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110-650: Featuring a first-person narrative told by Paul Edgecombe, the novel switches between Paul as an old man in the Georgia Pines nursing home writing down his story in 1996, and his time in 1932 as the block supervisor of the Cold Mountain Penitentiary death row, nicknamed "The Green Mile" for the color of the floor's linoleum. This year marks the arrival of John Coffey, a 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) tall powerfully built black man who has been convicted of raping and murdering two young white girls. During his time on

220-453: A catatonic state from which he never recovers. Percy is then committed to Briar Ridge as a patient. Paul's long-simmering suspicions that John is innocent are proven right when he discovers that it was actually Wharton who raped and killed the two girls and that John was trying to revive them. Later, John tells Paul what he saw, when Wharton grabbed his arm one time, how Wharton had coerced the sisters to be silent by threatening to kill one if

330-466: A story within a story , wherein a narrator or character observing the telling of a story by another is reproduced in full, temporarily, and without interruption shifting narration to the speaker. The first-person narrator can also be the focal character. With a first-person narrative it is important to consider how the story is being told, i.e., is the character writing it down, telling it out loud, thinking it to themselves? And if they are writing it down,

440-516: A stream of consciousness and interior monologue , as in Marcel Proust 's In Search of Lost Time . The whole of the narrative can itself be presented as a false document , such as a diary, in which the narrator makes explicit reference to the fact that he is writing or telling a story. This is the case in Bram Stoker 's Dracula . As a story unfolds, narrators may be aware that they are telling

550-616: A 10th anniversary edition of the novel in three different versions, each mimicking the original six-volume release: the Gift Edition, limited to 2,000 copies, containing six unsigned hardcover volumes of each separate part, housed in a slipcase; the Limited Edition, limited to 148 numbered copies, and signed by Stephen King, housed in a slipcase; and the Lettered Edition, limited to 52 lettered copies, and signed by Stephen King, housed in

660-555: A Grove (the source for the movie Rashomon ) and Faulkner's novel The Sound and the Fury . Each of these sources provides different accounts of the same event, from the point of view of various first-person narrators. There can also be multiple co-principal characters as narrator, such as in Robert A. Heinlein 's The Number of the Beast . The first chapter introduces four characters, including

770-424: A chorus of men – which included a young Bob Hope and Larry Adler – with his cane. Berlin duly produced the song from his trunk and the concept of the film was then built around it. In this number Astaire had to compromise on his one-take philosophy, as Sandrich acknowledged: "We went to huge lengths to make the 'Top Hat' number look like one take, but actually it's several." Astaire's remarkable ability to change

880-429: A combination of stories, experiences, and servants' gossip. As such, his character is an unintentionally very unreliable narrator and serves mainly to mystify, confuse, and ultimately leave the events of Wuthering Heights open to a great range of interpretations. A rare form of the first person is the first-person omniscient, in which the narrator is a character in the story, but also knows the thoughts and feelings of all

990-409: A conversation with British publisher Malcolm Edwards , learned that Charles Dickens had often published his stories in shorter instalments by either folding them into magazines, or by publishing the instalments on their own as a chapbook . After a lengthy struggle to write the novel, Vicinaza pitched the idea of writing the book "the same way it would be read - in installments" to King the year before

1100-690: A fashion designer and rival for Dale's affections, and Helen Broderick as Hardwick's long-suffering wife Madge. The film was directed by Mark Sandrich , and was written by Allan Scott and Dwight Taylor , with songs by Irving Berlin . " Top Hat, White Tie and Tails " and " Cheek to Cheek " have become American song classics. It has been nostalgically referred to — particularly its "Cheek to Cheek" segment — in many films, including The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), The Green Mile (1999), and The Boss Baby (2017). Astaire and Rogers made nine films together at RKO Pictures , including: The Gay Divorcee (1934), Roberta (1935), Top Hat (1935), Follow

1210-399: A fight over a pair of boots, Arthur Flanders, a real estate executive who killed his father to perpetrate insurance fraud ; and Mr Jingles, a mouse Del teaches various tricks. Paul and the other guards are irritated throughout the book by Percy Wetmore, a sadistic guard who enjoys antagonizing the prisoners. The other guards have to be civil to him despite their dislike of him because he is

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1320-632: A film would be the narration given by the character Greg Heffley in the film adaptation of the popular book series Diary of a Wimpy Kid . A autobiography is youshaly in the first person Top Hat Top Hat is a 1935 American musical screwball comedy film in which Fred Astaire plays an American tap dancer named Jerry Travers, who comes to London to star in a show produced by Horace Hardwick ( Edward Everett Horton ). He meets and attempts to impress Dale Tremont ( Ginger Rogers ) to win her affection. The film also features Eric Blore as Hardwick's valet Bates, Erik Rhodes as Alberto Beddini,

1430-428: A first-person character, such as a protagonist (or other focal character ), re-teller, witness, or peripheral character. Alternatively, in a visual storytelling medium (such as video, television, or film), the first-person perspective is a graphical perspective rendered through a character's visual field, so the camera is "seeing" out of a character's eyes. A classic example of a first-person protagonist narrator

