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Top Hat (record Label)
''Top Hat'' is a 1935 American musical screwball comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American tap dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick (Edward Everett Horton). He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont (Ginger Rogers) to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick's valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini, a fashion designer and rival for Dale's affections, and Helen Broderick as Hardwick's long-suffering wife Madge. The film was directed by Mark Sandrich, and was written by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor, with songs by Irving Berlin. "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" and "Cheek to Cheek" have become American song classics. It has been nostalgically referred to — particularly its "Cheek to Cheek" segment — in many films, including ''The Purple Rose of Cairo'' (1985), '' The Green Mile'' (1999), and ''The Boss Baby'' (2017). Astaire and Rogers made nine films together at RKO, includi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mark Sandrich
Mark Sandrich (born Mark Rex Goldstein; October 26, 1900 – March 4, 1945) was an American film director, writer, and producer. Early life Sandrich was born in New York City on October 26, 1900 into a Jewish family. His sister was Ruth Harriet Louise. He was an engineering student at Columbia University when he accidentally fell into the film business. While visiting a friend on a film set, he saw that the director had a problem setting up a shot; Sandrich offered his advice, and it worked. He entered the movie business in the prop department. Career Shorts director Sandrich became a director in 1927, making comedy shorts. His first feature was ''Runaway Girls'', in 1928. In an exciting time in the film business with the arrival of sound, he briefly returned to shorts. In 1933, he directed the Academy Award-winning short '' So This Is Harris!''. Feature films Sandrich returned to directing features with '' Melody Cruise'' (1933). He followed it with ''Cupid in the R ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Top Hat, White Tie And Tails
"Top Hat, White Tie and Tails" is a popular song written by Irving Berlin for the 1935 film ''Top Hat'', where it was introduced by Fred Astaire. The song title refers to the formal wear required on a party invitation: top hat, white tie, and a tailcoat. Popular recordings in 1935 were by Fred Astaire and by Ray Noble and his Orchestra (vocal by Al Bowlly and The Freshmen). Other notable recordings *The Boswell Sisters recorded the song on October 8, 1935 for Decca Records. *Carroll Gibbons with the Savoy Orpheans (1935) *Fred Astaire included the song in the album ''The Astaire Story'' (1952) *Mel Tormé included the song in the album '' Mel Tormé Sings Fred Astaire'' (1956) * Louis Armstrong - for his album ''Louis Under the Stars'' (1958) *Ella Fitzgerald – ''Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Irving Berlin Songbook'' (1958) *Fred Astaire recorded the song again in 1975 and it can be found on the album ''The Complete London Sessions''. *Tony Bennett - '' Steppin' Out'' (1993) * Che ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Film Registry
The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception in 1988. History Through the 1980s, several prominent filmmakers and industry personalities in the United States, such as Frank Capra and Martin Scorsese, advocated for Congress to enact a film preservation bill in order to avoid commercial modifications (such as pan and scan and editing for TV) of classic films, which they saw as negative. In response to the controversy over the colorization of originally black and white films in the decade specifically, Representatives Robert J. Mrazek and Sidney R. Yates introduced the National Film Preservation Act of 1988, which established the National Film Registry, its purpose, and the criteria for selecting films for preservation. The Act was passed and the NFR's mission was subsequently r ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five major unincorporated territories, nine United States Minor Outlying Islands, Minor Outlying Islands, and 326 Indian reservations. The United States is also in Compact of Free Association, free association with three Oceania, Pacific Island Sovereign state, sovereign states: the Federated States of Micronesia, the Marshall Islands, and the Palau, Republic of Palau. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, third-largest country by both land and total area. It shares land borders Canada–United States border, with Canada to its north and Mexico–United States border, with Mexico to its south and has maritime borders with the Bahamas, Cuba, Russia, and other nations. With a population of over 333 million, it is the List of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Easter Parade (film)
''Easter Parade'' is a 1948 American Technicolor musical film starring Judy Garland, Fred Astaire, Peter Lawford and Ann Miller. The music by Irving Berlin includes some of Astaire and Garland's best-known songs, including " Easter Parade", "Steppin' Out with My Baby", and "We're a Couple of Swells". Gene Kelly was originally cast opposite Judy Garland, but he broke his ankle. The part was then offered to Fred Astaire, who had retired two years earlier. Astaire, who was very eager to work again, consulted Kelly about the offer, and Kelly was happy to support his decision to take the role. Garland and Astaire were a successful team, and Astaire was restored to his status as a top MGM star. A critical and commercial success, ''Easter Parade'' was the highest-grossing musical film of 1948, and the second-highest grossing MGM musical of the 1940s, after '' Meet Me in St. Louis''. Plot In 1912, Broadway star Don Hewes buys Easter presents for his sweetheart ("Happy Easter"), g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carefree (film)
''Carefree'' is a 1938 musical film starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. With a plot similar to screwball comedies of the period, ''Carefree'' is the shortest of the Astaire-Rogers films, featuring only four musical numbers. ''Carefree'' is often remembered as the film in which Astaire and Rogers shared a long on-screen kiss at the conclusion of their dance to " I Used to Be Color Blind," all previous kisses having been either quick pecks or simply implied. ''Carefree'' was a reunion for the team of Astaire and Rogers after a brief hiatus following ''Shall We Dance'' and six other previous RKO pictures. The next film in the series, '' The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle'' (1939), would be their final RKO film together, although they would reunite in 1949 for MGM's ''The Barkleys of Broadway''. Plot Psychiatrist Dr. Tony Flagg (Fred Astaire) does his friend Stephen Arden ( Ralph Bellamy) a favor by taking on his fiancée, Amanda Cooper (Ginger Rogers), as a patient. Amand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shall We Dance (1937 Film)
