MID-TERM EXAM

Turn this in during the first class after Spring Break. No emails or postings on this one. Please come to class with a printed copy.


1. What factors were involved in the end of the Studio System as it existed from the early days up through the 1950s?

2. In the first several decades of film production, various Studios were associated with particular styles and genres. Discuss this subject and give examples from our viewing list or other movies you might have watched on your own.

3. There is something called the “Hollywood Style”. What is it and how did it develop?

4. What were the origins of the Production Code and how did it influence American filmmaking?

Rent

I watched the musical "Rent" for class. I really enjoy this movie, and I think it is done very well in many different ways. First of all, I have seen the broadway version of Rent, which is obviously the original script. It was really interesting to see the changes in plot and direction that needed to be taken to make this an effective film. Because there was no need to be confined to a stage, there was a lot more that the director could do with setting. The subway scene, in particular, was really great in the movie because the characters were singing on a real-life subway. This scene was a lot more effective on film, because the viewer didn't need to use their imagination so much, and could instead just sit back and watch the scene. In general, the movie stayed very true to the original. Even six out of the eight of the main cast were from the original broadway production, and many of the same props were used, such as the projector screen showing everyone's faces at the end of the show. I think a lot of musicals that are adapted from the stage to film try to break away from the original, but "Rent" is very true to its broadway roots and makes a large effort to stay true to its original self. One other big difference is the amount of dialogue. There is a lot mroe dialogue in the film, because a film is a different type of production than a show. While "Rent" on stage is more about the production, dancing, and visual effect of a staged show, the movie needed to focus more on plot. Things that could be looked over in  a staged show needed to be explained through dialogue in the film. For instance, the death of Roger's ex girlfriend is quickly mentioned in the broadway show, but in the film this is not enough, and so it needs to be explained by the other characters through dialogue for the viewer. In general, I loved "Rent"and want to watch more musicals!

Singing in the Rain

For homework this week I chose to watch Singing in The Rain. I have actually seen this movie many times. It is one of my favorite movies; I essentially grew up watching it.

I think that this is a very interesting movie because it is a movie about the film industry during the switch from silent movies to movies with sound. The idea of watching a film in essence joking about the film industry is actually very amusing to me.

Essentially the film is about a romance between an actor and an aspiring actress during the switch from silent movies to movies with sound. This aspiring actress’s voice is used in place of a famous silent era’s actress’s horrible shrieking voice. Finally at the end of the movie full credit gets given to Kathy for allowing Lina to use her voice during the film.

The music in this film is outstanding. I think almost everyone knows the song “Singing in The Rain” which the film gains title from. My favorite song in this movie however, is “Good Morning”. Its up beat, easy to sing along with, and very cheerful.

The main actors and actresses include Gene Kelley, Debbie Reynolds, and Jean Hagen. The film was released in 1952 and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

The Blues Brothers

One of my favorite musicals, and favorite films in general, is the 1980 film the Blues Brothers. I would say that the film is more of a conventional film than a musical, but the musical stylings of James Brown, Aretha Franklin, and of course Ray Charles make this film much more than just a standard Landis film. Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi make the film hilarious from start to finish, which clearly draws on the experience that the actors had on Saturday Night Live. The main plot is for the brothers to accumulate enough money to keep their childhood orphanage from closing, but the film creates many subplots along the way to set the stage for a terrific ending. Carrie Fischer, John Candy, and Henry Gibson all play ridiculous roles that almost stop the brothers dead in their tracks, but somehow the brothers always manage to get away in their '72 Dodge Monaco ex-police car. The brothers plan on getting the money they need by getting their old band back together, and as they hunt down their bandmates, they meet Brown, Franklin, and Charles, who all happen to be acquaintances of the brothers. The music throughout is awesome. It's catchy and full of elaborate dances that truly capture an audience's attention. The film ends with a hilariously ridiculous car chase, and the brothers finally landing in jail for the many injustices they committed throughout the film. I'd suggest that anyone who hasn't seen this film to check it out, as there are far more antics in the film than the ones included in this little preview. The film is truly a classic, and was the last major film John Belushi made before his death shortly after the film was released.