1540-498: A flat bridge on the other — was built across two adjoining sound stages. Astaire and Rogers dance across this flat bridge in "Cheek to Cheek". Around the bend from this bridge was located the main piazza, a giant stage coated in red bakelite that was the location for "The Piccolino". This fantasy representation of the Lido of Venice was on three levels comprising dance floors, restaurants and terraces, all decorated in candy-cane colors, with

1650-498: A house record with a gross of $ 134,800 in its first week. Twenty-five policemen were deployed to control the crowds. In its 3 weeks at the Music Hall, it grossed $ 350,000. Overall, the film earned rentals of $ 1,782,000 in the US and Canada and $ 1,420,000 elsewhere. RKO made a profit of $ 1,325,000, making it the studio's most profitable film of the 1930s. It was the 4th most popular film at

1760-697: A lifelong friendship with Berlin contributing to more Astaire films (six in total) than any other composer. Of his experience with Astaire in Top Hat Berlin wrote: "He's a real inspiration for a writer. I'd never have written Top Hat without him. He makes you feel so secure." As Berlin could not read or write music and could only pick out tunes on a specially designed piano that transposed keys automatically, he required an assistant to make up his piano parts. Hal Borne – Astaire's rehearsal pianist – performed this role in Top Hat and recalled working nights with him in

1870-451: A manner and agrees instead to marry Alberto. Fortunately, Bates, Horace's meddling English valet, disguises himself as a priest and conducts the ceremony; Horace had sent Bates to keep tabs on Dale. On a trip in a gondola , Jerry manages to convince Dale and they return to the hotel where the previous confusion is rapidly cleared up. The reconciled couple dance off into the Venetian sunset, to

1980-435: A multi-level narrative structure is Joseph Conrad 's novella Heart of Darkness , which has a double framework: an unidentified "I" (first person singular) narrator relates a boating trip during which another character, Marlow, uses the first person to tell a story that comprises the majority of the work. Within this nested story , it is mentioned that another character, Kurtz, told Marlow a lengthy story; however, its content

2090-433: A mystery to him) and surrender completely to him. The choreographic device introduced to reflect the progress of this seduction is the supported backbend, exploiting Rogers' exceptionally flexible back. The main dance begins with the first of two brief passages which reuse the device of sequential imitation introduced in "Isn't This a Lovely Day?". The pair spin and lean, dodging back and forth past each other before moving into

2200-413: A quick death in the electric chair . When the switch is thrown, the current causes Del to catch fire in the chair and suffer a prolonged, agonizing demise. Over time, Paul realizes that John Coffey possesses inexplicable healing abilities, which he uses to cure Paul's urinary tract infection and revive Mr Jingles after Percy stomps on him. Simple-minded and shy, John is very empathic and sensitive to

2310-562: A short solo dance that builds in intensity and volume progressing from tap shuffles sur place , via traveling patterns, to rapid-fire heel jabs finishing with a carefree tour of the suite during which he beats on the furniture with his hands. On his return to the center of the room, where he noisily concentrates his tap barrage, the camera cranes down to discover Rogers in bed, awake and irritated. As she makes her way upstairs, Horton fields telephone complaints from hotel management. Astaire incorporates this into his routine, first startling him with

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2420-589: A soft and gentle sand dance, to a diminuendo reprise of the melody, in a scene which has drawn considerable admiration from dance commentators, and has been the subject of affectionate screen parodies. In " Isn't This a Lovely Day (to be Caught in the Rain) ", while Rogers is out riding, a thunderstorm breaks and she takes shelter in a bandstand. Astaire follows her and a conversation about clouds and rainfall soon gives way to Astaire's rendering of this, one of Berlin's most prized creations. Astaire sings to Rogers' back, but

2530-410: A standard ballroom position where the first hints of the supported backbend are introduced. The first backbend occurs at the end of a sequence where Astaire sends Rogers into a spin, collects her upstage and maneuvers her into a linked-arm stroll forward, repeats the spin but this time encircles her while she turns and then takes her in his arms. As the music becomes more energetic, the dancers flow across

2640-530: A story and of their reasons for telling it. The audience that they believe they are addressing can vary. In some cases, a frame story presents the narrator as a character in an outside story who begins to tell their own story, as in Mary Shelley 's Frankenstein . First-person narrators are often unreliable narrators since a narrator might be impaired (such as both Quentin and Benjy in Faulkner's The Sound and

2750-409: A story in the grammatical first person, i.e. from the perspective of "I", is Herman Melville 's Moby-Dick , which begins with "Call me Ishmael." First-person narration may sometimes include an embedded or implied audience of one or more people. The story may be told by a person directly undergoing the events in the story without being aware of conveying that experience to readers; alternatively,

2860-419: A story is told will also affect how it is written. Why is this narrator telling the story in this way, why now, and are they to be trusted? Unstable or malevolent narrators can also lie to the reader. Unreliable narrators are not uncommon. In the first-person-plural point of view , narrators tell the story using "we". That is, no individual speaker is identified; the narrator is a member of a group that acts as

