Barnes & Noble

Certainly the best of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers vehicles (and one of the finest movie musicals to boot), Top Hat is a delicious confection of song and dance, sweetened with sophisticated screwball comedy. It was the perfect pick-me-up for 1935's Depression-weary audiences, and viewers will find it just as delectable more than 65 years later. Astaire plays a vacationing stage star who, immediately smitten by Rogers, decides to follow her to Venice. When Ginger mistakes Fred for the husband of her tart-tongued friend Helen Broderick, an unregenerate matchmaker, she is outraged by his advances, believing him to be already married. (Actually, prissy Edward Everett Horton is Broderick's husband, and the misunderstanding is compounded because he's also financing Astaire's London show). Everything's straightened out at the end, but not before Astaire and Rogers have dazzled us with their interpretations of such classic Irving Berlin tunes as "Cheek to Cheek," "Isn't This a Lovely Day?" and, of course, the unforgettable "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails." Their dancing duets are impeccably performed in elegant Art Deco surroundings, with witty dialogue and superb comic performances more than adequately compensating for the plot's airiness. Bright and bubbly, Top Hat hasn't lost an iota of its charm in the decades following its original release -- and lovers of Hollywood movie musicals urgently need to have it in their home libraries. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

One of the best of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musicals, Top Hat centers on a typical mistaken-identity plot, with wealthy Dale Tremont (Rogers), on holiday in London and Venice, assuming that American entertainer Jerry Travers (Astaire) is the husband of her friend Madge (Helen Broderick) -- who's actually the wife of Jerry's business manager Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Complicating matters is Dale's jealous suitor Beddini (Erik Rhodes), whose motto is "For the woman the kiss -- for the man the sword." Beddini is disposed of by some last-minute chicanery on the part of Jerry's faithful valet Bates (Eric Blore), paving the way for the happy ending everyone knew was coming from the opening scene. The Irving Berlin score includes ""Cheek to Cheek," ""Isn't it a Lovely Day?," and the jaunty title song. The charisma of the stars, the chemistry of the supporting players, the white-telephone art direction of Van Nest Polglaise, the superlative choreography by Astaire and Hermes Pan, and the effervescent direction of Mark Sandrich all combine to make Top Hat a winner. Originally released at 101 minutes, the film was for many years available only in its 93-minute reissue form; it has since been restored archivally to 99 minutes. Hal Erickson

Product Details

• UPC: 053939659023
• Source: TURNER HOME ENT
• Region Code: 1
• Aspect Ratio: Full Frame
• Presentation: B&W
• Editions: Remastered, Subtitled
• Time: 1:40:00
• Sales Rank: 2,715

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Astaire & Rogers Collection - Volume 1

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