Rent Top Hat (1935)

Silly Story, Incredible Dancing - Top Hat review by GH

Quite amusing in places, if you suspend disbelief but it’s the dancing that draws you in.  Was there ever a better duo of such sublime brilliance?

Musical Classic. - Top Hat review by Steve

This confirmed Fred and Ginger as a starring double act. It was the first musical created for them, rather than being cast into an existing project. It is a continental farce set in London and an extremely artificial art deco Venice with the classic device of mistaken identity keeping the sparring Americans abroad apart until the final reel.

 Fred handles the screwball dialogue pretty well, though Ginger is given little to do outside the dance spectaculars. The support cast is very much at home among the frou-frou of the plot, particularly Eric Blore as the unctuous valet of a bemused toff  (Edward Everett Horton). They seem far more married than Horton does to his wisecracking wife (Helen Broderick) .

Of course, when the stars are dancing, particularly together, the film is a beautiful dream and they have some wonderful Irving Berlin songs to perform. There's the chic swing of Top Hat, White Tie and Tails with Fred backed by a male chorus line. The star dancing in his tails with a cane implies a sublime world of sophisticated style.

The routine for Cheek to Cheek, with Ginger in that fluffy feather dress, is legendary. They present pure elegant romance and insinuate an unmissable sexual rapport. Astaire and Rogers together are among the most enduring images of Hollywood in the 1930s. They are the eternal essence of golden age Hollywood glamour.