August 15 movie: Top Hat. Fred Astaire day on TCM is a good day indeed. Besides Top Hat I also watched Swing Time and parts of Flying Down to Rio, Carefree and The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle. But I only got to watch the first two all the way through, so those are the only two that go on the movie list. (At least I got to see "The Carioca," perhaps my all time favorite song in an Astaire Rogers film.)
What is there to say about Top Hat? It's one of Astaire and Rogers' best, if not their very best. The movie includes all the regular stable of costars: Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, Helen Broderick, and Eric Rhodes. I think my favorite dance number in this one is "Isn't It a Lovely Day to Get Caught in the Rain." Great dancing, great singing, and great comedy, including a hilarious ongoing war between gentleman Horton and his valet Blore. "On my eye means on my eye!"
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