Review of Topper

Topper (1937)
4/10
Either it hasn't aged well or I'm missing something
10 February 2017
Warning: Spoilers
I really wanted to like this, and I expected to. I like Cary Grant. I like lots of comedies of the same period. What happened? Unfortunately, the George and Marion characters don't come off as likable. They seem painfully self-involved and completely unconcerned about anyone else except themselves. They drive to endanger (not funny), they drive drunk (not funny), they make it a game to inconvenience someone who appears to be a friend of theirs who owns a tavern and wants to go home when it's well past closing (who can blame him?), they hand a police officer an empty milk bottle when they're parked where they shouldn't be and tell him to dispose of it… sorry, but I don't like people who act like that. I don't find it charming. I thought one of the biggest pains in the butt in cinema history was the supposedly quirky Holly Golightly in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", and George and Marion give me just about the same vibe. Nothing about them appeals to me.

Their "good deed" in getting Topper to let his hair down only succeeds in embarrassment and consternation for the poor guy, for the most part. It seems to end "well", I suppose, but it's awkward and uncomfortable to watch. Apparently it was a hit in its day, so I can't argue with that, but personally I didn't care for it at all.
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