2970-502: A tap burst then escorting him ostentatiously to the telephone. As Horton leaves to investigate, Astaire continues to hammer his way around the suite, during which he feigns horror at seeing his image in a mirror – a reference to his belief that the camera was never kind to his face. The routine ends as Astaire, now dancing with a statue, is interrupted by Rogers' entrance, a scene which, as in The Gay Divorcee and Roberta , typifies

3080-458: A title of one of the chapters in his autobiography — and parodied his experience in a song and dance routine with Judy Garland in Easter Parade (1948). Astaire also chose and provided his own clothes. He is widely credited with influencing 20th century male fashion and, according to Forbes male fashion editor, G. Bruce Boyer, the "Isn't It a Lovely Day?" routine: "shows Astaire dressed in

3190-436: A traycase. Every edition contained new illustrations by Mark Geyer, the novel's original illustrator. Each version had its own design, and cost $ 150, $ 900, and $ 2,500, respectively. There were other versions published as well, including a "pocketbook" sized hardcover by Paw Prints ( ISBN   9781439182789 ). King was first made aware of the possibility to publish stories in shorter instalments by Ralph Vicinanza, who, after

3300-599: A two-minute dance — all shot in one take — with the Astaire-Pan choreography separately referencing the basic melody and the Latin vamp in the accompaniment. They dance to the accompaniment as they descend the steps and glide along the dance floor, then, when the melody enters, they halt and perform the Piccolino step, which involves the feet darting out to the side of the body. The rest of the dance involves repetitions and variations of

3410-728: A unit. The first-person-plural point of view occurs rarely but can be used effectively, sometimes as a means to increase the concentration on the character or characters the story is about. Examples include: Other examples include Twenty-Six Men and a Girl by Maxim Gorky , The Treatment of Bibi Haldar by Jhumpa Lahiri , During the Reign of the Queen of Persia by Joan Chase , Our Kind by Kate Walbert , I, Robot by Isaac Asimov , and We Didn't by Stuart Dybek . First-person narrators can also be multiple, as in Ryūnosuke Akutagawa 's In

The Green Mile (novel) - Misplaced Pages Continue

3520-431: Is Charlotte Brontë 's Jane Eyre (1847), in which the title character is telling the story in which she herself is also the protagonist: "I could not unlove him now, merely because I found that he had ceased to notice me". Srikanta by Bengali writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay is another first-person perspective novel which is often called a " masterpiece ". Srikanta , the title character and protagonist of

3630-434: Is " No Strings (I'm Fancy Free) ". On retiring to his hotel suite, Horton advises him to get married. Astaire declares his preference for bachelorhood and the song – this number was the brainchild of scriptwriter Dwight Taylor and is found in his earliest drafts – emerges naturally and in mid-sentence. Astaire sings it through twice and during the last phrase leaps into a ballet jump, accompanied by leg beats, and launches into

3740-678: Is for the main detective principal assistant, the "Watson", to be the narrator: this derives from the character of Dr. Watson in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. First-person narratives can appear in several forms; interior monologue, as in Fyodor Dostoevsky 's Notes from Underground ; dramatic monologue, also in Albert Camus ' The Fall ; or explicitly, as Mark Twain 's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn . Other forms include temporary first-person narration as

3850-400: Is it something meant to be read by the public, a private diary, or a story meant for one other person? The way the first-person narrator is relating the story will affect the language used, the length of sentences, the tone of voice, and many other things. A story presented as a secret diary could be interpreted much differently than a public statement. First-person narratives can tend towards

3960-469: Is married to her friend Madge. Following the success of Jerry's opening night in London, Jerry follows Dale to Venice , where she is visiting Madge and modelling/promoting the gowns created by Alberto Beddini, a dandified Italian fashion designer with a penchant for malapropisms . Jerry proposes to Dale, who, while still believing that Jerry is Horace, is disgusted that her friend's husband could behave in such

4070-468: Is mocking in character, then becomes more of a casual exchange, and ends in a spirit of true cooperation. Until the last thirty seconds of this two and a half minute dance the pair appear to pull back from touching, then with a crook of her elbow Rogers invites Astaire in. The routine, at once comic and romantic, incorporates hopping steps, tap spins with barrages, loping and dragging steps among its many innovative devices. The spirit of equality which pervades

4180-449: Is nearly flawless, with acrobatics by Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers that make the hardest physical stunts seem light as air." The film was nominated for the Oscar for Best Picture , as well as Art Direction ( Carroll Clark and Van Nest Polglase ), Original Song ( Irving Berlin for "Cheek to Cheek"), and Dance Direction ( Hermes Pan for "Piccolino" and "Top Hat"). In 1990, Top Hat

4290-419: Is not revealed to readers. Thus, there is an "I" narrator introducing a storyteller as "he" (Marlow), who talks about himself as "I" and introduces another storyteller as "he" (Kurtz), who in turn presumably told his story from the perspective of "I". First-person narration is more difficult to achieve in film; however, voice-over narration can create the same structure. An example of first-person narration in

4400-469: The Astaire-Rogers partnered dances – reflects the complexity of the emotional situation in which the pair find themselves. No longer flirting, as in "Isn't This a Lovely Day?," the pair are now in love. But Rogers feels guilty and deceived and would prefer to avoid Astaire's advances – in effect, fall out of love with him. Therefore, Astaire's purpose here is to make her put aside her misgivings (which are

