Is there any dancing duet more iconic than that of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers? In 1933 they paired up for Flying Down to Rio and ended up co-starring in a total of ten films together, lighting up the screen with their vocals and, even more importantly, their dancing which they made look effortless. Their ability to dance intuitively together has influenced countless films including most recently the Academy Award nominated La La Land which actually lifted some of their moves directly. They had a way of moving together that at times seemed to defy gravity and would leave audiences spellbound, forgetting the countless hours it must have taken for those two, rehearsing those dances until they had them down perfectly. Just watch any of the dance numbers between these two and you will understand exactly what I’m saying. They are technologically perfect and are physically and emotionally in sync.
Their 1935 film, Top Hat, is no exception to this observation. Strip out the musical numbers and dance sequences and what you have left is a simple film about mistaken identity, one of hundreds. American dancer Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) arrives in London to star in a stage show for bumbling producer Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Jerry is a tap dancer and, while practicing his moves in his hotel bedroom, the noise of the tapping disturbs the tenant in the room below, Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers). She storms upstairs demanding he stop at once so that she can get some sleep. He falls instantly in love with her. She, on the other hand, mistakes him for Horace Hardwick who is married to her friend Madge (Helen Broderick).
Dale, upset over the assumed impropriety, runs away to Venice to avoid “Horace” and tells Madge what has happened. Madge, used to her husband being a little flirty, dismisses Dale’s complaints, thinking the girl is overreacting to the situation. Jerry, with the real Horace in tow, follows Dale to Venice. More confusion over who is who erupts and Dale is appalled when she assumes Madge is pushing her into the arms of “Horace” when Madge is actually pushing her towards Jerry not knowing Dale thinks Jerry is Horace. When Dale tells her that “Horace” has proposed to her, Madge, thinking her husband is going to leave her for Dale, confronts the real Horace and socks him in the eye. Eventually things will get sorted out but not before Dale runs off and marries the pompous dress maker Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhides) whose gowns she has been modeling. Beddini, who is as proud as he is hotheaded, hears from Dale that she is being chased by the married Horace and is willing to kill to defend his new wife’s honor.
Top Hat has all the elements of a screwball comedy and does a good job keeping all of it up in the air. This is in large part due to the delightfully over the top persona of Fred Astaire. There is so much energy in the characterization of Jerry Travers that it’s impossible not to like him even when he is being too enthusiastic in his pursuit of Dale. Early on he takes over the duties of a horse drawn carriage she has engaged, even though he is unable to control it, risking their safety. At first she is charmed somewhat by his dogged determination but she is also weary of him. Later he sends her flowers, lots of them, charged to Horace’s room which facilitates her confusion of his identity. When he approaches her again she is firmly convinced he is the married Horace and slaps him hard and flees to Venice determined to escape his reach.
Ginger meets Fred beat for beat. When Jerry meets up with Dale and Madge and invites the former to dance, she is confused that Madge would be so cavalier about her “husband.” As Jerry sweeps her into his arms and they start to dance, Dale keeps looking confusedly at Madge, wondering how any woman could be so carefree about a philandering spouse. Madge just keeps gesturing for her to continue on, not realizing Dale’s confusion. Ginger sells her confusion and initial revulsion. Then she shrugs it off as if to say, if she’s fine with it I can go through this dance, too. This dance number is perhaps the most iconic of the film, beginning with the melodious orchestrations of “Cheek to Cheek” before segwaying into Fred Astaire singing “Heaven. I’m in heaven…”, a song Irving Berlin penned in less than a day but Fred Astaire made timeless and eternal. Fred and Ginger’s dance that follows transforms from a basic slow dance into an extravagant duet that ends so dramatically and beautifully that, had it been preformed on stage the production would have had to halt to allow for an extended standing ovation. They move as one and some of those moves seem almost impossible, yet they could do it. It’s so graceful and powerful and mesmerizing and the two make it look easy and incredibly difficult at the same time.
Top Hat didn’t need to be as good as it is. It could have glided on the charisma of its two leads and still made a fortune at the box office. The basic plot isn’t all that original but, quite frankly, that doesn’t matter. Everything just works despite all that. Irving Berlin’s songs juxtaposed with some truly stellar choreography by Astaire and Hermes Pan, liven up the film, even when the two stars are not on screen. There are large, ensemble dance numbers that will make you wish you had been there to see how it was all accomplished yet at the same time you don’t want any of that spoiled and ruin the magic. One such number breaks out into an elaborate performance involving women wrapped up in sashes used like a tether as they spin away from their partners, unraveling and raveling back up in a way that is almost hypnotic, symbolizing how Dale seems tethered to Jerry even as she keeps trying to remove herself from him.
This is a beautifully made film that benefits immensely from the charisma if the leads as well as the emotional musical numbers by Irving Berlin. The comedy is spot on with Edward Everett Horton practically stealing the show as the bumbling, and often confused, Horace. His assistant Bates (Eric Blore) gets some memorable moments, too, as his is ordered to keep an eye on Dale, something that ends up being a bit of a plot convenience in the final act. Even better than Horton or Blore, however, is Erik Rhodes playing Beddini. Bedinni talks about himself in the first person and thinks very highly of himself. He’s the quintessential caricature of a male fashion designer of the period. All of these characters add flavor to a picture that was wildly popular back in 1935 and has stood the test of time, enduring in the cultural zeitgeist. Now, nearly ninety years later, it is as fresh and enjoyable to watch as it was back in 1935.
Academy Award Nominations:
Outstanding Production: Pandro S. Berman
Best Song: “Cheek to Cheek” by Irving Berlin
Best Art Direction: Carroll Clark and Van Nest Polglase
Best Dance Direction: Hermes Pan
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Release Date: August 29, 1935
Running Time: 101 Minutes
Not Rated
Starring: Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers
Directed By: Mark Sandrich
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