Funny Girl

I loved the movie Funny Girl. The audience is almost forced to love Barbra Streisand’s character, Fannie Brice, as we watch her go from slum-dom to stardom. It’s impossible to put a label on Fannie, but she somehow finds strength in her contradictions. On the surface she's skinny and plain with a big nose and boney knees, but underneath her unimpressive exterior she has an undeniable power that radiates behind her voice. She is a successful comedian but leads a less than successful life at home. Sometimes it’s unclear which life she prefers. It seems like she starts acting the moment she steps off of the stage. The fans that love her will probably never be able to meet her, while the man she meets and marries may never be able to love her. Her success is both a blessing and a curse.

 

Her melodramatic declarations and comically theatrical gesticulations fabulously juxtapose her mother’s dry humor. I found it interesting how her husband’s addiction to gambling separates them, but also offers possibly the only similarity between them, their talented poker face.

 

Streisand’s opening line, “Hello, gorgeous” is delivered into a backstage prop mirror with a famously thick Brooklyn accent. The frame of the mirror mimics the body of the film, which is essentially a reflection on her past and rise to fame. This was also the first thing that Streisand said after receiving her Oscar for Best Actress.

 

Robert Elbert, reviewer for the Chicago Sun-Times, said of Streisand, “She has the best timing since Mae West, and is more fun to watch than anyone since the young Katharine Hepburn. She doesn't actually sing a song at all; she acts it. She does things with her hands and face that are simply individual; that's the only way to describe them. They haven't been done before. She sings, and you're really happy you're there.”

 

Hair.

Flow it. Show it. Long as God can grow it.

Four years ago I worked the lights at a "Broadway cabaret" and was introduced to many songs with which I had not been familiar, among them "The Age of Aquarius." Since then, I've suspected that I would like the musical of its origin, "Hair." I rather enjoyed the way the choreography was handled during this number and the movie in general; in keeping with the atmosphere of freedom and individuality, the dancers were synchronized yet delightfully unconstrained by the traditional formalist notion of indistinguishable steps and pirouettes. There were several other songs I particularly enjoyed, such when Woof sings "Sodomy, Fellatio, Cunnilingus, Peredasty. Father, why do these words sound so nasty? Masturbation can be fun. Join the holy orgy. Kama Sutra, everyone!" to three young high-society ladies on horseback. When Hud, an African-American, sings "Colored Spade" he's wryly listing off various self-deprecating racial epithets, but mixed in with them is the declaration that he's "President of the United States of Love." The song seemed to have an added dimension to it now given the results of the '08 election. The scenes which accompanied the pro-miscegenation "Black Boys" and "White Boys" were well done and quite funny. The somber juxtaposition of Berger's death right before the upbeat "Let the Sunshine In" was as unexpected as the revelation of his death was sudden.

One of the better quips from the film:

Prison Psychiatrist: And men?

Woof: What do you mean...?

Prison Psychiatrist: You have any sexual attraction towards men?

Woof: You mean if I'm a homosexual or something like that?

Prison Psychiatrist: Yeah.

Woof: Well, I wouldn't kick Mick Jagger out of my bed, but uh, I'm not a homosexual, no.

Also, I adored Jeannie's character:

Jeannie (carrying either Hud's or Woof's child): I'm not into any heavy preference trip... like who the father is. I don't care. I think they're both beautiful. Don't you?
Hud's Fiancee: But how can you not care about that? If a woman carries a child, don't you think she should know who the father is?
Jeannie: I admit that I have this dilemma. But it will be resolved real soon. It's not like a big crisis or anything. It's not like a world war. I don't know what you're so uptight about.
Hud's Fiancee: I fell in love with someone. We had a child, and we were gonna get married. That's why I'm uptight.
Jeannie: Yeah?
Hud's Fiancee: And you're holding it up!
Jeannie: I'm not holding it up. You don't see the way it is. This is really a great thing that's happened to all of us. Everybody's really happy about it. The guys are really happy. I think it would be great if you could be happy about it too.
Hud's Fiancee: You're crazy.
Jeannie: Yeah I'm crazy. We're all crazy. Let's shake on it.

