Top Hat is the first volume to spotlight this classic
Hollywood film, probing the musical genre, notions of romance
and subjectivity, as well as the contested relations between the
sexes.
* Offers a detailed analysis of one of Hollywood’s greatest
musicals, including a comprehensive survey of the film’s
production, promotion and reception, all measured against the
background of 1930s socio-political contexts in the USA
* Explores the musical genre and questions of (gendered) national
identity, romance, subjectivity and the notion of the couple
* Written in a clear, accessible style, Top Hat probes text and
context carefully to appeal to the student and teacher of the
musical and of Hollywood film history, as well as the film-loving
general reader
Table of Content
List of Figures vi
Synopsis vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Making of Top Hat 6
2. Fred Astaire: ‘Outlaw’ Stylist of the Dance 19
3. Ginger Rogers: Confirming and Defying Convention 26
4. Introduction to Narrative and Number: The Bumpy Road to Love 35
5. The Numbers 43
6. Querying National and Sexual Identity 85
Conclusion: A Perfectly Swell Romance 101
Notes 104
Bibliography 106
Index 114
About the author
Peter William Evans is a Professor of Film Studies, in the Department of Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London. His publications range from classical Hollywood (books on the musical, romantic comedy and the Biblical epic, and articles on film noir, the western and Hitchcock), British cinema (a book on Carol Reed) and Spanish cinema (books on Buñuel, Almodovar and Bigas Luna).
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