4510-555: The West End 's Aldwych Theatre on April 19, 2012, opening on May 9, 2012. It won three Olivier Awards in 2013, including for Best New Musical. In 2003, a digitally restored version of Top Hat was released separately, and as part of The Fred and Ginger Collection, Vol. 1 from Universal Studios , which controls the rights to the RKO Astaire-Rogers pictures in the UK. In both releases,

The Green Mile (novel) - Misplaced Pages Continue

4620-549: The twenty five greatest film musicals at number 15, and "Cheek to Cheek" appeared on their list of the one hundred greatest songs of American cinema , also at number 15. American dancer Jerry Travers comes to London to star in a show produced by the bumbling Horace Hardwick. While practicing a tap dance routine in his hotel bedroom, he awakens Dale Tremont on the floor below. She storms upstairs to complain, whereupon Jerry falls hopelessly in love with her and proceeds to pursue her all over London. Dale mistakes Jerry for Horace, who

4730-445: The "Opening Sequence", after the RKO logo appears, Astaire, shown only from the waist down, dances onto a polished stage floor, backed by a male chorus sporting canes. On pausing his name appears. Rogers then follows suit and the two dance together as the picture dissolves to reveal a top hat. A similar concept was used in the opening sequence of The Barkleys of Broadway (1949). The second

4840-742: The 2022 film The Batman . In the episode, a young Oz Cobb and his mother Francis watch the film in a flashback. In the present, Francis is kidnapped by Oz's rival Sofia Gigante , who she tells that she believes Oz will kill her, and when he does, "[she'll] be tap dancing on [her] grave like Ginger fuckin' Rogers". The film has been adapted into a stage musical that began touring the UK during late 2011. The cast included Summer Strallen as Dale, Tom Chambers as Jerry and Martin Ball as Horace. The show opened at Milton Keynes Theatre on August 19, 2011, before touring to other UK regional theatres including Leeds, Birmingham and Edinburgh. The production transferred to

4950-557: The Beverly Wilshire Hotel: "Berlin went 'Heaven...' and I went dah dah dee 'I'm in Heaven' (dah-dah-dee) . He said, 'I love it, put it down.'" These parts were subsequently orchestrated by a team comprising Edward Powell, Maurice de Packh, Gene Rose, Eddie Sharp, and Arthur Knowlton who worked under the overall supervision of Max Steiner . Berlin broke a number of the conventions of American songwriting in this film, especially in

5060-470: The British box office in 1935–36. Reviews for Top Hat were mainly positive. The Los Angeles Evening Herald Express praised the film, exclaiming " Top Hat is the tops! With Fred Astaire dancing and singing Irving Berlin tunes! Well, one (in his right mind) couldn't ask for much more — unless, of course, it could be a couple of encores." The New York Times praised the film's musical numbers, but criticized

5170-479: The Fleet (1936), Swing Time (1936), Shall We Dance (1937), and Carefree (1938). Top Hat was the most successful picture of Astaire and Rogers' partnership (and Astaire's second most successful picture after Easter Parade ), achieving second place in worldwide box-office receipts for 1935. While some dance critics maintain that Swing Time contained a finer set of dances, Top Hat remains, to this day,

5280-791: The Fury ), lie (as in The Quiet American by Graham Greene , or The Book of the New Sun series by Gene Wolfe ), or manipulate their own memories intentionally or not (as in The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro , or in Ken Kesey 's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest ). Henry James discusses his concerns about "the romantic privilege of the 'first person ' " in his preface to The Ambassadors , calling it "the darkest abyss of romance ." One example of

5390-497: The Mile, John interacts with fellow prisoners Eduard "Del" Delacroix, a Cajun arsonist , rapist, and murderer; and William Wharton ("Billy the Kid" to himself, "Wild Bill" to the guards), an unhinged and dangerous multiple murderer who is determined to make as much trouble as he can before he is executed. Other inhabitants include Arlen Bitterbuck, a Native American convicted of killing a man in

5500-416: The Piccolino step and the hopping steps associated with the vamp, leading to some complex amalgamations of the two. On the vamp melody's final appearance, the dancers perform a highly embellished form of the Piccolino step as they travel sideways back to their table, sinking back into their chairs and lifting their glasses in a toast. "The Piccolino (reprise)": After the various parties confront each other in

5610-513: The Radio City Music Hall, where it broke all records, went on to gross $ 3 million on its initial release, and became RKO's most profitable film of the 1930s. After Mutiny on the Bounty , it made more money than any other film released in 1935. Dwight Taylor was the principal screenwriter in this, the first screenplay written specially for Astaire and Rogers. Astaire reacted negatively to

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5720-406: The actual writer of that book and playing the part of James Kirk (Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek ) as he wrote the novel. Since the narrator is within the story, he or she may not have knowledge of all the events. For this reason, the first-person narrative is often used for detective fiction , so that the reader and narrator uncover the case together. One traditional approach in this form of fiction

5830-564: The animated film The Boss Baby (2017). Top Hat's movie poster appeared in Stephen Chow's movie Kung Fu Hustle. British-Irish singer-songwriter Chris de Burgh referenced the movie in his 1986 hit, " The Lady in Red ", wherein he and the eponymous lady in the song danced "Cheek to Cheek." The film is the namesake for the seventh episode of the DC Studios miniseries The Penguin , a spin-off of

5940-409: The audience can see that Rogers' attitude towards him softens during the song, and the purpose of the ensuing dance is for her to communicate this change to her partner. The dance is one of flirtation and, according to Mueller, deploys two choreographic devices common to the classical minuet : sequential imitation (one dancer performs a step and the other responds) and touching. Initially, the imitation

6050-546: The author). In some cases, the narrator is writing a book—"the book in your hands"—and therefore he has most of the powers and knowledge of the author. Examples include The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco , and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon . Another example is a fictional "Autobiography of James T. Kirk" which was "Edited" by David A. Goodman who was

6160-406: The book in six installments : The part-by-part publication was a sore point with me and some readers as well, because the price was very high for a paperback; about nineteen dollars for all six installments (considerably less if bought at a discount store). For that reason a boxed set never seems like the ideal solution. This volume, a trade paperback available at a more sane price, seemed to be

6270-539: The bridal suite, with Rogers' "marriage" to Rhodes revealed as performed by a fake clergyman, the scene is set for Astaire and Rogers to dance into the sunset, which they duly do, in this fragment of a much longer duet – the original was cut after the July 1935 previews – but not before they parade across the Venetian set and reprise the Piccolino step. The film opened at Radio City Music Hall in New York on August 29, 1935 and set

6380-402: The camera, then away in a series of bold, dramatic manoeuvers culminating in three ballroom lifts which showcase Rogers' dress before abruptly coming to a halt in a final, deepest backbend, maintained as the music approaches its closing bars. They rise, and after a couple of turns dancing cheek to cheek for the first time since the dance began, come to rest next to a wall. Rogers, having conducted

6490-458: The canal waters dyed black. The vast Venetian interiors were similarly inauthentic, reflecting instead the latest Hollywood tastes. Carroll Clark, who worked under the general supervision of Van Nest Polglase, was the unit art director on all but one of the Astaire-Rogers films. He managed the team of designers responsible for the scenery and furnishings of Top Hat . Although Bernard Newman

6600-435: The cue for the music of "The Piccolino", the film's big production number. A gondola parade is followed by the entry of a dancing chorus who perform a series of ballroom poses and rippling-pattern routines choreographed by Hermes Pan. Berlin, who lavished a great deal of effort on the song designed it as a pastiche of "The Carioca" from Flying Down to Rio (1933) and " The Continental " from The Gay Divorcee (1934), and

6710-524: The dance in a state of dreamlike abandon now glances uneasily at Astaire before walking away, as if reminded that their relationship cannot proceed. By now, Rogers has learned Astaire's true identity although neither of them yet know that her impulsive marriage to Rhodes is null and void. Dining together during carnival night in Venice, and to help assuage her guilt, Astaire declares: "Let's eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we have to face him," which serves as

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6820-407: The dance is reflected in the masculinity of Rogers' clothes and in the friendly handshake they exchange at the end. For " Top Hat, White Tie and Tails ", probably Astaire's most celebrated tap solo , the idea for the title song came from Astaire who described to Berlin a routine he had created for the 1930 Ziegfeld Broadway flop Smiles called "Say, Young Man of Manhattan," in which he gunned down

6930-468: The dance on film reveals feathers floating around Astaire and Rogers and lying on the dance floor. Later, Astaire and Pan presented Rogers with a gold feather for her charm bracelet, and serenaded her with a ditty parodying Berlin's tune: Feathers — I hate feathers And I hate them so that I can hardly speak And I never find the happiness I seek With those chicken feathers dancing Cheek to Cheek Thereafter, Astaire nicknamed Rogers "Feathers" — also

7040-436: The events of the story and when they decided to tell them. If only a few days have passed, the story could be related very differently than if the character was reflecting on events of the distant past. The character's motivation is also relevant. Are they just trying to clear up events for their own peace of mind? Make a confession about a wrong they did? Or tell a good adventure tale to their beer-guzzling friends? The reason why

7150-433: The fact that "the music and lyrics are bad" or that Astaire "has to act with human beings [who cannot match] his freedom, lightness, and happiness". As of 2022 , the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported that the film had a 100% "fresh" approval rating based on 42 reviews, with an average rating of 8.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "A glamorous and enthralling depression-era diversion, Top Hat

7260-463: The film features an introduction by Ava Astaire McKenzie. In 2005, a digitally restored version of Top Hat , different from the Region 2 restoration, was released on Region 1 DVD separately and as part of The Astaire & Rogers Collection, Vol.1 from Warner Home Video . In both cases, the film features a commentary by Astaire's daughter, Ava Astaire McKenzie, and Larry Billman, author of Fred Astaire,

7370-553: The first drafts, complaining that "it is patterned too closely after The Gay Divorcee ", and "I am cast as ... a sort of objectionable young man without charm or sympathy or humour". Allan Scott , for whom this movie served as his first major project, and who would go on to serve on six of the Astaire-Rogers pictures, was hired by Sandrich to do the rewrites and never actually worked with Taylor, with Sandrich acting as script editor and advisor throughout. Allegedly Ben Holmes , Ralph Spence , and Károly Nóti were further contributors to

