--- title: "Top Hat" year: 1935 kind: "film" canonical: "https://film.one/film/top-hat" fi1m_score: 87 critics_score: 85 critics_reviews: 10 published: "2026-09-19T23:04:49.551623+00:00" updated: "2026-09-19T23:04:59.405284+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Top Hat (1935) Directed by Mark Sandrich · 1h 39m · MPA NR · Music, Comedy, Romance **Fi1m score: 87** · Critics 85 from 10 reviews *In a sentence:* Boy meets girl, girl mistakes him for her friend’s husband, and nobody minds because the dancing is perfect > The fourth Astaire and Rogers picture has a plot one plain sentence would fix and songs by Irving Berlin that make you glad nobody speaks it. Two of the dances are as fine as anything the cinema has managed. The finale is too big. ## Synopsis London. Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire), an American dancer, arrives to star in a show produced by his friend Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Tapping round his hotel room late at night, he wakes Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) in the suite below, who comes upstairs in her dressing gown to complain and leaves him smitten. He fills her room with flowers, follows her to a park and dances with her in a bandstand while the rain comes down. Then a mix-up at the hotel leaves Dale convinced that Jerry is Horace, who is married to her friend Madge (Helen Broderick). ## Review Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is an American dancer in London to open a show for his producer, Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). Late one night he tap-dances round his hotel room and wakes Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) in the suite below. She comes up to complain, he falls for her on the spot, and within a day she has decided, wrongly, that he is Horace, who is married to her friend Madge (Helen Broderick). That is the whole plot, and Dwight Taylor and Allan Scott’s script spends 99 minutes making sure nobody says the one sentence that would end it. Mark Sandrich directs. It is the fourth film Astaire and Rogers made together, and the reason to see it is what happens every time the story stops. Irving Berlin wrote the songs and the film gets to them quickly. “No Strings” is the hotel-room number: Astaire tapping on a hard floor, the sound coming through the ceiling to Rogers in bed, until he sprinkles sand on the boards and softens the taps to send her to sleep. “Isn’t This a Lovely Day” is the one in the park, with rain, a bandstand and Rogers in riding clothes with her arms folded, Astaire copying her steps until she gives in and copies his. David Abel keeps the camera back and level so both dancers are in the frame head to foot the whole time, and William Hamilton cuts within the numbers as little as he can get away with. We grinned from the first thunderclap to the handshake at the end. Then there is “Cheek to Cheek”, and Bernard Newman’s dress. It is ostrich feathers from the shoulders to the floor, and on every turn a few of them come loose and drift off across the set; the film leaves them in. Astaire sings the verse walking her away from the crowd, they dance, and the routine ends with a long slow bend backwards over his arm and a held pause. We stopped breathing at the pause, both times we watched it, and what did it was the take, unbroken, and the sight of two people who have spent the film squabbling stop talking and agree about something with their whole bodies. Between the songs it is a farce, and the supporting cast is the right one. Horton does his double takes and his strangled “Oh” whenever the plot turns on him. Eric Blore, as Horace’s valet Bates, refers to himself as “we” and treats his employer as a job of work. Helen Broderick’s Madge hears that her husband is apparently romancing her friend and reacts as though she has been told the trains are late; it is the best joke in the picture. Erik Rhodes plays Alberto Beddini, the dress designer who has Dale under contract, as an Italian who cannot get through an English sentence without breaking it. The film finds this funnier than we did. Lucille Ball turns up uncredited behind a flower shop counter. The trouble is the padding. Sandrich stages the dialogue as though a proscenium were just out of frame, with people entering, saying their lines and going out again, and the middle third is a run of these scenes while Dale keeps deciding not to ask a direct question. The plot is close to the one Astaire and Rogers had already played in [*The Gay Divorcee*](https://film.one/film/the-gay-divorcee), and it was not much of a plot then. The finale, “The Piccolino”, brings on a chorus of dozens and a stretch of studio Venice with white gondolas on black water, for a song about a song. It is handsome, and the film does not need it; its best work is already done with two people on an empty floor. The sets are white: white stairs, white telephones, white gondolas, against black water and black tailcoats, and Abel lights them so that there is hardly a shadow anywhere. It is not London or Venice and does not pretend to be, which suits a story in which nobody has a job worth mentioning. Hermes Pan’s routines, by most accounts, supply the charge between the leads; what we can see for ourselves is that Rogers is never carried, and that in the bandstand she is the one who decides when the dance is over. It is a U certificate. If you must talk, talk during the plot. *Fi1m score 87, published 19 September 2026.* ## What the critics say All ten reviews are positive, and most critics agree that this is the Astaire and Rogers film to start with, several calling it the archetypal one. The praise clusters on the dance numbers, with ‘Cheek to Cheek’ named again and again as the high point, and on Irving Berlin’s songs. The Art Deco sets draw admiring notice from nearly everyone, and a few reviews credit the supporting comic players and Rogers’s clothes as part of the pleasure. Where the critics part is over the plot, and even there the disagreement is about degree. Roger Ebert calls it an idiot plot and forgives it; The New Yorker finds the patter between numbers padded and tedious; Variety thinks the story too close to the pair’s previous film and is cool on Rogers’s appearance. The New York Times feels a large choral finale undercuts the earlier restraint. The spread is narrow: nobody thinks it less than good, and the only real question is whether the talk between dances matters. ### Reviews we read (10) - **Radio Times**, Tony Sloman (5/5): This is the quintessential Fred and Ginger movie, an instant classic with flawless casting, delightful Irving Berlin score including hits like 'Cheek to Cheek', and sumptuous Art Deco design. