Topper Takes a Trip (1938)

The film picks up where the original story left off. If you haven't seen the first Topper, there are several flashback scenes at the beginning to bring you up to speed. This is classic screwball comedy combined with supernatural fantasy, something that seems to match writer Thorne Smith's particular talents and Hollywood's fascination with anything and everything whimsical.Roland Young is impressive as the befuddled title character and Billie Burke delights audiences as his wacky wife. The issue one has with the series is not its continual use of thinly stretched gags (playing on the idea that only Topper can communicate with the dead), but rather its obvious use of camera editing to create magical special effects. For example, ghostly Constance Bennett drinks a martini that seems to disappear one gulp at a time (obviously accomplished by stopping the film, emptying some of the alcohol, then resuming camera action). Most viewers probably see such an effect as fake and contrived. Despite the basic technology, the film does retain appeal, thanks in large part to the winning performances of its actors. Especially Miss Bennett who adds an element of glamour to the whole affair.

This is not as good as the first movie, simply called "Topper," mainly because of the absence of Cary Grant. He helped make the first movie a big success, and without him this movie simply wasn't as good. Grant granted permission to re-run of scene of his from the first film to help set up viewers who hadn't seen the original.Roland Young as "Topper" keeps this film alive and makes it an acceptable sequel. He is very funny at times and without him, the film would have bombed big-time. Young provides most of the entertainment. Constance Bennett is still the slinky, attractive and well-meaning "Marion Kirby" while Billie Burke, as Topper's wife, is stupid, extremely affected and annoying.I saw a colorized VHS version of this and it was weak. I'm sure the black-and-white DVD version looks better.

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.

The Topper movies do not hold up well today for several reasons. Two are primary: Through no fault of their own, the gimmick of disappearing and reappearing has become very ho-hum in large part because of television shows like "I Dream Of Jeannie" and "Bewitched." ("Blithe Spirit" is another movie affected by this, also, of course, retroactively.) Equally significant is their reliance on the ostensible hilarity of being drunk. We know today that is not funny and finding these movies charming is therefore very difficult.This first sequel, also, is very routine. It begins with clips from the original Topper movie, with Constance Bennett (in this movie too) and Cary Grant, who is not in the movie itself.Many of the performers are great character performers but their characters are not filled out. They are sketched in. Billie Burke and Alan Mowbry are among those who suffer. Not to mention Franklin Pangborn, playing a desk clerk as he frequently did but here a desk clerk in Paris who speaks English with a (bad) French accent.The two standouts are D'Arcy as a baron who woos the Burke, who is separated from Roland Young (also a fine performer but just not funny in these movies.) The scene on the beach in which invisible Constance Bennett snatches away his bathing suit is about as close as the plot gets to genuine humor.Veree Teasdale, as Burke's tough society woman pal, walks away with the whole thing. She is extremely funny. Is her role a bit of stereotype? Yes. But the writers fleshed it out