Topper (1937) User Reviews (74)

The Kerbys in purgatory

[jotix100 · 8/10 · 30 August 2005]

"Topper", the delightful and original film directed by Norman Z McLeod, should be seen more often. It is one of the best things Hollywood ever produced at the height of the madcap comedy craze of the thirties. In fact, just to watch Roland Young, Constance Bennett and Cary Grant in the same film is a dream come true.

"Topper" has always been an old time favorite. We were treated the other night to watching it again, courtesy of TCM. The film's great black and white cinematography by Norbert Brodine looks good, even after these many years.

Constance Bennett and Cary Grant made a fabulous couple. Ms. Bennett had the uncanny gift of blending with all her leading men well. She was a charming actress with such a sense of style and an amazing figure to boot that made her an irresistible presence on the screen. Cary Grant is also seen at his best in the film as the careless and fun loving George Kerby.

Roland Young, in our humble opinion, steals the show! He plays the staid banker Cosmo Topper, who is all business until he starts being made the object of the Kerby's antics. Cosmo Topper's wife is the incomparable Billie Burke, one of the most gracious actresses of that era.

The rest of the cast is not too shabby. Alan Mowbray, Eugene Palette, Ward Bond, Hoagy Carmichael, and as an extra, Lana Turner could be seen backing the principals with their usual elegance and enormous screen presence.

"Topper" is a film that should be "rediscovered" by new audiences, as it shows how great Hollywood could be when it wanted to be original. But above all, "Topper" should be seen for the fantastic Roland Young, who is nothing short of perfection in the film!

Great film that set the standard for all supernatural comedies to follow

[robb_772 · 8/10 · 20 April 2006]

Influential box office hit finds a couple of free spirited, newly deceased ghosts inspiring a dull banker to live life to the fullest. The simple, straightforward story is given a fresh approach by a witty script and terrific performances from the entire cast - Roland Young is divine in an Oscar-nominated performance in the title role, and Cary Grant and Constance Bennett are terrific as the dearly-departed couple. The film was followed by two sequels, a long-running television series, a made-for-TV remake, and a whole slew of imitators - although none of which ever approached the quality of the original. A delightful good time that remains arguably the best supernatural comedy that Hollywood has ever produced.

Introducing George and Marion Kirby, ghosts

[blanche-2 · 8/10 · 25 November 2006]

A dead couple is determined to loosen up their friend in "Topper," a 1937 comedy starring Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young, and Billie Burke. Cosmo Topper (Young) is a bank president whose wife (Burke) has him on a strict schedule and, though unhappy, Cosmo complies.

When bank stockholders George and Marion Kirby are killed when their car crashes into a tree, the two become worried about what St. Peter will have to say to them. They were, after all, two fun-loving, hard-drinking, partying kooks. They decide they must do a good deed before approaching the pearly gates so they make loosening up Topper their project.

This is a wonderful film that inspired the Leo G. Carroll TV series with real-life marrieds Anne Jeffreys and Robert Sterling as Marion and George. The special effects in the 1937 film are groundbreaking and ingenious. Mores have changed over the years - driving drunk is no longer acceptable. I'm afraid George and Marion would be heartily disapproved of today. Nevertheless, they're a gorgeous, glamorous couple and the real stuff of fantasy. Bennett only has a couple of years of big stardom left and, with his second billing, Cary Grant is still on the ascent. They're both hilariously madcap, Grant blasting into a stockholders' meeting and trying to take notes, and Bennett flirting with poor Topper in her silky voice.

Roland Young is the perfect Topper - henpecked, confused, and a nervous wreck. He's a man dying to break free of his shackles, and he's always envied George and Marion's lifestyle, even though it killed them. His frustration and unhappiness make him sympathetic, and the audience is with him all the way.

Very enjoyable, with some effects that were eye-popping in 1937. Don't miss "Topper." It's a classic.

Solid Fantasy Feature With A Fine Cast & Some Good Camera Tricks

[Snow Leopard · 16 June 2005]

With a fine cast and some good and occasionally impressive special effect camera tricks, this is a decent fantasy feature. It makes its main gimmick work well, while also telling a light but interesting story about the main characters. The idea of ghosts returning to interact with the living is a simple and familiar idea, but in this movie it works pretty well.

Cary Grant is always entertaining in this kind of role, and Roland Young fit right into the role of "Topper" and made it his own, in this and the sequels. Constance Bennett gives a very lively and engaging performance that also drives much of the action. Billie Burke is well-cast as Topper's wife, and Eugene Palette makes very good use of his scenes as a grouchy hotel detective.

The 'ghost' effects are very good technically for their time, and they are used effectively in the story. There is a lot of variety in the various visual effects, and they show some clever ideas and careful planning. Only a couple of times do the seams show.

The story is kept very simple, probably by design, allowing the cast and the camera effects to carry the load. Although things move a little slowly at times, most of it is entertaining, and as light entertainment it works well.

"Why don't you stop being a mummy for a few minutes and come to life?"

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 10 December 2014]

A carefree couple (Cary Grant, