#dwight taylor

[gregorygalloway]

Top Hat premiered in New York City on 29 August 1935.

Dwight Taylor wrote the script specifically for Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, but Astaire hated the first drafts (complaining that it was too much like The Gay Divorcee that Taylor had written in 1932 and the film version had been released in 1934) and Allan Scott was hired to do the re-writes (with director Mark Sandrich overseeing edits).

Irving Berlin provided the score, and 5 of the songs became popular hits, including "Cheek to Cheek," "Top Hat, White Tie and Tails."

While most reviews were positive, some critics complained that it was too much like The Gay Divorcee, but it was a box office success (it would be RKO studio's most profitable film of the 1930s). Top Hat was nominated for 4 Academy Awards, including Best Production (now Best Picture), Best Dance Direction (Hermes Pan), and Best Song ("Cheek to Cheek"). It did not receive an Oscar.

[theoscarsproject]

Boy on a Dolphin (1957). A woman finds a treasure and is torn between two men: one who wants to sell it and one who wants to gift it to Greece.

This sort of adventure-exploration film really isn’t my thing, but on it’s own, it’s an interesting film to watch. It oozes with the sort of sex appeal that would soon be popularised in the James Bond franchise, and obviously has fun with it’s own premise. Still, it’s pretty weak narratively, and the performances and look of it leave a lot to be desired. 5/10.

[gregorygalloway]

The Gay Divorcee was released on 19 October 1934.

Based on the 1932 Broadway musical by Dwight Taylor, the film was the second to star Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers (following Flying Down to Rio, released in December 1933).

While the musical contained many songs by Cole Porter, only one was kept for the film, "Night and Day."

The Gay Divorcee was a commercial and critical success, and was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Music (Max Steiner), Best Art Direction, and Best Sound.

"The Continental" (written by Con Conrad and Herb Magidson) received the Oscar for Best Song - the Academy's first year of honoring the category - competing against "Carioca" from Flying Down to Rio.

[movie-titlecards]

Pickup on South Street (1953)

My rating: 6/10

[movie-titlecards]

Top Hat (1935)

My rating: 7/10

Sure, the plot is contrived and ridiculous, but this isn't a movie you watch for the plot - you watch it for the shenanigans, for the excellent song and dance numbers and for Fred Astaire flirting outrageously with everybody (and I mean everybody) he meets. Good times all around.

[nihilo-minus]

Striving to understand others creates joy, success, confidence, and so many things that make life full and rich. The act of seeking to understand costs nothing. It requires awareness, a little patience, a little time. It takes intentionality, work, and some humility.

Dwight Taylor,  “5 Truths About the Beauty of Neurodiversity That I Had to Live to Learn” (ADDitude Mag)

[blschaos3000-blog]

Have Cheetah,Will View #331 - "The Thin Man Goes Home" (1944)

Have Cheetah,Will View #331 – “The Thin Man Goes Home” (1944)

Its 2:08 pm overcast

Fresh off our coverage of the four Lauren Bacall – Humphrey Bogart films,the cheetah and I were wondering what classic films series should we cover next.  We did the four Bogie-Bacall films,a Dick Tracy adventure and even a Nancy Drew movie as well. But there has been one series that I really wanted to look at and so I sent a bird to our pal “MP” over at Warner Brothers…

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[yourdailybway]

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Out of This World | Use Your Imagination Marin Mazzie on the 1995 Encores! cast recording Music & Lyrics: Cole Porter Book: Dwight Taylor and Reginald Lawrence