Topper Takes a Trip Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		0.5
Overall		3.5

Topper Takes a Trip Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman March 26, 2019

When did Cary Grant become a bonafide superstar? For those raised on his ultra suave relatively latter day performances in films like North by Northwest or Charade, it may be hard to think of Grant as being anything other than a superstar, but like many an iconic actor, he had at least a few years as a journeyman before he started to be what is now referred to as an A- lister. Grant made his first big screen appearance in 1932 in a largely forgotten romantic comedy escapade called This Is the Night, a film which coincidentally co-starred his future Topper foil Roland Young, and one which didn’t even give Grant much of a font size in terms of its cast listing on various marketing key art pieces. Grant continued to rack up a slew of notable credits, including Blonde Venus with Marlene Dietrich and perhaps most (in?)famously She Done Him Wrong with Mae West, but it’s probably salient to note that rarely if ever was Grant afforded above the title “true star” status, and frequently saw his billing at least partially down the roster of performers. But a case could probably logically be made that a rather short burst of activity between 1937 and 1938 really cemented Grant’s reputation as one of the major leading men of his era, with a series of comedies offering Grant a number of still well remembered roles in The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby and Holiday. That series of successful comedies arguably began with 1937’s Topper, an early example of Grant’s flair for both witty banter and occasionally raucous physical comedy. (The one outlier in Grant’s 1937-38 output is a personal favorite of mine — 1937’s The Toast of New York is an admittedly kind of turgid melodrama documenting the so-called “Robber Barons” of the 19th century American economy, and features Grant as the romantic interest for Frances Farmer.) It's perhaps notable that even in 1937 Grant was consigned to second billing in Topper, behind Constance Bennett, though it's probably even more notable that he gets a special "thanks" credit for "allowing" some scenes of him from the first Topper film to be resourced for this sequel, which appeared at the tail end of 1938 when Grant's reputation was achieving considerable luster.

Despite the use of quite a bit of footage from Topper, in what amounts to a “previously on. . .” recap that is more or less shoehorned into the early proceedings of Topper Takes a Trip, this sequel just pretty much ignores a couple of salient plot points from the wrap up of the first film, namely that George and Marion Kerby (Cary Grant and Constance Bennett) have finally done their “good deed” and can move on to those vaunted Pearly Gates, while Cosmo Topper (Roland Young) and his ditzy wife Clara (Billie Burke) are happily reconciled. Topper Takes a Trip just kind of elides all of this, opening in divorce court, where Clara is trying to get out of her marriage due to Cosmo’s bizarre behavior. Meanwhile, back at the tree stump where Marion and George first realized they were ghosts, Marion is just kind of plopped down there with absolutely no explanation, lamenting how much she misses George, who is assumedly happily ensconced in a heavenly realm. At least she has the ghost of their dog Skippy to help keep her company.

The bulk of the film plays out after an exasperated judge refuses to grant the divorce, with a little help from Alice, who shows up to ostensibly aid Cosmo. Clara’s snooty society dame friend Mrs. Parkhurst (Verree Teasdale) hauls Clara off to France (“I get all my divorces there,” Parkhurst informs the confused Mrs. Topper), and of course Topper and Marion (and Skippy) are in hot pursuit. A somewhat vignette driven enterprise ensues, as Clara is courted by a fortune hunter named Baron de Rossi (Alexander D’Arcy), and Marion’s “help” repeatedly puts Cosmo in perilous straits.

Despite the (relative) absence of Grant, Topper Takes a Trip is often surprisingly spry, and it has the kind of supporting cast they just don’t make any more. Alan Mowbray is back as the Toppers’ snooty butler Wilkins, but along for the fun this time are such legends as Franklin Pangborn (as a snooty hotel manager ) and Irving Pichel (as a snooty divorce lawyer — are you sensing a trend?). There is also an absoutely hilarious bit by a guy I don’t see listed on the IMDb, playing a bartender who is one of those types who thinks he’s seen everything — until he has to deal with Topper and Marion.

Topper Takes a Trip Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Topper Takes a Trip is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of MVD Visual and VCI with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.41:1. With the exception of a rather minimal grain field, this is a nice looking transfer from VCI, one which exhibits none of the sometimes strange encoding anomalies home theater buffs have seen with this label, and one which presents elements in surprisingly good condition (a number of small flecks and nicks remain, but they're minor). Contrast is decent, though I personally wouldn't have minded a bit deeper blacks. The one issue some may have with the look of this transfer is the relative absence of grain, especially since the film is so chock full of old style opticals that include long held dissolves (kind of literally, considering what happens to the "ectoplasmic" spirits). Some of the most noticeable grain in fact is due to "baked in" elements like some rear projection work. While there is grain visible, it's rather light almost all of the time and it never spikes as might be expected in any of the special effects sequences.

Topper Takes a Trip Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Topper Takes a Trip features a somewhat boxy sounding LPCM 2.0 mono track that suffices perfectly well for the film's rather limited sound design. The score can sound a bit brash when exploiting higher registers of some instruments, but dialogue sounds find. I did notice an almost subliminally small amount of loose sync, especially in some of the early divorce court scenes.

Topper Takes a Trip Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Trailer (1080p; 2:58)

Somewhat in the same manner as VCI's release of Topper Returns, the trailer for Topper and then Topper Returns play automatically at disc boot up, but don't seem to be separately accessible elsewhere (that I could ferret out, anyway).

Topper Takes a Trip Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Topper Takes a Trip is often surprisingly funny, with Roland Young repeating the role that brought him his only Academy Award nomination in a long and notable career. Constance Bennett is arch but alluring as Marion attempts to set everything right. But it's probably Billie Burke who will be the most appealing to many viewers, with her patented take on the frankly ditzy elderly lady type she was so adept at playing. This is one of the nicer looking releases we've had from VCI, though some might wish for a more pronounced and natural looking grain field. With caveats noted, Recommended.