Whatever happened to free love anyhow?

A couple interesting facts I came across:

An astrologer was consulted for when the original musical ought to open on Broadway.

Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp) welcomes the children to his factory with lyrics from the one of the songs: "Good morning starshine, the Earth says hello!"

I've spared you a plot summary. Just make sure you watch it at some point if you haven't.

Singin' in the Rain

 The musical I watched was the 1952 classic Singin' in the Rain, staring Gene Kelly, Donald O'Connor and Debbie Reynolds. This film is one of my favorites; I find it to be both hilarious and heart warming. Plus I love the unique comedic view on the history of “talkies”. I think one of my most favorite scenes is when they do a test viewing of Lina Lamont and Don Lockwood’s first attempt at a talking picture but unfortunately the audio gets mixed up. The whole “no no no” in the high-pitched woman’s voice over the male villain’s nodding his head in agreement, it makes me crack up every time. I used to watch this movie a lot with my family as a child so it always brings back sweet memories for me. Also my mother, being a huge movie buff, was able to give me interesting tid-bits like that Gene Kelly was suffering from a fever of 104 when he preformed the actual song “Singing in the Rain”. And at the end of the day I always love being able to sing along with “Good Mornin”. I really do love this movie! 

The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975)

Originally a British comedy stage show in the early 1970s, The Rocky Horror Picture Show has since become a film, a Broadway production, and is currently still running as an interactive "midnight movie" in theaters across the country. I had never seen the movie before high school when I was dragged into a midnight screening of it at Flipper's Cinema in Hollywood, FL. The experience was scarring, frightening, and strangely enjoyable. I left the theater 3 hours later with my hair full of glitter and puffed rice. However, I had little desire to go back and the film itself had been rather disappointing. My friends, who were actors in the production, would hear none of it. To the massive cult following, speaking ill of TRHPS is like debasing a treasured deity.

I visited the showing at Flipper's about 2 or 3 times, and even saw the performers here at the Beach Theater (all thanks to my fanatic friends from high school). While I thought I'd had my lifetime fill of novelty dildos and screaming men in lingerie, I decided to watch the film in the safety of my own room... without the threat of pelvic thrusts to the back of my head. I found I enjoyed the film itself substantially more than I had. I discovered a plot that I hadn't noticed before (fancy that!) and although I still hesitate to call myself a fan, the uniqueness and immeasurable weirdness of The Rocky Horror Picture Show has gained my respect. It's not Oscar-worthy, but the soundtrack, Tim Curry's masterful performance, and its influence on youth culture is enough for Rocky Horror "virgins" to take a look.

- Sam Hagar

Chicago

I chose to watch Chicago, a more temporary piece, for our assigned viewing of a musical.  Chicago was not one of my favorite movies or even musicals, but I particularly enjoyed the songs that they selected for the movie.  I actually found the plot to be rather dry and thought the movie dragged on to a certain extent.
I feel that they did a good job of choreographing and writing the songs in the movie.  My favorite part the movie was when the prisoners performed the "Cell Block Tango."  It was a very exciting scene that did a good job of answering many of my questions building up to that part.  I especially liked the way that they incorporated how they killed the men into the dancing of the song.  I also enjoyed Catherine Zeta Jones' performance, and thought she killed the role of a Jazz icon in the 20's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Nro0plocJI

Alyssa MacDonald

American Cinema

3/13/12

Musical of Choice: Hairspray (2007)

