Marido Mal Assombrado

"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

"Topper Takes A Trip" is a charming, airy, lyrical fantasy comedy. No one ever made a fantasy comedy like this. The playing of all actors and the set design mix screwball comedy with fantasy elements, making an appealing, sexy, subtly witty comedy that was the best sophisticated comedy feature ever to come out of the Hal Roach Studios.

The cast is a dream. Although all three actors' characters do not appear to each other, the chemistry between Roland Young, Constance Bennett, and Billie Burke is a joy to watch. The musical score by Marvin Hatley not only complements the film beautifully, it features pieces that sound more from the 1960's than 1939. A remarkable score that deserves major recognition by film scholars, students, and buffs.

Roland Young and Billie Burke made several films together for different studios however it was in this film and in Selznick's "The Young In Heart" that showed them at their absolute best as a team. They also deserver greater critical recognition for their work.

The camerawork and set design evoke a polish and sheen common to '30's romantic comedies. A handsome look that stimulates suspending disbelief for a fantasy film. "Topper Takes A Trip" is, undeniably, the best of the three Topper films produced by Hal Roach.

It recycles considerable footage from the first Topper film as background information. I guess that's a way of getting Cary Grant in there, even though he didn't shoot any new scenes for Topper Takes a Trip. (I bet they used his face in the advertising, too. If I had paid money to see this film, thinking Cary Grant was in it, I would have felt quite disappointed!) Constance Bennett stars as the ghost of Mrs. Kerby. She had some amusing moments, but I personally think she lacked the sparkle and sass of Joan Blondell, who starred in Topper Returns (my favorite of the three entries). The only scene at which I laughed out loud was that of the fortune-seeker on the beach, trying to woo Mrs. Topper while the ghost of Mrs. Kerby thwarts him with unseen hands at every turn. She strips his trunks off him while he's lying under the sand, then torments him with a giant beach ball that inexplicably keeps rolling over him while Mrs. Topper squeaks with alarm. So yes, that was funny, but if I had to choose one of the Topper films never to see again, it would be this one. Billie Burke, as usual, is a scene-stealer, but Alan Mowbray also made a worthy contribution here as the butler Wilkins.

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.

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.