7480-409: The first part of the solo which follows, Astaire embarks on a circular tap movement, embellished with cane taps into which he mixes a series of unpredictable pauses. As the camera retreats the lights dim and, in the misterioso passage which follows, Astaire mimes a series of stances, ranging from overt friendliness, wariness, surprise to watchful readiness and jaunty confidence. Jimmy Cagney attended

7590-518: The first-person narrator is the character of the author (with varying degrees of historical accuracy). The narrator is still distinct from the author and must behave like any other character and any other first-person narrator. Examples of this kind of narrator include Jim Carroll in The Basketball Diaries and Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. in Timequake (in this case, the first-person narrator is also

7700-403: The floor and Rogers, moving against the music, suddenly falls into a deeper backbend, which is then repeated, only deeper still. The music now transitions to a quiet recapitulation of the main melody during which the pair engage in a muted and tender partnering, and here the second passage involving sequential imitation appears. With the music reaching its grand climax Astaire and Rogers rush toward

7810-464: The front of the stage and delivers the song, which features the famous line: "I'm stepping out, my dear, to breathe an atmosphere that simply reeks with class," trading the occasional tap barrage with the chorus as he sings. The dance begins with Astaire and chorus moving in step. Astaire soon lashes out with a swirling tap step and the chorus responds timidly before leaving the stage in a sequence of overlapping, direction-shifting, hitch steps and walks. In

7920-412: The ideal solution. First-person narrative A first-person narrative (also known as a first-person perspective , voice , point of view , etc.) is a mode of storytelling in which a storyteller recounts events from that storyteller's own personal point of view , using first-person grammar such as "I", "me", "my", and "myself" (also, in plural form, "we", "us", etc.). It must be narrated by

8030-438: The initial narrator, who is named at the beginning of the chapter. The narrative continues in subsequent chapters with a different character explicitly identified as the narrator for that chapter. Other characters later introduced in the book also have their "own" chapters where they narrate the story for that chapter. The story proceeds in a linear fashion, and no event occurs more than once, i.e. no two narrators speak "live" about

8140-420: The initial release of the first instalment. The idea of serialized publication appealed to King on multiple levels; from the writer's responsibility to finish the story once the first installment is published, to the readers' inability to skip to the end of the story and ruin the suspense. In the introduction to the first collected edition of the story, King also explains the financial aspect of initially publishing

8250-459: The lyric communicates its fake origin: "It was written by a Latin/A gondolier who sat in/his home out in Brooklyn /and gazed at the stars." It is a song about a song and Rogers sings it to Astaire after which an off-camera chorus repeats it while the dance ensemble is photographed, Busby Berkeley -style, from above. The camera then switches to Rogers and Astaire who bound down to the stage to perform

8360-433: The mistaken-identity theme of the plot, so he makes a second attempt, encouraged by Broderick, in the number " Cheek to Cheek ". As in "No Strings," the song emerges from Astaire's mid-sentence as he dances with the hesitant Rogers on a crowded floor. Berlin wrote the words and music to this enduring classic in one day, and, at 72 measures, it is the longest song he ever wrote. He was very appreciative of Astaire's treatment of

8470-517: The mouse dies – it had been alive the past 64 years. Paul explains that those healed by John gained an unnaturally long lifespan. Elaine dies shortly after, never learning the fact that on one fateful day of 1956 when Paul witnessed his wife's death from a traffic accident while on the way to their granddaughter's graduation, Paul saw the ghost of John Coffey looking at him from an overpass. The novel ends with Paul all alone, now 104 years old, wondering how much longer he will live. Frank Darabont adapted

8580-427: The narrative through the perspective of a particular character. The reader or audience sees the story through the narrator's views and knowledge only. The narrator is an imperfect witness by definition, because they do not have a complete overview of events. Furthermore, they may be pursuing some hidden agenda (an " unreliable narrator "). Character weaknesses and faults, such as tardiness, cowardice, or vice, may leave

8690-512: The narrator in Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë ; and the unnamed narrator in Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad . Skilled writers choose to skew narratives, in keeping with the narrator's character, to an arbitrary degree, from ever so slight to extreme. For example, the aforementioned Mr. Lockwood is quite naive, of which fact he appears unaware, simultaneously rather pompous, and recounting

8800-399: The narrator may be conscious of telling the story to a given audience, perhaps at a given place and time, for a given reason. A story written in the first person is most often told by the main character, but may also be told from the perspective of a less important character as they witness events, or a person retelling a story they were told by someone else. First-person narration presents

8910-424: The narrator unintentionally absent or unreliable for certain key events. Specific events may further be colored or obscured by a narrator's background since non-omniscient characters must by definition be laypersons and foreigners to some circles, and limitations such as poor eyesight and illiteracy may also leave important blanks. Another consideration is how much time has elapsed between when the character experienced

9020-467: The nephew of the Governor's wife. When Percy is offered an administrative position at the nearby Briar Ridge psychiatric hospital , Paul thinks they are finally rid of him. However, Percy refuses to leave until he is allowed to supervise an execution, so Paul hesitantly allows him to run Del's. Percy deliberately avoids soaking a sponge in brine that is supposed to be tucked inside the electrode cap to ensure

