Herb Magidson while under contract to Warner Bros. to write music for films. In 1934, he won the first Academy Award for Best Original Song along with Con Conrad for his lyrics to "The Continental", used in "The Gay Divorcee" (1934) starring Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Magidson also co-wrote the lyrics to the 1937 Allie Wrubel song "Gone with the Wind" (no connection to the novel of the same name nor used in the 1939 film). Magidson received Oscar nominations for the songs, "Say a Prayer for the Boys Over There" from the film "Hers to Hold" (1943), and "I'll Buy
Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers co-starred comedian Edward Everett Horton. In "Roberta", Astaire and Rogers had a supporting role with Irene Dunne starring. In this film, the song and dance, "I'll Be Hard to Handle", was an early example of the electricity and vivacity of the pairing. It was RKO's biggest hit of the 1934-1935 season with worldwide rentals of $2.3 million. "Top Hat" marked the first time the duo had a film written solely for them, and it proved to be one of the most successful films of the year with worldwide rentals of $3.2 million. It was the most profitable film RKO made