1937 – Roland Young
Topper
This was only the second year that Best Supporting Actor was a category at the Academy Awards, and I don’t think they quite had it figured out yet. This should not have been nominated for an Oscar, not because Roland Young’s performance was bad, but because he was the lead role in the film. But if he had been put in the Best Actor category, he wouldn’t have been nominated at all. I mean, the story was his story, but the movie had Carry Grant in it. Grant was the supporting character, but he was the big name, so Roland Young got put in the wrong category. And while it was a fun film, the roll itself was just not Oscar-worthy.
He played the title roll of Cosmo Topper, the President of a large bank, who is haunted by the ghosts of the Bank’s biggest client and his wife. There were scenes in which Young had to work with floating objects, actors who were not there, but who faded in and out of existence, and silly, goofy shenanigans. And he was the straight man to their comedy. But there was an undercurrent in his character that fit the story well. Though he was straight-laced and serious, he had a desire to be wild and carefree, out from under the loving, yet controlling thumb of his wife.
I think that was where Young shined. He maintained that seriousness but the deep longing to have fun colored much of what he did. Topper was likable, gentle, and even charming in a strange sort of way. The scene where the ghosts get him drunk on Champagne was actually pretty funny. He did a silly dance, then fell on the floor with his butt sticking up in the air. Then he had to act like invisible hands were boosting him to his feet and carrying him across the room. It was a fun scene
But there was one weird thing about Young’s performance. He seemed to deliver most of his dialogue without moving his lips. There were times when he would say entire lines as if he was a ventriloquist. At other times, his bottom lip moved slightly, and his upper lip was perfectly still. Sure, he was supposed to be meek almost to the point of mousiness, and maybe that lack of enunciation that bordered on mumbling was a conscious acting choice, but it was a strange one. Still Young did a fine job, so why not give him an acting nomination?