As Katherine Hepburn once said, 'He gives her class and she gives him sex.' Seeing Cheek To Cheek (the famous Astaire/Rogers dance number in Top Hat) again, I was reminded of how breathtakingly romantic the dance is.Īlso part of the spectacle are the costumes and set. She's spirited and a little brash, but somehow always falls for Fred's fleet-footed charm. Ginger does not possess the stunning elegance of an Ingrid Bergman or Grace Kelly, but she is quite cute and looks very pretty in the gorgeous gowns she wears. But one glance at his dancing and you can no longer question his leading man status. At first glance at Fred, one may think, 'who is this gawkish, effeminate little man?' His acting isn't particularly impressive, he's not particularly handsome, and he's entirely unconvincing as a convential Hollywood romantic lead.

Fred and Ginger are an odd couple indeed. While Ginger's dancing is considered inferior in The Gay Divorcée, both Fred and Ginger are fantastic in Top Hat.

Of course, the highlight of the films is the dancing. In The Gay Divorcée, he has a line that made me laugh so hard I fell out of my chair, possibly because it was so unexpectedly hilarious. There are a few laugh-out-loud lines, usually spoken by Erik Rhodes' hapless Italian. Their (mis)adventures in both films are supported by Fred's somewhat bumbly friend (Edward Everett Horton), the foppish (possibly gay) Italian who makes too-punny-to-be-real mistakes with his English (Erik Rhodes), and the stuffy English guy (Eric Blore).Īs I mentioned before, The Gay Divorcée was hit by the unscrupulous Production Code, that deemed that a divorce could not be a happy (gay), but a divorcee could, resulting in the title being changed from the original musical, The Gay Divorce.īoth films feature light, fluffy humour that ranges between making you smirk and making you roll your eyes a bit. They meet, spar, Fred seduces her through dance, there's a misunderstanding, a resolution, and a spectacular dance finale. The two films follow the same pattern: Fred is a dancer, Ginger is a pretty blond glamour girl. I was surprised to see that the films are virtually indentical in structure, plot, character, and actors, but I still enjoyed them both.

I first watched The Gay Divorcée because I kept seeing it at the library so I picked it up, and then I borrowed Top Hat soon afer because I heard it was the best of their 10 (yes, 10!) films together. I had of course seen Fred in Funny Face, but I was very curious to see the two of them together because they are such an esteemed dance couple. This summer I watched The Gay Divorcée (1934) and Top Hat (1935), my first foray into the world of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

Top hat movie cast