Critic Reviews

Top Hat (1935) Rank 5 Reviews

Expert Review Summary

Movie critics combined give Top Hat (1935) a score of 3.5750 out of 4

based on (24) reviews

Click on the numbers to the right of the graph to see reviews of that rating

Excellent

(16)

Very Good

(8)

Good

(0)

Fair

(0)

Poor

(0)

Reviews by Score:

Slant Magazine (Dan Callahan)

Every musical number works, and the mistaken identity plot is pleasant enough, even if there's too much emphatic dithering from the supporting players towards the end. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Slant Magazine (Dan Callahan)

rec.arts.movies.reviews (Max Scheinin)

Top Hat, a superb Astaire-Rogers musical of the 30s is pretty damn hard to resist. I recently saw it on video and reveled in the singing and dancing, wonderful music and glorious acting. It's a sublime film, a real bliss-out. I'm suprised that with ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at rec.arts.movies.reviews (Max Scheinin)

Edinburgh U Film Society (Iain Harral)

Top Hat is perhaps the archetypal Fred n' Ginger movie, with a fantastic Irving Berlin score ("Cheek to Cheek", "Isn't it a Lovely Day to be Caught in the Rain", 'Top Hat, White Tie, and Tails"), faultless Hermes Pan dance mutines which show exactly why ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Edinburgh U Film Society (Iain Harral)

Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)

Hands down, this is the best Astaire-Rogers musical ever. Nothing more needs to be said. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Austin Chronicle (Marjorie Baumgarten)

Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)

The splendid artifice that was the movie musical of the 1930s probably hit its apex right here. Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers twirl their way through a typically silly farce of mistaken identity to the tunes of Irving Berlin ("Cheek to Cheek," in ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Bryant Frazer's Deep Focus (Bryant Frazer)

Cinematic Reflections (Derek Smith)

Top Hat does not glorify wealth or upper class status - if anything it continually pokes fun at it. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Cinematic Reflections (Derek Smith)

LeisureSuit.net (--)

See, Astaire's as macho a guy actor as any Charles Bronson or Lee Marvin, only he gets the girl and saves the day by singing and dancing, and being witty and always keeping his cool and always being one step ahead of the other guy. He's sort of a ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at LeisureSuit.net (--)

Decent Films Guide (Steven D. Greydanus)

The quintessential Fred-and-Ginger vehicle... typically escapist Depression-era fare...[but] whenever Fred and Ginger are in motion, the magic is timeless. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Decent Films Guide (Steven D. Greydanus)

Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)

Top Hat (1935) is one of the great 30s dance musicals, and possibly the best and most profitable Astaire and Rogers musical ever, with wonderful, magical ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films (Tim Dirks)

Classic Film Guide (--)

One of the best musicals ever. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Classic Film Guide (--)

Boxoffice Magazine (--)

"Top Hat" with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in top spots should top boxoffice records throughout the country. Yarn deals with the misunderstood husband and the mistaken identity idea with Ginger Rogers thinking Astaire the philandering husband of her ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Boxoffice Magazine (--)

Box Office Prophets (--)

Just the names conjure up a magical world of sophistication, where all the women wear long, flowing gowns, all the men wear tails, the music is dreamy, the conversation is witty, and everybody lives happily ever after. Astaire and Rogers only made ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Box Office Prophets (--)

Bright Lights Film Journal (--)

Top Hat inflated every device of the previous three Astaire/Rogers picture to the bursting point. With each film, the icing on the cake got thicker and thicker. Top Hat was pure butter-cream. Cake this rich was never baked again. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Bright Lights Film Journal (--)

Time Out (--)

The third Astaire-Rogers movie (not counting Flying Down to Rio) and one of the best, with a superlative Irving Berlin score (it includes 'No Strings', 'Isn't This a Lovely Day?', 'Top Hat, White Tie and Tails' and 'Cheek to Cheek'), and equally ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Time Out (--)

Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Delightful. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Ozus' World Movie Reviews (Dennis Schwartz)

Tech, MIT (MIT)

If you like Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, you're going to love Top Hat. This film is quintessential Fred and Ginger, from the initial verbal sparring and mistaken identities that keep them apart, to the wonderful tap and partner dances which reconcile ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Tech, MIT (MIT)

Hollywood Reporter (--)

The plot is involving, especially as it builds to its seemingly impossible-to-solve finale, but it is also a clever trifle in which Rogers' character holds back from committing herself to Astaire's character because she mistakenly believes he is married ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Hollywood Reporter (--)

TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

The fourth pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers and the first with a screenplay written specifically for them, TOP HAT is the quintessential Astaire-Rogers musical, complete with a silly plot, romance, dapper outfits, art deco sets, and plenty of ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at TV Guide's Movie Guide (--)

New York Times (Andre Sennwald)

Fred Astaire, the dancing master, and Miss Rogers, his ideal partner, bring all their joyous gifts to the new song and dance show at the Radio City Music Hall. Irving Berlin has written some charming melodies for the photoplay and the best of the current ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at New York Times (Andre Sennwald)

filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

the definitive Fred & Ginger movie ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at filmcritic.com (Christopher Null)

Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)

TOP HAT is Astaire and Rogers' fourth RKO pairing and considered by many to be the best of the 10 films they made together for that studio. Who am I to disagree? It has endearing romance, wonderful music and lyrics composed by Irving Berlin, witty ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Crazy for Cinema (Lisa Skrzyniarz)

Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

There are two numbers in "Top Hat" where the dancing on the screen reaches such perfection as is attainable. They are by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers for "Isn't This a Lovely Day?" and "Cheek to Cheek." Because Astaire believed that movie dance numbers ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Chicago Sun-Times (Roger Ebert)

Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)

I don't want to get political here. I just want to talk about singing and dancing. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at Goatdog's Movies (Michael W. Phillips, Jr.)

DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)

...even after seventy years, the same elements delight us all over again. Good songs, good dancing, and good stars never go out of style. ...read the complete Top Hat movie review at DVDTown.com (John J. Puccio)

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