Top Hat

Years ago, one of the local TV stations in Pittsburgh (my home town) screened the 1935 film “Top Hat,” starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rodgers.  During the opening credits, the titles say “A Pandro S. Berman Production” after the credit given to Mark Sandrich for directing the movie.  Berman, quite a reknowned figure at RKO, is a Pittsburgh native who produced seven Astaire-Rogers films.  He left RKO for MGM in 1940 and went on to produce such classics as “National Velvet” in 1944 and “Father of the Bride” in 1950.

Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire in "Top Hat"

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I love Top Hat’s script, written by Dwight Taylor and Allen Scott.  It includes many funny lines delivered by comic foils Edward Everett Horton, befuddled as always, Eric Blore and and the sharply witted Helen Broderick.  Broderick, the mother of Broderick Crawford, also starred in “Swing Time,” a wonderful Astaire-Rogers musical from 1936.  Top Hat became an international smash, racking up enough ticket sales to become the 3rd top grossing film of 1935.  What a charming work of art!

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