''Shall We Dance'', released in 1937, is the seventh of the ten Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers musical comedy films. The story follows an American ballet dancer (Astaire) who falls in love with a tap dancer (Rogers); the tabloid press concocts a story of their marriage, after which life imitates art. George Gershwin wrote the symphonic underscore and Ira Gershwin the lyrics, for their second Hollywood musical. Plot Peter P. Peters (Fred Astaire) is an amiable American ballet dancer billed as "Petrov", who cultivates a public image of being a serious, demanding and temperamental Russian, though his employer knows the truth. Peters dances for a ballet company in Paris owned by the bumbling Jeffrey Baird (Edward Everett Horton), and secretly never wants to blend classical ballet with modern jazz dancing because they think it does not look very professional. When Peters sees a photo of famous tap dancer Linda Keene (Ginger Rogers), he falls in love with her. He contrives to meet her (a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swing Time (film)
''Swing Time'' is a 1936 American musical comedy film, the sixth of ten starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Directed by George Stevens for RKO, it features Helen Broderick, Victor Moore, Betty Furness, Eric Blore and Georges Metaxa, with music by Jerome Kern and lyrics by Dorothy Fields. Set mainly in New York City, the film follows a gambler and dancer, "Lucky" (Astaire), who is trying to raise money to secure his marriage when he meets dance instructor Penny (Rogers) and begins dancing with her; the two soon fall in love and are forced to reconcile their feelings. Noted dance critic Arlene Croce considers ''Swing Time'' Astaire and Rogers' best dance musical,Croce, pp.98-115 a view shared by John MuellerMueller, pp.100-113 and Hannah Hyam. It features four dance routines that are each regarded as masterpieces. According to ''The Oxford Companion to the American Musical'', ''Swing Time'' is "a strong candidate for the best of the Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musicals". ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Follow The Fleet
''Follow the Fleet'' is a 1936 American RKO musical comedy film with a nautical theme starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers in their fifth collaboration as dance partners. It also features Randolph Scott, Harriet Hilliard, and Astrid Allwyn, with music and lyrics by Irving Berlin. Lucille Ball and Betty Grable also appear, in supporting roles. The film was directed by Mark Sandrich with script by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor based on the 1922 play ''Shore Leave'' by Hubert Osborne. ''Follow the Fleet'' was extremely successful at the box office, and during 1936, Astaire's recorded versions of " Let Yourself Go", " I'm Putting all My Eggs in One Basket", and "Let's Face the Music and Dance" reached their highest positions of 3rd, 2nd, 3rd respectively in the US Hit Parade. Harriet Hilliard and Tony Martin made their screen debuts in this film. RKO borrowed Randolph Scott from Paramount and Astrid Allwyn from Fox for the production. Plot Seaman "Bake" Baker and Sherry are ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roberta (1935 Film)
''Roberta'' is a 1935 American musical film by RKO starring Irene Dunne, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers, and Randolph Scott. It was an adaptation of the 1933 Broadway musical '' Roberta'', which in turn was based on the novel ''Gowns by Roberta'' by Alice Duer Miller. It was a solid hit, showing a net profit of more than three-quarters of a million dollars. The film kept the famous songs " Yesterdays", "Let's Begin" (with altered lyrics), and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" from the play, along with a fourth song, " I'll Be Hard to Handle". Three songs from the play were dropped—"The Touch of Your Hand", "Something Had to Happen" and "You're Devastating". Two songs were added to this film, "I Won't Dance" (resurrected from the flop Kern show '' Three Sisters'') and "Lovely to Look At", which both became #1 hits in 1935. The latter addition was nominated for the Best Song Oscar. The songs "I Won't Dance" and "Lovely to Look At" have remained so popular that they are now almost alway ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Gay Divorcee
''The Gay Divorcee'' is a 1934 American musical film directed by Mark Sandrich and starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It also features Alice Brady, Edward Everett Horton, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes. The screenplay was written by George Marion Jr., Dorothy Yost, and Edward Kaufman. Robert Benchley, H. W. Hanemann, and Stanley Rauh made uncredited contributions to the dialogue. It was based on the Broadway musical ''Gay Divorce'', written by Dwight Taylor, which had been adapted into a musical by Kenneth S. Webb and Samuel Hoffenstein from an unproduced play by J. Hartley Manners. The stage version included many songs by Cole Porter which were left out of the film, except for " Night and Day". Though most of the songs were replaced, the screenplay kept the original plot of the stage version. Three members of the play's original cast repeated their stage roles: Astaire, Rhodes, and Eric Blore. The Hays Office insisted that RKO change the name from "Gay Divorce" to "The G ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Boss Baby
''The Boss Baby'' is a 2017 American computer-animated comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and distributed by 20th Century Fox. Loosely based on the 2010 picture book of the same name by Marla Frazee, it was directed by Tom McGrath from a screenplay by Michael McCullers, and stars the voices of Alec Baldwin as the title character, along with Steve Buscemi, Jimmy Kimmel, Lisa Kudrow, Miles Bakshi, and Tobey Maguire. The first installment in ''The Boss Baby'' franchise, the plot follows a boy helping his baby brother who is a secret agent in the war for adults' love between babies and puppies. ''The Boss Baby'' premiered at the Miami International Film Festival on March 12, 2017, and was released in the United States on March 31. The film received mixed reviews from critics upon release, who praised its animation and voice performances but criticized its plot and humor. It grossed $528 million worldwide against its $125 million budget. The film received Best A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
