A Close Reading and Analysis of Top Hat (1935)
'Top Hat' is one of the all time great musicals of the 1930's, and is the epitome of the RKO productions of the time and of the films of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It had a familiar cast and plot structure, Astaire as an entertainer who stumbles upon love, which called for many to consider it as simply a remake of their earlier film 'The Gay Divorcee' (1934). It was one of the nine films that Astaire and Rogers made for RKO and was probably the best, if not the most successful in financial terms. It is a fully integrated musical, it flows from action and dialogue to the numbers with complete ease, this is unlike arrogated musicals such as 'Gold Diggers of 1933' (1932).The narrative structure of the films all followed a similar path; we see a recycling of the theme of a romantic young couple and their exploits, which lead to their falling in love usually paired up with older couple that usher in the comedy and misunderstandings as we have seen in 'Top Hat' with Fred and Ginger alongside the Horace and Madge characters. A second structure seen is that of a young comic couple and their pairing with a similarly aged couple who are an opposite of them. Like most of the Astaire and Rogers' films it is also a comedy and uses many
However we see another number before we are taken to Venice. "Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails", is a solo number by Astaire backed by a male chorus. It shows heavy motifs of masculinity, and is shown on a stage for it is the opening night of his show. We see for the first time an internal audience on screen as well as an orchestra. The number shows off the masculine spectacle that is Astaire and in gunning down his chorus in dance he is "reinforcing his willing rejection of male camaraderie and bachelorhood in readiness for heterosexual romance". Astaire is the king of his world, he may not be a macho man but he is a smooth operator, who is impeccable and always gets the girls "He is suave, talented, different from other men, but at the same time self-satisfied, flippant, conceited, bordering on disrespectful" . The on screen orchestra's diegetic music becomes non-diegetic as the number progresses and the transition to the next scene turns the orchestra into an Italian band. The move to the utopia is sudden and we are placed in Venice. Here we see the perfect location where the perfect man can fall in love with the perfect woman in perfect harmony, this cloud nine idea is pressed in many musicals. We have seen extravagance in the film prior to the move but it goes over the top from here. The following number reinforces this with Astaire singing "Heaven I'm in Heaven" in the song "Cheek to Cheek". This is remembered as one of the duo's most famous numbers, it is the culmination of the romanticism in the film, "Astaire acknowledges the superiority of romantic emotions and feelings over traditional male activities". Insinuation of promiscuity continues in this dance, as Rogers still believes Astaire to be married even though she engages in this sexually coded act. The film begins in London with Fred arriving to perform in a show, we are placed in a gentleman's club that is a full on satire of the upper class. The young, stylish, excitable American surrounded by a group of stuffy old me
Some common words found in the essay are:
London Fred, Tie Tails, Lovely Day, Cheek Cheek, Strings Astaire, Busby Berkeley, Rogers RKO, Astaire Rogers, Ginger Rogers, Horace Madge, 'top hat', astaire rogers, fall love, mistaken identity, integrated musical,
Approximate Word count = 1347
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
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