Mark Sandrich
Cappello a cilindro

Top Hat is a 1935 American musical. The lead roles are played by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers.

I had never seen a film with the two of them and yesterday I filled this gap when it was shown in Rome at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni on Via Nazionale.

A little voice was telling me oh come on, where are you going... to see this old musical... how boring, right? An unfounded fear.

Jerry Travers (Fred Astaire) is a famous American dancer and is in London with his impresario for a theater show. In the hotel where they are staying, Jerry meets (or rather clashes) with Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) a high fashion model. Jerry falls in love with her instantly and starts courting her, but there is an almost insurmountable problem...

The film is extraordinarily fresh and modern. All the actors (brilliantly talented) are in excellent form. The dialogues, the jokes, the situations. A damned fundamental misunderstanding stands in the way of the tangled love story that could blossom between the two protagonists if it weren't for...

Fred is magnificent, to say the least, superlative. Funny, graceful, gallant, elegant, cheerful, irresistible.

Why don't you marry? ...Horace, the impresario, asks him while they are in the hotel room, and Fred answers by singing and dancing to the tune of "No Strings (I'm fancy free)". This is the moment when he dances for the first time and I find myself admiring a dancer who is simply exceptional. The style, the class, the precision of the movements. An absolute champion, an infinite talent. For me, this scene will be the highlight of the entire film.

Then there's Ginger who is beautiful, a doll. Sweet, feminine, but also determined, resolute, with strong principles. Ginger is a good dancer, but it would be unfair to even attempt a comparison with the king of TAP. However, it is undeniable to say that, together, they formed a pair of aces for an immediate ALL IN.

Top Hat is the film where the famous dance between the two takes place to the tune of "Cheek to Cheek" by Irving Berlin, the film's music composer. Heaven... I'm in heaven...

Probably some of you haven't seen it. Well, I highly recommend it for spending a couple of hours in a dream world where love and kindness prevail. A magical world made of dance and music. This film "takes you to the skies".