We had left Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers at the beginning of their duo at the legendary RKO studio, the smallest studio in Hollywood in the 1930s. I present to you the second part of this series of shows on the treasures of this studio that produced “Citizen Kane” and “King Kong,” but also gave musical comedy an incomparable class with its art deco style and its choice composers from Broadway, Georges Gershwin, Cole Porter, and Irving Berlin.
The highlight in 1935 was “Top Hat.” The film will be adapted into a musical at the Châtelet in Paris from April 15 to May 3, 2026.
The most beautiful number in the film, the most graphic, is entitled “Top Hat White Tie and Tails.” In this scene, Fred Astaire faces a group of tap dancers dressed in top hats, tailcoats, and white bow ties. He performs a brilliant routine at a frantic pace, finishing by directing his cane towards each dancer as if shooting them, on the dry tempo of tap dancing.
There will then be “Follow the Fleet,” “Swing Time,” “Shall We Dance,” “A Damsel in Distress,” “Carefree,” and “The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle,” a fireworks display of standards and dance numbers.
The upcoming event “42nd Street” will take place on Sunday, April 19, at Studio 105 at Maison de la Radio et de la Musique, featuring the entire cast of “Top Hat,” which will be showing at the Châtelet in Paris from April 15 to May 3 in partnership with France Musique.
