Topaze (1933 American film)
| Topaze | |
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Theatrical release poster
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| Directed by | D'Abbadie D'Arrast |
| Produced by | David O. Selznick |
| Written by |
Ben Hecht Benn W. Levy Charles MacArthur |
| Based on |
Topaze 1928 play by Marcel Pagnol |
| Starring |
John Barrymore Myrna Loy |
| Music by | Roy Webb |
| Cinematography | Lucien Andriot |
| Edited by | William Hamilton |
| Distributed by | RKO Radio Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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78 min. |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Topaze is a 1933 American Pre-Code film based on the French play of the same name by Marcel Pagnol. Another film version of Topaze, this one made in the original French, and directed by Pagnol himself, was also made that year, starring Louis Jouvet in the title role.
Prof. Auguste A. Topaze (John Barrymore), an honest, naive chemist and schoolteacher at the Stegg Academy in Paris, loses his job when he refuses to accede to a demand by the Baroness de La Tour-La Tour to alter the grades of her bratty son, Charlemagne.
On the same day, Friday the 13th, Topaze calls on the Baron de La Tour-La Tour's mistress, Coco (Myrna Loy), who is looking for a tutor for her sister's son, Alphonse, and had gotten Topaze's name from La Tour. Upon meeting and listening to the sincere remarks of Topaze, the baron, head of the La Tour Chemical Works, decides to employ him as a scientific front for his phony curative water.
After an encounter at a cafe, where the Baron narrowly avoids a scene with his wife by calling Coco "Madame Topaze", Coco reveals the true nature of her relation to the Baron to the naive Professor. When they arrive late back to Coco's apartment, the Baron is jealous, but soon realizes Topaze is entirely innocent.
Unaware that the water, "Sparkling Topaze," which is being sold all over Paris, does not contain the medicinal formula he invented for it, Topaze is shocked when Dr. Bomb (who had turned down the "honor" of having the fradulent water named for him) shows up, demanding 100,000 francs from the Baron or he will expose the fradulent product. But the Baron blackmails him in return with information about his previous identity, and Bomb is dragged out.
After confirming for himself, in the lab and in a local restaurant, that "Sparkling Topaze" is in fact phony, a dazed Topaze returns to Coco's apartment the next morning, where Coco fusses over him. At first, he is ready to be arrested, but the men who are shown in are instead a delegation from the Bureau of Awards and Merits, who award him the Academic Palms. All are friends and business associates of the Baron, and the scales begin to fall from Professor Topaze's eyes.
His naivete thoroughly destroyed, declaring "Topaze lies dead in an alley", Topaze decides to fight back by becoming more corrupt than his mentors. He remakes his image and, with Bomb as his assistant, he opens his own office, where he makes dignitaries wait to see him. One is Dr. Stegg, who now wants Topaze to preside at the graduation at the school. Topaze succeeds in blackmailing the Baron into a partnership in his company with a complete account of his relationship with Coco, which he threatens to show to the Baroness, whose name the shares in the company are in.
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