The musical I watched for this writing assignment was the musical Hairspray (2007) directed by Adam Shankman. He had directed and choreographed multiple films.  The setting of the film is 1962 Baltimore Maryland. The film’s main conflict is the racial segregation on a local tv program and in society. The main character is Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) a plump, outgoing teenager who loves to dance and sing. She manages to get on the local television show she loves and eventually helps de-segregate the show with the help of her friends and family. Most of the dance numbers take place in a setting but others are performed on the t.v stage for the program. I like the upbeat songs and the fast pace of the dancing. There are usually multiple dancers involved and a lot of moving to different locations within the same number. The whole movie is colorful and the costumes change constantly. It’s quite stimulating for the viewer. None of the singing is too spectacular but the dancing is the main focus. I like the 1950-60’s style of dancing and it’s fun to watch. 

Burlesque

Okay, so I decided to a more contemporary piece that I absolutely loved; because honestly, the older musicals, while entertaining, are not my favorite. Therefore I decided to watch Burlesque. At first I didn't think it would be considered a musical but after some research I found out it was! Which is awesome! There is a ton of dance, singing, and drama! When watching the movie you will see the drama between the two women who are fighting for the top spot on Cher's list of burlesque performers, the gorgeous body of Cam Gigandet, Christina's Aguilera's wonderful performances, and the art, talent, and hard work of the world of Burlesque. The movie shows a classic love story between girl and guy and between girl and the artistic world of performance through song and dance.YouTube Theatrical Trailer of Burlesque

Jonathan Rivera- Grease

 Grease (1978)

Grease is one of my all time favorite musicals. Directed by Randal Kleiser, Grease truly captures the essence of the 50’s and depicts  what it would be like to be a teenager in that decade. Grease entrances the audience with Danny Zuko, played by John Travolta, and Sandy’s, Olivia Newton-John, story of teenage love all the while trying to survive high school. 

What makes Grease an instant classic is the star-filled cast with stars such as John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John and Jeff Conoway, the great music, one of the classics from the soundtrack being "Youre the One that I Want" and finally the story line that is relatable to everyone who has gone to high school. Grease allows the audience to travel back in time and get a taste of life in 50’s. What is so great about Grease is it’s light-hearted and fun tone throughout the film. All the songs, choreography, and photography in the film are executed perfectly and are full of fun. There is never a dull moment in Grease, keeping the audience entertained for the entire length of the film.

 

  One of my favorite scenes is the lunch scene when both crowds break out into “Summer Nights”. This scene is great because the audience learns about the major conflict between the two protagonists in a very fun way: they sing about it. The choreography is funny and great, just as the song is. This scene is an upbeat, fun, and exciting sequence that always has me singing along every time I watch it.

Musical Reflection - Grease

Grease was released in 1978, it was directed by Randal Kleiser and was based off Warren Casey & Jim Jacob's 1971 musical of the same name. The musical is extremely well known and most likely everyone in the class has seen it. It stars a young John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John -- it is a story of two young lovers moving through the trials and tribulation of American High School in the 1950's.

I must admit i am not a huge musical fan, i quite liked Sweeney Todd but other than that Grease is only musical i have enjoyed (Although Billy Elliot stage performance was brilliant). I think the reason i like Grease and that it resonates with so many people is because of the nature of the setting. Everyone has experienced high school and i think the 1950's hair school, with the greasy hair, the flash cars, American style diners, drive in movie theatres is something everyone holds a nostalgia for; even if they haven't experienced it.

One of my favorite things about the Grease is the age of the actors - it isn't noticeable when you watch the movie but if you analyze it they are all so much older than high school students. I think this is something that is frequently mentioned by the cast in interviews but it worked. Additionally the dance numbers are great and how many people can say they don't know the words to at least one song in Grease? The soundtrack is extremely well known -- Summer Nights, Your the one that i want, Grease Lighting, Beauty School Dropout the list goes on!

