TOP HAT is the fourth of ten movies that Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers made together. It was nominated for several Academy Awards and is considered to be one of their best musicals. I remember watching this movie when I was a kid and still catch myself singing the Irving Berlin songs from it. "Cheek to Cheek" in particular was my favorite and it was probably because of the dress. That glorious white feathery dress is absolutely the stuff little girl dreams are made of.
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| See? Dreamy... |
It was really interesting to watch this film again as an adult. I knew that they could sing and dance and tap but I didn't know that Ginger Rodgers could ACT. Fred does a lot of mugging and face-pulling which is as choreographed and meticulous as his dancing. (Actually, I found out that most of the Astaire-Rodgers films were planned by Fred via flowchart, with the timing for musical numbers and jokes planned and graphed for the screenwriters and composers to follow.) Ginger, however, is an actor and keeps on acting through the dance numbers.
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| It's like Jane Eyre in a 3 minute dance. |
So, my favorite song and my favorite number, "Cheek to Cheek", when viewed as an adult, takes on a whole new meaning thanks to Ms Rodger's performance. Her character believes Fred is married and so there is this underlying melancholy and heartbreak through the whole dance because she's in love with him but knows they will never be together. Of course we all know everything is going to work out fine because Fred isn't married and this is Fred-and-Ginger-Land and it wouldn't be a fantastic escapist Depression-era musical if it had a sad ending. But, Ginger doesn't know this and she SHOWS it. It's so good.
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