The 1937 film TOPPER was a surprise hit and the stepping
stone for Cary Grant who rode the success to star in a number of the greatest
screwball comedies ever made. The film was so popular that it was only natural
a sequel would follow. In this case there were two of them, TOPPER TAKES A TRIP, which found the female lead of the
first film Constance Bennett return to her role minus Grant, and TOPPER RETURNS
which had neither of the ex-leads. Fortunately all three films still had Roland
Young as the troubled Cosmos Topper.
TOPPER RETURNS is now on blu-ray from VCI and in this one
Topper still seems prone to having ghosts visit him. The film opens with two
young damsels in distress, Anne Carrington (Carole Landis) and her friend Gail
Richards (Joan Blondell), stranded when their taxi has a flat tire. Unbeknownst
to either of them or their driver is that the tire was shot out. Still trying
to make their way to Anne’s ancestral home they hitch a ride when Topper and
his driver (Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson) show up. Actually it’s more like they
hijack him.
Topper drops them off at Carrington Hall which Eddie claims
is haunted and heads home. The two girls enter and are greeted by Dr. Jerris
(George Zucco), housekeeper Lillian (Rafaela Ottiano) and butler Rama (Trevor
Bardette). Anne’s father is in the study and the doctor warns her that he’s not
doing well. She enters and finds her father (H.B. Warner) pleased to see her.
He tells her he’s tired though and has the housekeeper show her to her room.
The more subtle of the two girls Anne is directed to a room
her father had made just for her, a glamorous room that takes her breath away.
Brash friend Gail is in the adjoining room and comes in stunned by how
beautiful it is. Seeing her friend enticed by the room Anne leaves her to sleep
in this room for the night. Lucky for Anne but not for Gail as in the middle of
the night she is murdered, the killer thinking she is Anne.
Gail’s ghost rises and finds its way to Topper and begs him
for help. Having had experience with ghosts before he unwillingly obliges and
sneaks into Carrington Hall to find her body. From there things move back and
forth from funny to suspenseful as the murderer continues to attempt to take
out Anne for some reason with plenty of suspects on hand. Just who is trying to
kill her and why isn’t revealed until the end and the story is actually quite
solid.
The movie isn’t what I would consider to include in the top
100 films of all time but it is solid entertainment and does what one would
expect. It offers some slight chills, a decent mystery and plenty of laughs.
Young continues to perform perfectly as Topper and it’s no wonder his
performance in the first film led to an Oscar nomination for supporting actor,
his only nomination ever. Landis doesn’t seem to have much to do here except
look lovely. And Blondell shines as the fun-loving boisterous American who
finds herself in the worst jam of her life, dead.
VCI doesn’t provide a lot of extras here but the quality of
the movie is quite good. Fans of the series of films will be glad to have on
hand the best looking edition that’s exists. If you’re one of those my
suggestion would be to pick up your copy today.
No comments:
Post a Comment