Tap dancer Jerry arrives to London upon the invitation of his friend Horace Hardwick, who wants him to star in a dance show. While dancing in his room, Jerry accidentally wakes up a woman sleeping in a flat below, Dale, and falls in love with her. However, due to a misunderstandment, Dale thinks Jerry is the husband of Madge Hardwick—when Madge is actually married to Horace. Dale thus avoids Jerry, who is confused by her behavior. Out of spite, Dale marries her friend Alberto. Ultimately, she realizes that Jerry is a bachelor. Luckily, Dale and Alberto were married by Horace's butler, and thus their marriage is not valid. Jerry and Dale thus end up together.
Considered together with "Swing Time" among the best films of the dancing maestro duo Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, "Top Hat" is still a fresh film equipped with six musical numbers where said actors bring their talent to full expression. "Top Hat" is a naive, innocent, cozy and well meant comedy of mistaken identity, where the simplistic story is just an excuse to have Astaire and Rogers dance, yet it is surprising how funny they are even in numerous dialogue-driven moments. In one irresistebly sympathetic sequence, Dale (Rogers) enters a carriage, but unbeknownst to her, the driver is actually Jerry (Astaire). As the horse is slowly pulling the carriage, Dale and Jerry have this exchange: "Driver, can't you go any faster than this?" - "*I can*, Miss, but I'm not allowed to leave the horse!" Afterwards, they go to a gazebo just as a storm starts outside, and Jerry comforts her by explaining what is happening: "When a clumsy cloud from here meets a fluffy little cloud from there, he billows towards her. She scurries away and he scuds right up to her. She cries a little and there you have you showers. He comforts her. They spark. That's the lightning. They kiss. Thunder." Their tap dance truly is stunning, since they move so elegantly that it sometimes looks as if they are about to float above ground. It cannot be described, it can only be experienced on the screen. A few corny moments, a sometimes kitschy solution, an ocassional empty scene and the far fetched misunderstanding plot that could simply be resolved by Dale just asking Jerry if he is married or not indeed corrode the movie. It is not flawless, but its virtues are so appealing they overshadow everything, since they create their very own world, outside of the darkness and depression of our world.
Grade:+++
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