Top Hat (DVD)

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Trivia, courtesy of John Eastman, "Retakes: Behind the Scenes of 500 Classic Movies," Ballantine Books, New York, 1989: "A legendary blowup occurred on the set of this film between the normally even-tempered costars. Rogers had insisted on wearing a long-feathered 'dream dress' for the couple's 'Cheek to Cheek' number. During rehearsals, Astaire grew increasingly irritated with the swirls of ostrich feathers that blinded him and made him sneeze. He finally declared an ultimatum: no dream dress. The episode brought Rogers's combative mother, Lela Rogers, storming onto the set, ready for battle. After a day of stalemate, Astaire compromised by allowing Rogers to wear the costume if the designer would sew each feather separately into place--and that's the gown we see Rogers wearing (not without an occasional floating feather). Astaire soon made peace with his costar and playfully nicknamed her Feathers; but from that point on, he made sure that his contracts gave him final approval rights over his partners' costumes."

Video:
I have no idea how the folks at Warner Bros. manage to keep so many of their old films in such good condition, but "Top Hat" is no exception. I'm sure it's a combination of storing away some very good prints in the vaults and then doing some touching up in the video transfers to erase minor blemishes. The studio would probably find it cost prohibitive to do complete restorations for all the old films they transfer to disc; nevertheless, their work remains top-notch.

"Top Hat" exhibits very few signs of wear or age: no major scratches, lines, smudges, flecks, or spots. About the only distracting elements in the picture are the periodic patches of grain we see, especially in outdoor stock footage, and the inevitable consequences of wear at the ends of reels. Black-and-white contrasts show up well for a film of this vintage, with black tuxedos and top hats looking particularly elegant.

Audio:
As usual, WB have processed the sound in Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural, and while it may not be state-of-the-art by today's standards, it does its job reproducing music, songs, and dialogue. The audio engineers appear to have applied a discreet amount of noise reduction to make most scenes as quiet as possible, leaving only a small, residual background hiss in a number of places. The generally quiet background is especially helpful during the opening sequence in a staid men's club where silence is the rule. Needless to say, there is little in the way of deep bass, sparkling highs, or wide dynamics involved in the sound, yet the midrange is quite clean and clear.

Extras:
The disc's primary bonus item is an audio commentary with Fred Astaire's daughter Ava Astaire McKenzie and film dance historian Larry Billman. I appreciated Ms. McKenzie's reflections about her father, even though they were not always as numerous or as insight as I might have wished; and I can understand Mr. Billman's notes being rather sparse, since the movie is pretty simple and straightforward, and there's not a lot one can really say about it. Thus, we get a fairly plain and sometimes overly obvious commentary by two people who do not always seem completely comfortable behind a microphone. But they give it their all, like the troopers in so many of Astaire's films.

In addition, there is an exceptionally well made, eighteen-minute featurette, "On Top: Inside the Success of Top Hat," that provides a wealth of information about the movie from a host of experts on the subject; a 1935, eighteen-minute comedy short, "Watch the Birdie," with Bob Hope, that is little more than a shipboard monologue but cute; and a classic Warner Bros. cartoon, "Page Miss Glory." The extras conclude with twenty-eight scene selections, but, as is WB's custom, no chapter insert; a theatrical trailer; English as the only available spoken language; and English, French, and Spanish subtitles.

Parting Thoughts:
Thanks to the effervescent nature of the songs and dances and, of course, the vivacious nature of the film's two stars, "Top Hat" goes by quickly, its 100 minutes seeming a lot shorter when you're having a good time.

Of the ten films Astaire and Rogers made together, Warner Bros. have issued five of them simultaneously on DVD: "Top Hat" (1935), "Swing Time" (1936), "Follow the Fleet" (1936), "Shall We Dance" (1937), and "The Barkleys of Broadway" (1949). They're all treats.