Rent Top Hat (1935)

Musical Classic. - Top Hat review by Steve

Fred and Ginger arrived as a starring double act with Top Hat. It was the first musical created for them, rather than the duo 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) .

 When Astaire and Rogers are dancing, particularly together, the film is sublime 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 whole world of style.

The duo performing Cheek to Cheek, with Ginger in that fluffy feather dress, is among their greatest routines. They present pure elegant romance and insinuate an unmissable sexual rapport. Astaire and Rogers together are one of the most enduring images of Hollywood in the 1930s. They must have looked otherworldly to audiences going through the depression.

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?