Finally there is that iconic scene at the end of the movie with Sandy approaching Zuko at the end of year carnival dressed to impress him in her rock chick all leather outfit style to show she wants to be with him! Who can forget that sequence or for that matter Olivia Newton-John in that dress!

Below is the original trailer for Grease

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AMPTtgoGWCM

The Music Man

One of my favorite musicals is 1962’s, "The Music Man," starring Robert Preston as Harold HIll and Shirley Jones as his love interest, Marian Paroo. The film is set in 1912 and tells the story of a traveling salesman who arrives in a fictionalized town in Iowa. Hill is masquerading as a traveling band leader, and he cons the townspeople by telling them that, in order to keep the towns' boys out of trouble, they need to create a boys' marching band. Hills scam was to collect the money for the band instruments and then leave town, but in the process of his scam he falls in love with the town's librarian, and decides to stick around and face the consequences.The films tunes are very catchy and easy to sing along to.

This film won one Academy Award and also nominated for five. The musical was originally a Broadway musical then made to a big screen film. The film was remade again in 2003.

West Side Story

       The 1961 musical, West Side Story is a story about a forbidden love. It is an adaptation of the tragedy Romeo and Juliet. It was meant to be a modern retelling which took place in Manhattan between two rival gangs. The tension between the Sharks and the Jets can be seen through their choreography. The entire first scene had no dialogue, yet a story was told through the music and the dance. The snapping of fingers was like a heartbeat. The music sped up when they were tense and it slowed down when they were trying to be cool. Also, the gangs fought by using dance moves. At first it seemed awkward and silly, but the strength, energy and acrobatics used helped to suspend the disbelief. I could appreciate the physicality of the moves.

At the dance hall Maria and Tony meet and instantly fall in love. Everyone and everything around them becomes blurred. However, the image of them is clear. This was because they only saw each other. The chaos between the two fighting gangs around them meant nothing to them because of their love. This blurring of everything around them is used in other scenes as well. It was a vision of hope because they were looking for a place apart from everything that was reality.

 I love the song “I like to be in America.” For the women being in America was a lot better than in Puerto Rico because they were free to have fun. The men on the other hand do not feel the same way. For Bernardo and the other guys being in America means they must fight. They are not free to do what they want. I thought this contrast was very interesting. Anita believed in the American Dream, but Bernardo believed that "life is alright if you're white." Again their feelings are expressed through the choreography and music.

The scene where Tony calls out to Maria mimics the balcony scene in Romeo and Juliet. She is on a fire escape above him and he climbs up to reach her. It was dangerous for him to be in Shark territory. He tells Maria he loves her and she tells him she loves him in Spanish. To me this proves love has no language.

 I enjoyed the song the Jets sang about being juvenile delinquents. They blame society and their family for their actions. They make a joke of it because there is nothing else they can do. They can't change that their mother's are junkies and their father's are drunks. They think that life on the streets is all there is. Tony on the other hand has grown out of this life. He gets a job and says there are more important things than fighting. Unfortunately, the Jets do not see it the same way and Tony is pulled back in to intercede on their behalf.

The "Tonight" song united them all. Anita sings about the night because she will be with her love Bernardo after the fight. The Sharks and the Jets sing about the night and the fight. Tony and Maria sing about the night and how they will meet again. Each separate song is woven together brilliantly. To me this underscored the fact that they are all connected. They all believe their dreams or conflicts will be resolved that night. However, the fight goes horribly wrong and causes even more harm than good. It is a tragedy after all.

Tony is told Maria is dead and so, he wants to die too. This is just like Romeo and Juliet. In the end Maria stands up to both gangs to make them understand that the fighting is for nothing. They all killed not with weapons, but with hatred. She is the last to leave the scene. When she rises from the ground she is strong. She has a presence. She is no longer an innocent child. She became a real lady of America. The ending scene shows both Sharks and Jets carrying Tony (a dead Shark) away. For me the ending brings hope. It brings hope that the two rivals can learn to live with one another.

