhabit movies and give them life & breath even when the big-shot stars were off the screen. Horton had impeccable timing in delivering a line or flashing a double-take -- you feel he could just as easily count the nano-seconds between the neutron pulses of an atom. If he seems to intrude too much into the musical numbers of this movie it's simply because the director/editor must have been overly fond of his coy mugging. I recommend that music lovers rewatch this film and concentrate on Edward Everett Horton. Your attention will be well-rewarded with deep chuckles and an abiding affection for this New England zany.

I'm only just now beginning to realize how silly the plot and some of the comedy was in this movie. When I watched it, it was perfectly wonderful, and I smiled all the way through. Fred and Ginger, of course, are perfect, whether dancing so memorably to the likes of "Isn't It a Lovely Day" and "Cheek to Cheek" or pitching woo. Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, and Helen Broderick kept it moving with their throughly entertaining comedy relief. Even almost 65 years after its premeire, it's still in tip-top condition, both in the print and in its impact, on first viewing, at least. (I'm afraid to watch it again, for fear the impact will be destroyed.)

I've seen almost all of Fred and Ginger's pictures since viewing this. Some are good, some less so, and all have their moments of excellence. But none of them matched this one in my mind for sheer feel-goodness. The ones that came closest were Swing Time, Shall We Dance, and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle and The Barkleys of Broadway, the last two because they had quite plausible stories, (and in the case of Castle, one based on real life). But still, Top Hat is Fred and Ginger at their best, and hopefully will always stay that way in my mind.

This classic is fine entertainment with plenty of everything - humor, singing & dancing, good writing, and lavish sets and costumes. The only thing missing is a plot, but too much story might have taken attention away from everything else that makes "Top Hat" enjoyable to watch.

Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are talented and charming as a somewhat star-crossed couple. The whole story line is that Ginger thinks Fred is someone else (who is married instead of single) and thus misinterprets and rejects his advances. Their many abilities and a fine script make this paper-thin plot seem not only acceptable but amusing. Edward Everett Horton is both funny and indispensable as Fred's friend (and the man whom Ginger thinks Fred is), and the rest of the supporting players are also quite good.

This is the kind of carefully produced classic that offers many reasons for watching - see it if you have the chance, whether or not you usually like musicals.

Top Hat is a terrific musical about mistaken identity that pushes the "joke" to the limit but never takes it self very seriously. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers are perfect as actors, dancers, and pals in this engaging comedy with several great dance numbers.

Astaire does a great solo (with male chorus line) to Top Hat and teams with Rogers in The Piccolino, Isn't It a Lovely Day, and Cheek to Cheek. All excellent. During The Piccolino number they seem to be having so much fun it's contagious and it seems like the entire number is done in ONE TAKE! Co-starring are 4 great actors who all turn in splendid performances. Helen Broderick is Madge, the frustrated and wise-cracking wife. Edward Everett Horton is Horace, the henpecked but conniving husband. Eric Blore is the valet, and Erik Rhodes is Beddini. Each gets his/her turn in the spotlight. Broderick was the perfect "older" woman as sidekick, Horton and Blore are a great comedy team of scene stealers, and Rhodes has a ball fracturing English. Lucille Ball has a bit part as the florist's assistant.

Central of course are Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire. The Cheek to Cheek number is a classic and is fun to watch the feathers fly off Ginger's dress. My favorite is The Piccolino, especially when it breaks into a swing number and the dancers can really cut loose. Great fun.

One drawback is the UGLY set decorations that are in the same style no matter where they are. It's all that white-on-white stuff with hideous Greek decals and floral sprays everywhere. Even the scenes in Venice are all white right down to the gondolas. And just why are people swimming in the canals?