The most graceful, elegant and sophisticated dancer in the history of the movies here gets the role that would make his name.  Fred Astaire would dominate screen dance for the next twenty years and would only ever find one true rival: Gene Kelly (but it has to be said Gene’s style was different to Fred’s).

Fred’s dancing brilliance meant that he could find success with any partner, be it Ginger Rogers, Judy Garland, Cyd Charisse or Rita Hayworth, but he could also be just as effective on his own, the mark of a true star.  Halliwell reckoned Top Hat to be most representative of Astaire’s career and gave him this dedication in the Filmgoer’s Companion:

‘For his apparently lighter-than-air constitution, his brilliantly inventive dancing, his breezy elegance, his unlikely but effective voice, and his pleasing longevity.’

Year: 1935