I can't believe that this delightful little movie is completely unmentioned among the works of John Barrymore and Myrna Loy and largely forgotten. It is a sophisticated and cynical take on modern industrial society and how vice is often rewarded and virtue punished. Barrymore plays Prof. Auguste A. Topaze, and at first it looks like his character is nothing more than a take off on Emil Jannings' Immanuel Rath of The Blue Angel. They are both the stern idealistic schoolmasters of a class of young boys. However, that is where the similarity ends. Both Rath and Topaze find themselves dismissed from their jobs, but where Rath lost his job because of his own moral failings, Topaze has lost his because he refuses to compromise his principles. However, Topaze is not unemployed for long. A twist of fate finds him the titular head of a corporate chemistry lab and the namesake of a bogus curative product. Of course, Topaze thinks the product is completely legitimate as he labors away on what he thinks is actually being bottled with his good name on it.
When Topaze discovers the truth about his situation and his employer, his first reaction is in keeping with his lifelong principles - he wants to turn himself in and confess all. However, when he discovers that many important people in science, industry, and the government are knowing partners in this enterprise, he has a sudden change of philosophy - If you can't beat them then join them, then beat them even worse. Barrymore's speech to his former pupils at their graduation ceremony, where he had been unjustly fired and is now lauded as a leader of the scientific community, is brilliant as he delivers to his pupils the lessons he has learned in his brief journey into the real world and also manages to take jabs at those who have wronged him. The final scene shows a more worldly Topaze stopping off with Coco (Myrna Loy), his boss' mistress, at a theatre where a movie entitled Man, Woman and Sin is playing. As Coco takes Topaze's arm and they step out of the cab and into the theatre, we can only imagine that Topaze has designs on yet another prize that doesn't belong to him.
This film has a tight script, very good casting, and fine performances all around, including the supporting players. This is a most unusual role for John Barrymore, and he plays it so well and with such sincerity that I kept asking myself - Is this really THAT John Barrymore? Myrna Loy is perfect as the level-headed mistress of the wily industrialist that employs Topaze. Displaying both glamor and intelligence, she doesn't play the archetype of kept woman as it was usually portrayed in the days of the early talkies. Also, her friendship with Topaze comes across as very genuine, and you can easily see it growing into something more on both their parts. It's a shame and a mystery that this film isn't on DVD.
When Topaze discovers the truth about his situation and his employer, his first reaction is in keeping with his lifelong principles - he wants to turn himself in and confess all. However, when he discovers that many important people in science, industry, and the government are knowing partners in this enterprise, he has a sudden change of philosophy - If you can't beat them then join them, then beat them even worse. Barrymore's speech to his former pupils at their graduation ceremony, where he had been unjustly fired and is now lauded as a leader of the scientific community, is brilliant as he delivers to his pupils the lessons he has learned in his brief journey into the real world and also manages to take jabs at those who have wronged him. The final scene shows a more worldly Topaze stopping off with Coco (Myrna Loy), his boss' mistress, at a theatre where a movie entitled Man, Woman and Sin is playing. As Coco takes Topaze's arm and they step out of the cab and into the theatre, we can only imagine that Topaze has designs on yet another prize that doesn't belong to him.
This film has a tight script, very good casting, and fine performances all around, including the supporting players. This is a most unusual role for John Barrymore, and he plays it so well and with such sincerity that I kept asking myself - Is this really THAT John Barrymore? Myrna Loy is perfect as the level-headed mistress of the wily industrialist that employs Topaze. Displaying both glamor and intelligence, she doesn't play the archetype of kept woman as it was usually portrayed in the days of the early talkies. Also, her friendship with Topaze comes across as very genuine, and you can easily see it growing into something more on both their parts. It's a shame and a mystery that this film isn't on DVD.