Description
Book SynopsisPeter Evans' immensely readable volume uses this classic film to explore questions not only of integration across the Hollywood musical in general, but the ambiguities of (gendered) national identity, romance, subjectivity and the notion of the couple.
Trade Review"Its considerable claims to Art and its resonant magic are the dual focus of this insightful and highly readable study by Peter William Evans . . . Evans approaches this most celebratory of musical comedies in celebratory mode but also with a deserved seriousness devoid of solemnity. " (Times Literary Supplement , 24 June 2011)
Table of ContentsList of Figures vi
Synopsis vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1. The Making of Top Hat 6
2. Fred Astaire: "Outlaw" Stylist of the Dance 19
3. Ginger Rogers: Confirming and Defying Convention 26
4. Introduction to Narrative and Number: The Bumpy Road to Love 35
5. The Numbers 43
6. Querying National and Sexual Identity 85
Conclusion: A Perfectly Swell Romance 101
Notes 104
Bibliography 106
Index 114