9130-453: The novel into a screenplay for a feature film of the same name . Released in 1999, the film was directed by Darabont and stars Tom Hanks as Paul Edgecombe and Michael Clarke Duncan as John Coffey. The setting is changed from 1932 to 1935 in order to include the film Top Hat , which does not appear in the book. The film was nominated for four Academy Awards , including Best Picture and Best Supporting Actor for Duncan. The Green Mile

9240-510: The novel, tells his own story: "What memories and thoughts crowd into my mind, as, at the threshold of the afternoon of my wandering life, I sit down to write the story of its morning hours!" This device allows the audience to see the narrator's mind's eye view of the fictional universe , but it is limited to the narrator's experiences and awareness of the true state of affairs. In some stories, first-person narrators may relay dialogue with other characters or refer to information they heard from

9350-400: The other characters, in order to try to deliver a larger point of view. Other stories may switch the narrator to different characters to introduce a broader perspective. An unreliable narrator is one that has completely lost credibility due to ignorance, poor insight, personal biases, mistakes, dishonesty, etc., which challenges the reader's initial assumptions. An example of the telling of

9460-457: The other characters. It can seem like third-person omniscient at times. A reasonable explanation fitting the mechanics of the story's world is generally provided or inferred unless its glaring absence is a major plot point. Three notable examples are The Book Thief by Markus Zusak , where the narrator is Death , From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler , where the narrator is

9570-440: The other made a noise, using their love for each other. Paul is unsure how to help John, but John tells him not to worry, as he is ready to die anyway, wanting to escape the cruelty of the world. John's execution is the last one in which Paul participates. As Paul approaches the conclusion of his written story, he offers it to his friend Elaine Connelly to read. After she finishes doing so, he introduces Mr Jingles to her just before

9680-602: The partnership's best-known work. Top Hat was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress in its second year, 1990, as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film has also been recognized by the American Film Institute on various lists commemorating the best of American cinema; the film appeared on their list of

9790-718: The same event. The first-person narrator may be the principal character (e.g., Gulliver in Gulliver's Travels ), someone very close to them who is privy to their thoughts and actions ( Dr. Watson in Sherlock Holmes stories) or one who closely observes the principal character (such as Nick Carraway in The Great Gatsby ). These can be distinguished as "first-person major" or "first-person minor" points of view. Narrators can report others' narratives at one or more removes. These are called "frame narrators": examples are Mr. Lockwood,

9900-491: The same lineup of players as was in The Gay Divorcée . Besides which the situations in the two scripts parallel each other closely". Nevertheless, it concluded that Top Hat was a film "one can't miss". Writing for The Spectator in 1935, Graham Greene gave the film a generally positive review, describing the film as "a vehicle for Fred Astaire's genius", and noting that Astaire's performance eliminated any concern over

10010-455: The script. The story itself was later said to have been inspired by two sources: ''Scandal in Budapest'' by Sándor Faragó, and ''A Girl Who Dares'' by Aladar LaszloIt. The Hays Office insisted on only minor changes, including probably the most quoted line of dialogue from the film: Beddini's motto: "For the women the kiss, for the men the sword" which originally ran: "For the men the sword, for

10120-401: The shooting of this scene and advised Astaire, who claims to have ad-libbed much of this section. The chorus then returns in a threatening posture, and Astaire proceeds to dispatch them all, using an inventive series of actions miming the cane's use as a gun, a submachine gun, a rifle and, finally, a bow and arrow. Astaire's first seduction of Rogers in "Isn't This a Lovely Day," falls foul of

10230-400: The song: "The melody keeps going up and up. He crept up there. It didn't make a damned bit of difference. He made it." As he navigates through this difficult material, Rogers looks attracted and receptive and, at the end of the song, they dance cheek to cheek across a bridge to a deserted ballroom area nearby. According to Mueller's analysis, the duet that follows – easily the most famous of all

10340-473: The songs " Top Hat, White Tie and Tails " and " Cheek to Cheek ", and according to Rogers, the film became the talk of Hollywood as a result of its score. In an Astaire-Rogers picture, the Big White Set — as these Art Deco -inspired creations were known — took up the largest share of the film's production costs, and Top Hat was no exception. A winding canal — spanned by two staircase bridges at one end and

10450-465: The storyline, describing it as "a little on the thin side," but also stating that "it is sprightly enough to plug those inevitable gaps between the shimmeringly gay dances."Top Hat" is worth standing in line for. From the appearance of the lobby yesterday afternoon, you probably will have to." Variety also singled out the storyline as well as the cast, stating "the danger sign is in the story and cast. Substitute Alice Brady for Helen Broderick and it's

10560-539: The style he would make famous: soft-shouldered tweed sports jacket, button-down shirt, bold striped tie, easy-cut gray flannels, silk paisley pocket square, and suede shoes. It's an extraordinarily contemporary approach to nonchalant elegance, a look Ralph Lauren and a dozen other designers still rely on more than six decades later. Astaire introduced a new style of dress that broke step with the spats, celluloid collars, and homburgs worn by aristocratic European-molded father-figure heroes." The choreography, in which Astaire

