Written by James Rawson, New Media, DFI

Film: Top Hat
Year: 1935
Director: Mark Sandrich
Stars: Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Edward Everett Horton
Genre: Comedy, Musical, Romance

On July 16th 1911, the star we now know as Ginger Rogers tap-danced (well, maybe not quite yet) into the world. She would go on to enjoy a career that spanned over 60 years and 73 films, win an Academy Award, and become one of the most iconic and beloved film actresses of all time.

Launched to fame as a teen on Broadway, Rogers soon caught the attention of Hollywood and moved to the west coast in 1930. From there she embarked on the most celebrated era of her career: her onscreen partnership with Fred Astaire. Between 1933 and 1939 they made nine musicals together (plus one in 1949), most of which were famous for their song and dance sequences. Produced during Hollywood’s golden era, while the US was racked with economic depression, Americans turned to the cinemas for escapism and relief. The uplifting and carefree brand of cinema that this perfect on-screen couple, who will be forever known as ‘Fred and Ginger’, created proved to be the defining moments of their careers.

Undoubtedly the most famous of all of their collaborations was 1935’s ‘Top Hat’, which saw Rogers playing wealthy society lady Dale Tremont and Astaire star as American entertainer Jerry Travers. When Dale is rudely awakened one night by the sound of American Jerry tap dancing in the hotel room above hers, she storms up to complain. Jerry becomes completely smitten with Dale, but she plays it cool. To complicate matters, Dale mistakenly believes that Jerry is married (he is not), so believes him to be in pursuit of an extramarital affair. Throw into the mix Dale’s jealous – and completely ridiculous – suitor Beddini, (“For the woman the kiss – for the man the sword!”) and Jerry’s hapless agent Horace Hardwick (played by the always brilliant Edward Everett Horton) and you have enough fuel for a mistaken identity comedy which sends them across London, and then to Venice, towards an inevitably joyous conclusion as our duo dance and the credits roll.

The pitch perfect score from Irving Berlin, written specifically for the film, plays a big role in the picture’s success. ‘Top Hat and Tails’, ‘Isn’t This a Lovely Day’ and most famously, ‘Cheek to Cheek’, all went on to become classics in their own right. The spectacular dress seen in the ‘Cheek to Cheek’ sequence was designed by Rogers herself, and if you look carefully you can see ostrich feathers flying off in the middle of the sequence, apparently much to the annoyance of Astaire. While some argue that ‘Swing Time’ has the better dance sequences (I would be inclined to agree), the chemistry between the two leads was never better. ‘Top Hat’ went on to become the second highest grossing film of 1935, and the highest grossing film of Rogers’ career.

Rogers’s on screen presence continued to flourish in the 40s and 50s, more as a comic actress in the screwball comedies of that era (‘Monkey Business’ with Cary Grant and Marilyn Monroe is a particular highlight). After the 50s, however, with the influence of European directors and an audience which was hungrier for darker, edgier films, Rogers never quite managed to find a place in Hollywood. In 1965, while working on her last film, ‘Harlow’, she said: “We made happy pictures that people enjoyed seeing, not the kind the audiences have to go through trauma to see nowadays”.

She was certainly right that the role of filmmaking had changed, and that the kind of films she made in her heyday would never be produced again. However, fortunately for us, they are widely available and finding new fans all the time. Happy 100th Birthday Ginger!