 It was amazing how so much was said without anything being said. The music, singing and choreography all explained the story better than the dialogue. It conjures an emotional response from the audience. You feel what they characters feel. You feel angry, sad, and hopefulness. I love this musical. It may be dated, but it has a powerful message. I like to live in America and everyone that lives here should be able to as well.

Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street

While I enjoyed Burton’s version of Sweeney Todd it does not compare to the stage version starring George Hearn and Angela Lansbury. One reason of course being the movie does not have the first song “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” which is both a great song and a great opening number. However, the biggest reason is that much of the humor of the musical was taken out of the film version. In the movie Sweeney is a much darker character that comes across as being relentlessly driven forward by his anger, despair, and resentfulness. He takes no joy in his work or in his victims being turned into food, just continuous killing person after person until his true targets shows up. There is little of the dark comedy that makes up the original Sweeney Todd musical written by Stephen Sondheim.

            In the stage version Sweeney truly likes what he does. You can see this when he becomes upset that he cannot kill one customer because he brought his daughter with him. It is obvious that he is happy and in a good mood when he receives a customer. When Mrs. Lovett proposes her plan, Sweeney laughs and smiles. Even though his ultimate goal is revenge, Sweeney is actually enjoying the ride.

The Phantom of the Opera, a story retold countless times, is a love story that captures my ears and heart every time I hear its soundtrack. Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical version of the classic novel and 1925 film is, hands down, my favorite musical that I will, probably, ever see. Although the Broadway musical experience is priceless, the Joel Schumacher musical-on-film was disappointing. I was raised to the voice of the musical god, Michael Crawford, who captures the spirit of the tortured genius, Erik, or better known as “the Phantom”. I came to love the voice of Sarah Brightman, the actress portraying Christine, entranced by the Phantoms music and forbidden love. To see Gerard Butler, and Emmy Rossum attempt to lip-sing their way to the same fame that the Broadway gods reside, made me loose respect for this adaptation. Having seen the Broadway musical multiple times, the color and choreography of certain dance scenes were lacking. The masquerade scene was solely black and white, probably to allow the Phantoms red costume to be more outstanding. Even his red costume was dumbed down with a simple skull face-mask, not the terrifying full skull head that the musical AND the original film used to shock the people of the Paris Opera House along with the audience. I may be spoiled from seeing the Broadway musical multiple times, and my opinion reflecting that of such, but in the movies defense, it was an enjoyable movie, a beautiful musical, and did a nice job of keeping to the story and to the original music and lyrics. However, there is an area that movies cannot touch or even begin to do justice, and that is capturing the music, talent, magic that is reserved for the live stage.

Phantom of the Opera

Although I've seen the more recent version of this movie, watching the older silent film version was really different. It was interesting seeing how things have changed as the movie was remade. The music in the background gave it a seriousness for the time period (1920's), however, after watching the movies that we have seen today the music seemed to make it slightly comical. I could imagine how at the time the movie was a dramatic movie. The facial expressions such as eyebrow movements, body language, and even the movement of the lips was over dramatic. However, I imagine that this is due to the nature of the silent film because this was visible in The Gold Rush as well. It helped to add to the drama and the suspense.

Also, I watched Arsenic and Lace and actually really enjoyed it. It was quite comical. The sisters were hilarious in their own suspenseful way, and the long-lost murderous brother reminded me a little of Lurch from the Adams Family. The facial expressions in that movie were also priceless. It makes you wonder how many crazy women are living in your neighborhood and stashing bodies in their trunk-like- window seat couch... great movie for halloween time.

TOP HAT (1935)

Most of the earliest musicals are pretty much boring affairs. Long shots of chorus lines and stiff vocalists seem to be more a documentary record of vaudeville and burlesque than the “all talking, all singing, all dancing” entertainments they purported to be. Sound had just come in and many filmmakers seemed to have no idea how to re-mobilize a camera that had become a prisoner of the sound proof booth. Post-sync techniques were soon to be developed but early musical performances were largely stage bound, wooden and far from spectacular.