10670-442: The tempo within a single dance phrase is extensively featured throughout this routine and taken to extremes – as when he explodes into activity from a pose of complete quiet and vice versa. This routine also marks Astaire's first use of a cane as a prop in one of his filmed dances. The number opens with a chorus strutting and lunging in front of a backdrop of a Parisian street scene. They make way for Astaire who strides confidently to

10780-473: The thoughts and feelings of others around him. One night, the guards drug Wharton, then put a straitjacket on Percy and lock him in the padded restraint room so that they can smuggle John out of prison and take him to the home of Warden Hal Moores. Hal's wife Melinda has an inoperable brain tumor , which John cures. When they return to the Mile, John passes the "disease" from Melinda into Percy, causing him to go mad and shoot Wharton to death before falling into

10890-425: The titular character but is describing the story of the main characters, and The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold , where a young girl, having been killed, observes, from some post-mortem, extracorporeal viewpoint, her family's struggle to cope with her disappearance. Typically, however, the narrator restricts the events relayed in the narrative to those that could reasonably be known. In autobiographical fiction ,

11000-473: The tune of "The Piccolino." Top Hat began filming on April 1, 1935, and cost $ 620,000 to make. Shooting ended in June and the first public previews were held in July. These led to cuts of approximately ten minutes, mainly in the last portion of the film: the carnival sequence and the gondola parade which had been filmed to show off the huge set were heavily cut. A further four minutes were cut before its premiere at

11110-414: The way in which Astaire inadvertently incurs the hostility of Rogers, only to find her attractive and wear down her resistance. In "No Strings (reprise)", Rogers, after storming upstairs to complain, returns to her room at which point Astaire, still intent on dancing, nominates himself her " sandman ", sprinkling sand from a cigarette receptacle and lulling her, Horton and eventually himself to sleep with

11220-424: The women the whip." Of his role in the creation of Top Hat , Taylor recalled that with Sandrich and Berlin he shared "a kind of childlike excitement. The whole style of the picture can be summed up in the word inconsequentiality . When I left RKO a year later, Mark said to me, 'You will never again see so much of yourself on the screen.'" On the film's release, the script was panned by many critics, who alleged it

11330-547: Was also used in Follow the Fleet (1936). All five songs eventually selected became major hits and, in the September 28, 1935 broadcast of Your Hit Parade , all five featured in the top fifteen songs selected for that week. Astaire recalled how this success helped restore Berlin's flagging self-confidence. Astaire had never met Berlin before this film, although he had danced on stage to some of his tunes as early as 1915. There ensued

11440-415: Was assisted by Hermes Pan , is principally concerned throughout with the possibilities of using taps to make as much noise as possible. In the film, Astaire suffers from what Rogers terms an "affliction": "Every once in a while I suddenly find myself dancing." Astaire introduces the film's tap motif when he blasts a tap barrage at the somnolent members of a London Club. There are eight musical numbers. In

11550-451: Was first published in six paperback volumes. The first, subtitled The Two Dead Girls was published on March 28, 1996, with new volumes following monthly until the final volume, Coffey on the Mile , was released on August 29, 1996. The novel was republished as a single paperback volume on May 5, 1997. On October 3, 2000, the book was published in its first hardcover edition ( ISBN   978-0743210898 ). In 2007, Subterranean Press released

11660-406: Was like a chicken attacked by a coyote, I never saw so many feathers in my life." According to choreographer Hermes Pan , Astaire lost his temper and yelled at Rogers, who promptly burst into tears, whereupon her mother, Lela, "came charging at him like a mother rhinoceros protecting her young." An additional night's work by seamstresses resolved much of the problem; however, careful examination of

11770-437: Was merely a rewrite of The Gay Divorcee . This was composer Irving Berlin's first complete film score since 1930 and he negotiated a unique contract, retaining the copyrights to the score with a guarantee of ten percent of the profits if the film earned in excess of $ 1,250,000. Eight songs from the original score were discarded as they were not considered to advance the film's plot. One of these, "Get Thee Behind Me, Satan",

11880-451: Was nominally in charge of dressing the stars, Rogers was keenly interested in dress design and make-up. For the "Cheek to Cheek" routine, she was determined to use her own creation: "I was determined to wear this dress, come hell or high water. And why not? It moved beautifully. Obviously, no one in the cast or crew was willing to take sides, particularly not my side. This was all right with me. I'd had to stand alone before. At least my mother

11990-509: Was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". The film ranked number 15 on the 2006 American Film Institute 's list of best musicals . Top Hat has been nostalgically referenced — particularly its "Cheek to Cheek" segment — in many films, including The Purple Rose of Cairo (1985), The English Patient (1996), The Green Mile (1999), La La Land (2016) and

12100-469: Was there to support me in the confrontation with the entire front office, plus Fred Astaire and Mark Sandrich." Due to the enormous labor involved in sewing each ostrich feather to the dress, Astaire — who normally approved his partner's gowns and suggested modifications if necessary during rehearsals — saw the dress for the first time on the day of the shoot, and was horrified at the way it shed clouds of feathers at every twist and turn, recalling later: "It

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