Topper Takes a Trip

Topper Takes a Trip just never gets going. It's an OK comedy sequel to the 1937 smash hit but without Cary Grant. That leaves Marion (Constance Bennett) alone to hound Topper (Roland Young) but the film is missing the marital sparring that made the first one so good.

Mrs. Topper (Billie Burke) is seeking a divorce because Topper and Marion had stayed at a hotel together in the first film. Slim plot device then has the Mrs. heading to France for a quickie divorce where she falls among thieves: her "friend" and a phony baron. Topper and Marion head to France to stop the divorce and foil the setup.

Roland Young is still very good with his blank face and funny body movements (when the invisible Marion is prodding him). But there's just too much talk in this one. Bennett is as always beautiful and breezy. Burke is hilarious as the dithery Mrs. Topper in a way that no one else could copy. Alan Mowbray is back in the thankless butler role as is Spencer Charters as the judge.

Verree Teasdale plays the acid friend, Alex D'Arcy the faux baron, and Franklin Pangborn is the French hotel manager. Grant appears via flashback from the original film, but his absence is not well explained. Asta (the dog) is funny too.

Not a bad film but it could have been funnier.

This may be an odd suggestion, but I think this film actually benefited from the absence of Cary Grant. Now I love Cary Grant, but in the original Topper, he is conspicuous by his absence from much of the action, and it is a distraction: after all, he was supposed to be the star. Here, however, we get to focus exclusively on the wonderful Roland Young and the drop-dead gorgeous Constance Bennett.

Young is quite frankly great as the bumbling and often mumbling Cosmo Topper. He is so good at pretending to be pulled, pushed and twisted around by the invisible Mrs. Kirby that you really completely believe unseen forces are constantly roughing him up. And he so thoroughly throws himself into dancing by himself, kicking his feet around in a jig, and kicking at invisible dogs, that it is a real joy.

Have I mentioned that Constance Bennett is gorgeous? How many marriages on the set must have been broken up by her walking around in a bathing suit for a good portion of the film? Billie Burke was also much more interesting here than in the original. The writers surely delighted in giving her so many inane and nonsensical lines, which she, in her well-meaning but confusing daffiness, plays to perfection.

Finally, Franklin Panghorn has a lovely and meaty role as a manager of a French hotel; but his French accent has to be one of the worst ever. Luckily the film is filled with upset, screaming Frenchmen all always yelling at the same time.

I don't think everyone will agree with me, but I found "Topper Takes a Trip" to be at least as enjoyable as the original (except for the long introduction with its extensive borrowing from the original). Highly recommended.

This sequel to the funny Topper lacks the entire sophistication of that film yet is able to stand all by itself as a worthy successor based on the performance of Roland Young once again playing the amusing, befuddled Cosmo Topper - he who sees dead people way before it became fashionable by The Sixth Sense and on a cast of wonderful character actors doing their "bit." Topper Takes a Trip does have some major flaws; however. The film opens with Young in a courtroom going through divorce proceedings from his even more befuddled wife Billie Burke. Topper explains to the courtroom how he was befriended by the ghosts of Constance Bennet and Cary Grant(who could not join his former cast-mates because he was now too big a star but magnanimously agreed to allow them to use footage from the original - Swell Guy!). This whole beginning seems very forced as it tries to make sure that all is explained in case you missed the first film. Once they get out of the courtroom, Topper and one ghost and her ghostly dog go on a drinking binge and discover that Mrs. Topper's best friend has taken her to Paris to try and get her hooked up with a Baron there. Topper and companions follow and the laughs go from a trickle to an avalanche at times as Young does all kinds of crazy things with the aid of his spectral friend. The hotel is headed by Franklin Pangborn whose performance really is a comic treat. Pangborn made me laugh so hard with that sardonic look and witticisms. Butler Alan Mowbray follows and adds a fine turn as the Topper's butler. The rest of the cast is also suitably funny. It is important to remember just how influential these films were in this little sub-genre and that the special effects used were state-of-the-art at the time(Oscar nominated in this case. Many scenes stand out for me as truly masterful bits of comedic timing: Young dancing with a ghost on the dance floor, Alexander D'Arcy(the Baron) being bulldozed by a huge beach ball while shortless in the sand, and Young being cramped in his small room standing out particularly.

"Topper Takes a Trip" is a nice follow-up to "Topper," and has the same cast but no Cary Grant as George. He's shown in the beginning as the film goes over how George and Marion got to be ghosts in the first place. Alas, Grant's ghostly presence hangs over the entire film and puts a big hole in this movie.

Constance Bennett is her usual gorgeous self as Marion. She is compelled to come back without George and soon realizes that she's there to help Cosmo once again - though the Kerby's idea of helping Topper leaves much to be desired. This time, though, she discovers a dog, Atlas, in spirit also and brings him along. Mrs. Topper (Billie Burke) learning that Cosmo was with a woman in a hotel has sued for divorce. At the trial, Cosmo claims the woman was the late Marion and begs to tell his story.

The judge understandably gets too confused and throws the case out. Mrs. T sails for France and Cosmo, Marion, and Atlas follow. One of the best scenes takes place in a casino where Cosmo just can't help winning, thanks the ball landing on one number and then mysteriously jumping to another thanks to guess who.

Very cute, with another fine performance by Roland Young as Cosmo. The special effects are still marvelous

This is essentially a continuation of TOPPER. It does need to be watched as a part two of the original film otherwise it won't make sense.

The humour's the same, the feel is the same and actually the jokes are the same. That carbon copy formula worked with AIRPLANE and AIRPLANE II and it works with this too. If you enjoyed TOPPER you'll definitely enjoy this.

There's one obvious difference: no Carey Grant . Constance Bennett therefore has to carry this alone and she accomplishes that seemingly without any effort. You don't miss Mr Grant at all but maybe that's because since this is so much of a continuation, you still think he's been in this anyway, just not in the last few scenes.

It's a silly story with silly characters but being so professionally made and expertly directed and acted, when you're watching this, somehow it feels sort of believable or at least it lowers your credibility filter down to level zero.