Enter Busby Berkeley at Warner Bros. Suddenly the musical opened up with numbers edited into increasingly outrageous close ups of beautiful faces, bare legs, tapping feet, luminescent pianos, waterfalls and the kaleidoscopic overhead vibrations of scantily clad chorines. Starting with “42nd Street” in 1933, Berkeley moved from a choreographer credit to the director’s chair and churned out such crowd pleasers as “Gold Diggers of 1933”, “Dames”, and his greatest of all, “Footlight Parade”.

Something different was happening over at RKO. The man Rudolph Nureyev once called the greatest American dancer of all time, Fred Astaire, had partnered with Ginger Rogers, a young supporting actress and chorine from the Berkeley casts. They had starred as a secondary love interest couple in “Flying Down to Rio” in 1933. Stealing the show with their dancing, the studio moved them to a headlining position with “The Gay Divorcee” the next year, then back to supporting roles in “Roberta”.

“Top Hat” was their fourth film together and their second at the top of the bill. It was RKO’s biggest hit of the year and held onto that title for the team during their career together.

What had changed from the beginning was Astaire’s insistence on the camera moving with the performers and holding the editing to a minimum. What we get as a result are full-bodied shots of great dance numbers, photographed from a distance that allowed the viewer to see the dancers in detail and to marvel at the sometimes intricate and always demanding routines that they put themselves through. If Busby Berkeley had pioneered the breathtaking production number spinning into the fantastic, Astaire was responsible for the spotlight being trained on the very real talent of the performers, anchored firmly in the atmosphere of a world turned fantastic by their artistry.

Another convention that the Astaire-Rogers production team adopted that helped the musical to become one of the great American genres was the pacing of the numbers themselves. Where the Warner’s films were often backstage musicals with most of the singing and dancing crammed into a spectacular but short final 20 minutes, the RKO productions spaced the interludes evenly throughout the film. Also, there was the insistence that the songs and dances reflect and further the storyline; that every number have a dramatic purpose as well as a musical one.

In selecting the best example of a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers musical, it really comes down to two movies. The team felt their best film was “Swing Time” directed in 1936 by George Stevens. Rogers said she believed he brought something different to the formula. I would agree with that. It also contains what most critics think is the pair’s greatest performance on film, “Never Gonna Dance”. No argument there either, although “Cheek to Cheek” in “Top Hat” is one memorable number and a close contender for the title.

“Top Hat” is the most iconic of the Astaire-Rogers pairings. It gets my nod due to the consistent excellence of the aforementioned innovations that arrive fully formed with this film, the great Irving Berlin score, the smart comedy script (Dwight Taylor and Allen Scott) performed by an ensemble of classic character actors (Edward Everett Horton, Erik Rhodes, Eric Blore and Helen Broderick) at the top of their craft, the no-holds-barred Art Deco production design (Carroll Clark and Van Nest Polglase), Fred Astaire’s underestimated singing talent and the wonderful dancing of the greatest musical team in history.

The Gold Rush

I was very impressed that the Tramp could walk in the snow wearning 14 size shoes! Although it was a silent film I found the music really led the story. It would change with the seriosness of the scenes. I didn't like when a person was talking and there was no caption for what they had said. We coldn't hear them so, why did they do that without letting the audience know what was said. It just annoyed me alittle. I thought that when Big Jim McKay was imaging the Tramp as a chicken his laugher appeared very realistic. Has facial expressions and body movements really made me believe he thought it was hilarious. It even made me smile. The last thing I thought was interesting was when the Tramp played dead outside the cabin in order to get food. He was completely stiff when the man picked him up! I do not know how he did that. His body really looked like he was frozen.  I guess that is the beauty of silent film actors. Everything depended on their actions.