Top Hat
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Movie Reviews of Top Hat
Movie Review: One of the screen's all time great musicals.
Summary: 5 Stars
If you ever need to see a movie that picks you up when you are down, you can never go wrong with a movie starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The joyful "Top Hat" is one of their very best.
Fred is a famous American tap dancer, Jerry. At a hotel in London, his room is located above that of Dale(played by Ginger), an American fashion model. When he dances the song "No Strings" in the middle of the night, she goes upstairs to complain. He knows right away that he likes her.
When she goes back down to her room, he puts sand on the floor, and dances a soft shoe. This puts her to sleep, the first of many charming scenes.
Dale is interested in Jerry, too. But when Dale mistakes Jerry for the husband of her friend, Madge(Helen Broderick), she thinks he's a cheating playboy. Madge's husband Horace (Edward Everett Horton) just happens to be a friend of Jerry's.
Dale decides to run off with the fashion designer Alberto (Erik Rhodes) and marry him in Venice. When Jerry realizes the misunderstading, he must get to Venice to stop Dale from marrying a man she doesn't truly love. Fine support is provided by Eric Blore as Horace's right hand man, whose job it it is to follow Dale. Look fast for Lucille Ball as a flower shop clerk.
Director Mark Sandrich ("The Gay Divoree") keeps the witty script moving at a nice, fast pace. The whole look of the film, including an art deco Venice,is stunningly beautiful.
The best parts are, of course, the production numbers.They are choreographed by Hermes Pan, with the music by Irving Berlin.
The score is Berlin's best. "Cheek to Cheek" is one of Fred and Ginger's most romantic dances. "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails", with Fred mowing down his male backing chorus with his cane, is a delight. "Isn't It A Lovely Day To Be Caught In The Rain", a Fred and Ginger dance at a gazebo, is sweet. "The Piccolino",is sung by Ginger and she dances with Fred to it. This song was the last time Fred allowed a large scale production number in one of his movies. In the future, the focus would be on Fred and his partner, not dozens of dancers.
"Top Hat" was nominated for four Oscars, inclding Best Picture. It also turns up on many lists of great musicals.
The print of the film for this DVD is top notch. There is also an okay Bob Hope short and a cute cartoon called "Paging Miss Glory".
A new "making of" short about the movie is included. There is also a commentary track by Fred's daughter Ava and film historian Larry Billman, that is worth a listen ,if only once.
This DVD is worth the price.
Movie Review: The best of the Astaire & Rogers movies
Summary: 5 Stars
Of the ten films the duo made together, this is probably the best film in all categories of what made their movies great. First of all there is a wonderful supporting cast in the persons of four character actors, all of which had repeat performances in at least one other Astaire & Rogers movie. They all play essential roles in the film, and I can't imagine "Top Hat" with any one of them missing, yet none of them manages to get in the way. Also, the music of Irving Berlin adorns the film, and there is not one song that is less than five stars. Astaire & Rogers' movies tended to have fairly simple comedic plots, but this one is funnier than usual, with a series of misunderstandings that would have probably made this a good screwball comedy even without the musical numbers. The basic misunderstanding has to do with Ginger Rogers' character believing that Fred Astaire's character is actually the husband of one of her closest friends. Ginger is not only offended by the fact that she is being openly pursued by someone that she thinks is a married man, but she is confounded by her friend's seemingly casual attitude towards the entire situation. Last but not least, there is the enduring chemistry of Astaire and Rogers themselves and the beauty of their dance numbers. Ginger Rogers was a very good actress in her own right, and she knew that just because the music started the acting did not stop. She wasn't a great dancer, but she was good enough and got better as time went on. As for Astaire, he was probably the best individual dancer we'll ever see, plus he exuded pure class. Audiences flocked to these movies back in the 1930's for the music, for the chemistry of the lead duo, and for the pure escapism these films provided. I still recommend "Top Hat" for all of these same reasons today.Movie Review: Quintessential Fred & Ginger (a DVD Review)
Summary: 5 Stars
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)
Movie Review: I generally can't stand musicals, but...
Summary: 5 Stars
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".
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Movie Review: Sublimely silly story: celestial dancing
Summary: 5 Stars
The story is so astoundingly idiotic, while at the same time very funny and wildly unpredictable, that it actually provides a perfect vehicle for the magical miracle of the dancing of Rogers and Astaire. The viewer's mind gets attuned the idea that almost anything may happen, and the truth is that in the dancing, especially the Cheek-to-Cheek number, quite supernatural events are seen to occur. Watching the couple perform that number, with Rogers in that incredible gown, I felt that they were so incomparably matched that something beyond normal belief was happening. Floating on air doesn't begin to describe it. The dizzying zaniness of the plot, riddled with holes and insanity at every turn, and the quite impossible deco design of the sets, merely added to the general sense of visual intoxication. Astaire's features and physical skills were quite unlike those of any other human being, as though he were some sort of otherworld elf; and Rogers was a comedienne to die for. She was a wonderful, delightful actress, with an extraordinarily mobile and expressive face, as well as a marvellous dancing partner. The other very striking number was Top Hat, with its parody of the St Valentine's Day massacre, injecting a sinister undercurrent of violence below all the surface froth and the fluff. There was a strong feel of Busby in some of the numbers. Berlin easily beats the Gershwins, in my book. Some of the ludicrous scenes and dialogue are laugh out loud hilarious. A masterpiece, that positively reeks of class.