Top Hat is a 1935 Screwball ComedyMusical starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and is often cited as the most successful production in their joint career, with music by Irving Berlin.Jerry Travis (Astaire) is an American dancer who comes to London to star in a show produced by his friend, Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). During the night, in their shared large suite, Jerry begins to loudly sing and dance about how he loves to sing and dance, disturbing Dale Tremont (Rogers) in the room below. Horace goes to talk to the management after their room is phoned and Dale confronts Jerry in the room upstairs, only for him to become instantly infatuated with her. She leaves angry and Jerry silently serenades her to sleep with a sand dance. After one more meeting and Jerry sending her flowers, Dale goes to the front desk to find out the name of the man in the room above her and they say it's Horace Hardwick, the husband of Dale's friend, Madge (Helen Broderick).Hilarity Ensues as Dale continues to mistake Jerry for Horace, as he continues to win her admirations. Then it turns out that Madge has been trying to set up Dale and Jerry for a while. All the while, Dale is modelling dresses for Alberto (Erik Rhodes), a man who is equally trying to win her affection.Digitally remastered versions of the films have been released to DVD over the years and a stage production toured the UK in 2011, which received positive reviews. The production moved to Broadway in the US in early-2012 and returned to the UK to settle in the West End.
Tropes:
Actor Allusion: The song "Let's Face The Music And Dance" was added to stage production, which had been in Follow The Fleet, another film with music by Berlin and it served as a dance number between Astaire and Rogers.
Adaptation Expansion: Several more songs were added to the stage production. All of them were songs by Irving Berlin, who had written the music for the original film.
Amusing Injuries: Horace putting a cooked steak on his black-eye.
Bad Habits: Bates disguises himself as a priest. He's the one who marries Dale and Alberto, which makes the marriage void.
Beef Bandage: After Horace receives a black eye from Madge (due to another miscommunication), Jerry suggests a steak. Nobody told Bates or the waiter it was for a wound and not for dinner.
Bilingual Backfire: Bates is found by an Italian policeman, who tells Bates he doesn't speak English. Bates then insults him repeatedly and admits that he's broken the law. The policeman, in perfect English, then arrests him.
Call Back: Jerry dancing loudly in the room above Dale. He does this after Alberto and Dale have married so he can separate them and attempt to explain the situation.
Camp Gay: The director Jerry asks for advice on women, in the stage version.
Caught in the Rain: Jerry and Dale in the park. This leads to him singing "Isn't This a Lovely Day" about how great it is being caught in the rain, because the two of them get to spend some time together.
Cavemen vs. Astronauts Debate: Bates and Horace aren't talking to each other at the start of the movie because they disagree on what type of tie should be worn with evening wear. Bates says a square tie, but Horace says butterfly.
Costume Porn: Invoked. Dale is hired by Alberto to wear the dresses he designs as advertisement. Understandably, it works.
The Cover Changes The Meaning: In the original "Sandman" dance routine, the song is played as slightly romantic but still as a comedy. In the stage production they play up the romantic aspect as high as possible.
Forced Kiss: Dale to Jerry, when she's pretending to be a forgotten fling. Not that Jerry minds.
Forgotten First Meeting: Invoked. After Madge tells Dale that Horace forgets all of his flings, she decides to torment him and pretend they had a fling in Paris that he forgot. Jerry picks up the lie fairly quickly, as he was ten years old when he was last in Paris.
Happy Ending: After it's revealed that Alberto and Dale's marriage was void, because the priest was Bates in disguise, Dale and Jerry reprise their "The Piccolino" dance and dance into the sunset.
Murder the Hypotenuse: Alberto attempts to kill Horace because he believes he's a married man trying to get with Dale, who he is also trying to win over. Played for Laughs due to Alberto's ineptitude and the misunderstanding.
Title Drop: During the song "Top Hat, White Tie And Tails".
Unwanted Rescue: Jerry attempts to "rescue" Dale from being stranded in the rain and she tells him she'd rather stay in distress.
Yaoi Fangirl: Marge doesn't mind that Alberto kisses Horace.
Your Cheating Heart: Straight with Horace, who has numerous small flings with pretty girls who he then forgets about. These are apparently nothing very important, as he considers the date he had with Violet to be worse/more important than the rest.
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