Top Hat is the first volume to spotlight this classic Hollywood film, probing the musical genre, notions of romance and subjectivity, as well as the contested relations between the sexes.

• Offers a detailed analysis of one of Hollywood's greatest musicals, including a comprehensive survey of the film's production, promotion and reception, all measured against the background of 1930s socio-political contexts in the USA
• Explores the musical genre and questions of (gendered) national identity, romance, subjectivity and the notion of the couple
• Written in a clear, accessible style, Top Hat probes text and context carefully to appeal to the student and teacher of the musical and of Hollywood film history, as well as the film-loving general reader

Peter William Evans is a Professor of Film Studies at Queen Mary University of London. His publications range from classical Hollywood (books on the musical, romantic comedy, and the Biblical epic, and articles on film noir, the western, and Hitchcock), to British cinema (a book on Carol Reed) and Spanish cinema (books on Bunuel, Almodovar, and Bigas Luna).