Astaire & Rogers Top Hat [VHS]

Astaire & Rogers Top Hat [VHS]
by Mark Sandrich

Astaire & Rogers Top Hat [VHS]

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Product details

Actor: Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Erik Rhodes, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers
Director: Mark Sandrich
Cinematographer: David Abel
Producer: Pandro S. Berman
Writer: Aladar Laszlo
Writer: Allan Scott
Writer: Dwight Taylor
Writer: K?roly N?ti
Writer: S?ndor Farag?
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Black & White, NTSC, Original recording reissued
Running Time: 101 minutes
Release Date: 1999-05-04
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Turner Home Entertainment/RKO
Studio: Turner Home Entertainment/RKO

VHS Movie Reviews of Astaire & Rogers Top Hat [VHS]

Movie Review: A shining vestige of a golden age
Summary: 5 Stars

Charming, absurd, witty, delightful. Wonderful music, fabulous decor, a dream cast. And two or three of the greatest dance numbers ever filmed. What more could you want?

Movie Review: Top Hat - When America was Tops
Summary: 5 Stars

There are two theories about human evolution. One is that we are moving forward - mankind has gone from using stone tools to computers and air conditioning. The other theory is that we are going backwards - the fall of the Roman Empire idea. If you subscribe to the latter, point of view, then you may not want to watch the movie, "Top Hat." It may only confirm your worst suspicions.

Filmed in 1935, the movie is not far off from being 100 years old.
That makes it as much of a time capsule as a movie! And although it is certainly tough to skip over your "Transformers II" DVD from NetFlix, you may find yourself rewarded for having another look at this old, old movie.

Let's consider it from a cultural standpoint.
Today, where I live in Florida, the "uniform" for men is cargo shorts, flip-flops, a t-shirt (hopefully with a pocket to make it more dressy) and a baseball cap. Back then, it wasn't even a suit and tie, it was a tuxedo, and not just a tuxedo, but a tuxedo with tails. And a fancy collar for the shirt. And a vest. With a pocket watch. And pocket squares. And cuff links. And shoes that were not just polished, but were patent leather, with these cool white things that fit over the top of them that I don't even know the name for, and I have a pretty decent vocabulary, if I do say so myself. And black buttons for the shirts. With hair not just groomed but sculpted and slicked back. You get the idea.

And as for the women, well, they wore hats, and I mean hats that were designed by artists and made by craftsman. Hats that could easily be in the museum today... not as historical artifacts, mind you, but as works of art. Someone sat there and thought these hats up, then made them, then women took the time to pick them out, and wear them. Not to mention the women's hairstyles, which were quite elaborate. I can only think the effects were achieved with curlers, which of course got a bad name when housewives started wearing them to the grocery stores in the 1950s. One more loss. Oh well.

And what did men argue about after having a martini and dancing (ballroom dancing, that is) till one in the morning? Things like whether it was permissible for a bow tie to have tapered rather than squared edges! Today most of us men could not even tie a bow tie.

Men don't wear hats today, we wear "caps."
Not only did men wear real hats back then, like fedoras, they sometimes even wore top hats. And they didn't just wear top hats back then, they named movies after them. Think about that for a second. How would that go over today? Now showing, "Die Hard 4," "Transformers 2," and "Top Hat." The studio marketing guys would cringe at the thought... script writers would lose their jobs at the mere suggestion of that for a title.

And of course, less we think this is all just make believe, that it was never really like that, that it was just a movie, there is Fred Astaire, plain to see through the magic of celluloid, who could dance like no one can today. As though to say, all this is no illusion: We really were at a level of culture then that cannot be even imagined today. Any more than we can imagine naming a movie, "Top Hat."

But don't despair. Today we have all kind of wonderful new things they didn't have back then - like McDonald's, the Internet, and ... blogging. Curtis

Movie Review: Putting on the Ritz to Irving Berlin tunes
Summary: 4 Stars

To get the picture of why this movie was such a hit , you have to realize that 1935 was the height of the depression in America.
Here we have a picture of a life of extreme ( almost heaven like)
living by a beautiful couple who sing and dance.
Fred Astaire was one of the first musical superstars in the movies.
Some of his stomping steps are more Spanish than anything,
but he was popular for his singing as well.
Ginger Rogers was the perfectly beautiful blond bomb shell who could dance.
The acting wasn't really much, but we don't expect it to be.
Rich people hiring airplanes to fly down to the Italian Rivera
and staying in hotels
that remind one of Roman palaces?
The result is still fantastic 80 years later!

Movie Review: Top Notch
Summary: 5 Stars

This is a brilliant film. It starts right out of the blocks, with Fred's tap barrages disturbing Ginger's sleep...and logically moves into the great comedy of the buggy scene...and the thrill of the pavilion dance in the rain. The first 25 minutes are beyond the pale of criticism...It is PERFECT....and it's pretty rare to employ that word.

I think it drags just a little in the middle...until the climax of the great, evocative, and extremely graceful "Cheek to Cheek" song and dance. Punctuated by Fred getting slapped.

As their first original script for them, it's an example of the "integrated" musical. But what is interesting still today, is that it is not overly integrated. There's something lost, imho, when too much integration makes the numbers too flat with the plot...so there is no anticipation, and no high points, no low points...making the plot dominate over the brilliance, and often...as in this film...the incredibly rich nuance of their dancing...supported by one of the greatest music scores of all time, by Irving Berlin.

The end of the film is also quite rightly capped by a brilliant dance of joy and celebration..."The Piccolino". It just doesn't get any better than this...at least until "Let's Face the Music and Dance"...and of course, the even greater...to many viewers..."Swing Time".

Generations of audiences, way into the far future, will be delighted with the sparkling intelligence that went into the creation of this timeless film.

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.

Write your own review

Summary of Astaire & Rogers Top Hat [VHS]

Even the best Fred and Ginger musicals are merely lavish excuses for some of the most elegant dancing ever put on screen, and Top Hat is no exception. The story is a silly but timeless tale of mistaken identity that compounds itself to extremes. Fred Astaire is the famous American hoofer Jerry Travers, in London preparing for a new show with his befuddled producer Horace Hardwick (the always entertaining Edward Everett Horton) when he falls for Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers), a lovely, wisecracking American girl as light on her feet as Jerry. Dale believes Jerry to be Horace, the husband of her best friend Madge (Helen Broderick) and rebuffs his advances by marrying her dressmaker Alberto (Erik Rhodes), but in the best tradition of musical comedy, true love finds its own way. Practically the entire cast of the 1934 hit The Gay Divorcee reunites for this frothy confection, along with director Mark Sandrich, designer Van Nest Polglase, and choreographer Hermes Pan. Irving Berlin provides a tuneful score, including "Cheek to Cheek," which provides a classic duet for Astaire and Rogers, and "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails," which remains one of Astaire's finest solo numbers. Polglase outdoes himself with sets both elegant and outrageous and Hermes Pan's choreography is as smooth as ever, but ultimately it's the grace and chemistry of the leads that makes Top Hat top entertainment. --Sean Axmaker

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