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
The young, stylish, excitable American surrounded by a group of stuffy old men whose need for 'silence' is laughable. Other stereotypes seen are the motifs of romanticism dealing with desires and expectations and the behaviour of opposing genders. Also ending up with everybody going to Venice another utopian ideal. It shows heavy motifs of masculinity, and is shown on a stage for it is the opening night of his show. We then move onto the hotel, which brings a number of familiar stereotypes, the design is of an art deco style. The final number of the film is once again another stereotype of the musical, the idea of community, and is steeped in spectacle with more dancers and performance it is the big production number. Also like many Astaire and Rogers films it is based on misunderstandings and hints heavily on promiscuity, however due to censorship hinting and using coded dance was all they could do. Europe was always seen with an idealised view in these films, as if life was better there away from the depression. In tradition the final scenes of the film are played for comedy, we also see the final mistaken identity of the film, with Bates dressing as a clergyman, bringing things full circle and then the couple dancing into the distance in true 'happily ever after' Hollywood style. In this number natural sounds are added to the orchestration, for example a roll of thunder joins the rolling drums, signifying a change in the number. 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 move to the utopia is sudden and we are placed in Venice. The first number of the film follows some unimportant dialogue, like many musicals the plot to 'Top Hat' is quite flimsy and serve a purpose of creating excuses for the numbers. Compared to the other numbers there isn't that much that "The Piccolino" does to drive narrative or relationships forward but acts as spectacle and celebration, and a way of rounding the film up. We see men and women tied together by ribbons, enforcing the idea of romance once again.
Common topics in this essay:
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,
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Acceptance Essays