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-d4whtz/top-hat/) - **The Times**, Kevin Maher (★★★★★): This is the fourth and best collaboration between Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. The iconic numbers are the main draw, but the supporting comedy, adorable studio sets and Rogers’ chic outfits make it perfection overall. [Read](https://www.thetimes.com/culture/comedy/article/top-hat-1935-review-fred-astaire-and-ginger-rogers-at-their-peak-5df22s3zr) - **RogerEbert.com**, Roger Ebert (90/100, inferred): Ebert highlights two transcendent dance numbers by Astaire and Rogers as reaching the pinnacle of screen dancing. He calls the plot an 'idiot plot' but celebrates the joyful, effortless artistry and escapist charm of the Astaire-Rogers partnership. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/great-movie-top-hat-1935) - **Slant Magazine**, Dan Callahan (90/100, inferred): The critic calls Top Hat the archetypal Astaire-Rogers film and deems it essential, praising the magical on-screen chemistry and standout musical numbers like 'Cheek to Cheek' while noting the plot's pleasant but minor flaws. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/top-hat-dvd/) - **The Guardian** (80/100, inferred): This 1935 madcap musical swirls effortlessly back into cinemas as a re-release. The critic praises the classic Irving Berlin songs, Astaire’s effortless dancing and Rogers’ style and panache, while noting the film’s theatrical roots and transatlantic charm. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/apr/05/top-hat-review-fred-astaire-and-ginger-rogers-go-cheek-to-cheek-irving-berlin) - **The New York Times** (80/100, inferred): The critic finds 'Top Hat' provides urbane fun through Astaire's magic and Rogers' dexterous teamwork, especially in their dance numbers to Berlin songs. Some script restraint gives way to a mammoth choral finale that undercuts the charm. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/1935/08/30/archives/the-screen-fred-astaire-and-ginger-rogers-in-their-new-song-and.html) - **Time Out**, TM (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it one of the best Astaire-Rogers films, praising the Irving Berlin score and Hermes Pan dance routines that create sexual electricity, as well as the stunning Art Deco designs. [Read](https://www.timeout.com/movies/top-hat-1) - **Variety**, Variety Staff (75/100, inferred): The review declares the film a sure hit due to Astaire, Berlin's songs, and enough comedy to connect the numbers. It praises standout routines like 'Isn't It a Lovely Day?' but notes Rogers' hard appearance and a story too similar to the prior Astaire-Rogers vehicle. [Read](https://variety.com/1934/film/reviews/top-hat-2-1200410934/) - **The New Yorker**, John C. Mosher (70/100, inferred): Mosher calls the film highly successful thanks to Berlin's music, Astaire, Rogers, and supporting players like Broderick and Horton, with dancing a consistent pleasure. He faults the plot for padding the runtime with tedious patter and piffle. [Read](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1935/09/07/1935-09-07-073-tny-cards-000011778) - **Eye for Film**, Chris (90/100, inferred): The critic praises Top Hat as the most iconic and beautiful Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers production, highlighting its lavish production values, superb songs and dances, and escapist appeal during the Depression era. They single out the elegance and 'movie magic' of the 'Cheek To Cheek' sequence for particular admiration. [Read](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/top-hat-film-review-by-chris) ## Details - **Director:** Mark Sandrich - **Director:** Mark Sandrich - **Screenplay:** Allan Scott, Dwight Taylor - **Story:** Dwight Taylor - **Cinematography:** David Abel - **Editor:** William Hamilton - **Music:** Irving Berlin - **Costume design:** Bernard Newman - **Producer:** Pandro S. Berman - **Cast:** Fred Astaire as Jerry Travers; Ginger Rogers as Dale Tremont; Edward Everett Horton as Horace Hardwick; Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini; Eric Blore as Bates; Helen Broderick as Madge Hardwick; Lucille Ball as Flower Shop Clerk (uncredited); Gino Corrado as Venice Hotel Manager (uncredited) - **Runtime:** 1h 39m - **Certificate (MPA):** NR - **Release (the US):** 6 September 1935 - **Genres:** Music, Comedy, Romance - **Budget:** $609,000 - **Box office:** $3 million - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZUwE1n5zsE ## Where to watch in the US - Amazon Prime Video: rent $3.99, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy $9.99, hd *Checked 2026-09-19.* Also available in: BE, BR, CA, CL, ES, FR, GB, IE, MX, NL, NZ, RO, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Academy Awards 1936: Best Picture (nominated); Best Production Design (nominated) ## If you liked this - *Swing Time* (1936): The next Astaire and Rogers picture, with a plot that matters even less and dances that matter more. - *The Band Wagon* (1953): Astaire older, in colour, still the last word on how to walk across a room. - *The Young Girls of Rochefort* (1967): A French seaside town where everyone dances and nobody quite meets; pastel and melancholy. - *The Lady Eve* (1941), Fi1m 90: Mistaken identity done properly, with Barbara Stanwyck running the con and the man. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/the-lady-eve.md) - *La La Land* (2016), Fi1m 81: A modern attempt at the same thing; the bandstand number is quoted almost outright. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/la-la-land.md) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. 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