Topa Topa (1938)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Directors:

Charles Hutchison (co-director)
Vin Moore (co-director)

Writers:

Charles Diltz (story)
Hilda May Young (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 March 1938 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Drama | Romance

Plot:

Tom Turner, a naturalist, comes to the "Topa Topa" district (named for the mountain), and falls in love with widow Margaret Weston...

Plot Keywords:

Wolf | Self Defense | Murder | Partner | Mountain

Cast

Joan Valerie	...	Margaret Weston (as Helen Hughes)
James Bush	...	Jim Turner
LeRoy Mason	...	Pete Taylor
Ruth Coleman	...	Laura Morton
Jill L'Estrange	...	Jill Morton
Trevor Bardette	...	Joe Morton
Fred Santley	...	Chuck Foster
Lyons Wickland	...	The Coroner
Patsy Moran	...	Lydia
Silver Wolf	...	Fangs, the Dog
Goldie	...	Goldie, the Eagle

Also Known As:

Children of the Wild (USA) (reissue title)
Killers of the Wild (USA) (reissue title)

Runtime:

58 min | 74 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono | Mono

Certification:

USA:Approved | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Fine Arts Pictures Inc.

Already an antiquity even when it was new...in 1938.

"Topa Topa" (which was only trade-shown under that title) fell into the cracks when the intended distributor, Grand National, fell into bankruptcy, and had two name changes and different distributors in the space of two years. Filled with archive footage (the reason for two directors, Charles Hutchinson and Vin Moore, being credited and William Steiner credited as a Supervisor.) Tom Turner (James Bush), a naturalist, come to the "Topa Topa" district (named for the mountain the eagle swoops the little girl to in archive footage from a silent film), and falls in love with widow Margaret Weston (Joan Valerie as Helen Hughes). This irks fur-trapper Pete Taylor (LeRoy Mason) no little as he had designs on widder-Margaret himself.

Pete's partner, Joe Morton (Trevor Bardette), accuses him of stealing some pelts and this irks the already-irked Pete to the point where he kills Morton. (The squeamish types may want to skip to the next paragraph). Pete then uses the head of a dead wolf to bite Morton and make it appear that the top-billed Silver Wolf (played by a dog named Silver Wolf) killed Morton.

Silver Wolf is immediately placed on trial and a judge rules him guilty, based on the fact that Silver Wolf didn't say anything in his own defense, and orders him killed. But Goldie the Eagle (played by an eagle named Goldie) swoops down, snatches little Laura Morton and deposits her on top of Topa Topa. Silver Wolf goes in pursuit, rescues the girl and then, completely justifiable self-defense, kills blackguard Pete.

Tom then uses his naturalist skills to vindicate Silver Wolf of the Morton murder, and wins the hand of Margaret in the process.