SYNOPSIS

Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is an American dancer in London, a high-spirited, dapper man with a penchant for breaking into dance whenever the urge strikes him. Having already disrupted the stuffy men's club where he has gone to meet his friend Horace (Edward Everett Horton), Jerry next disturbs the sleep of fashion model Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) by tap dancing in the hotel room above hers. Dale storms up to complain, and Jerry falls for her. Over the course of a few days, during which the two dance under a park gazebo in a heavy downpour, she begins to fall for him too. But a letter she receives from her friend Madge (Helen Broderick) convinces her that Jerry (whose name she doesn't know) is really Horace, Madge's husband, so Dale takes off for Venice with her Italian dress designer Alberto Beddini (Erik Rhodes). Romantic complications ensue until Horace and Madge set everything right and unite the two young lovers.

Director: Mark Sandrich
Producer: Pandro S. Berman
Screenplay: Dwight Taylor, Allan Scott, based on the play by Alexander Farago and Aladar Laszlo
Cinematography: David Abel
Editing: William Hamilton
Art Direction/Set Design: Van Nest Polglase, Carroll Clark, Thomas Little
Music: Irving Berlin
Choreography: Hermes Pan, Fred Astaire (uncredited)
Cast: Fred Astaire (Jerry Travers), Ginger Rogers (Dale Tremont), Edward Everett Horton (Horace Hardwick), Helen Broderick (Madge Hardwick), Erik Rhodes (Alberto Beddini), Eric Blore (Bates).
BW-101m.

Why TOP HAT is Essential

While America was in the throes of the Great Depression, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers were doing what they did best inside movie theatres, serving up a glittering, tuneful helping of witty, debonair, escapist fun. It was a formula for great commercial success not just in those tough times but one that would carry their appeal to this day and into movie history ­ flitting from London to Venice, from New York to Paris; done up in Top Hat, white tie and tails and over-the-top evening gowns; introducing one hit song after another by some of the country's finest composers; and, of course, dancing through impossibly elaborate and romantic Art Deco sets.

Those would be the fairly consistent hallmarks of the nine movies the duo made at RKO in the 30s (they teamed once more, in 1949, for The Barkleys of Broadway at MGM). Critics and fans are divided about which of their films is their personal favorite, but just about everyone agrees that Top Hat is certainly the most characteristic, the most memorable, and the one that set the tone for the series. In fact, it set the tone for an entire era of movie musicals. Not only did it fully capture and develop all the elements audiences would come to expect from an Astaire-Rogers picture, it firmly established them as one of the great movie dance teams of all time.

As with so many great Hollywood stories, however, this inspired pairing almost never happened. It was not a likely teaming in the first place. Rogers was an ambitious Depression era actress who worked her way up from vaudeville with aspirations toward great dramatic parts, not frothy musicals. Astaire was one of Broadway's biggest stars in the 1920s, but when he made his debut in what was virtually a walk-on (or at least "dance-on") part in the Joan Crawford-Clark Gable vehicle Dancing Lady (1933), his physical features were criticized by some critics who said he was too skinny and slightly balding to be a leading man. New York Times film critic Bosley Crowther said Astaire's face resembled a happy Stan Laurel. MGM didn't know what to do with him after that brief appearance, so RKO picked him up for his next film Flying Down to Rio (1933). Many people think of that as an Astaire-Rogers picture, but the actual stars were Dolores del Rio and Gene Raymond (Rogers and Astaire were billed fourth and fifth, respectively, behind the now-forgotten Raul Roulien). Furthermore, Rogers wouldn't have been paired with Astaire if Dorothy Jordan, who was cast in the role, hadn't dropped out to marry producer Merian C. Cooper. So the two got together after all, and by the time of their pairing in Top Hat, their early imperfections were working in their favor. A quote attributed to Katharine Hepburn defined the benefit of their teaming - he gave her class, and she gave him sex appeal.

For all the romance associated with their movies, the two actually never kissed until well into the series. Yet most audiences probably remember a more passionate on-screen connection between the two. That's because Astaire preferred to play out the romance and sexuality in dance. In picture after picture, the elegant, smooth Fred found himself smitten with the generally scornful Ginger and always managed to break down her resistance in at least one perfectly seductive dance number. Top Hat has such a number ("Cheek to Cheek"), but the sexiest moment occurs with the two in completely different rooms. He has just woken her up with loud tap dancing in the hotel room above hers. After a stormy confrontation, she returns to her bed, he sprinkles sand on the floor and dances on it with soft, caressing movements as she snuggles back to sleep.

Movies like Top Hat proved an instant hit, and exhibitors began demanding more pictures featuring the duo. After Rio, producer Pandro Berman put together The Gay Divorcee (1934), a film version of Astaire's stage hit, The Gay Divorce, a title the censors found more offensive for some reason. Astaire initially objected to the choice of Rogers as his costar and gave in only when Berman offered him ten percent of the profits.

Stories like that probably gave rise to the rumors that Astaire and Rogers hated each other and rarely spoke off camera. Both stars spent years denying that impression, but it has persisted. Although they were never close friends and had their share of difficulties (see "Behind the Camera"), the two seemed to respect each other's talents and often shared moments of joy and satisfaction in working together. Any animosity between them generally arose from career concerns. Rogers had an increasingly busy career at RKO apart from Astaire, and often had less time to work out dance numbers the way her perfectionist co-star would have preferred. And she often complained about being seen merely as his dance partner. As for Astaire, he didn't object to Rogers so much as the idea of being part of a team. He had been coupled on stage with his own sister Adele for many years, and as he explained to his agent, Leland Hayward, "I'd rather not make any more pictures for Radio [RKO] if I have to be teamed with one of those movie 'queens.' ...If I'm ever to get anywhere on the screen it will be as one not as two."

Nevertheless, Astaire couldn't argue with the success the pairing brought to both of them, and because he had a great deal of control over the pictures' quality (he did most of the choreography, uncredited, with the assistance of Hermes Pan and insisted on shooting all the dance numbers full-on with a minimum of cuts), he was able to come to terms, at least for a while, with being part of a team. Top Hat was the first film written specifically for the pair, and the title song ­ and costume ­ would become Astaire's signature.

by Rob Nixon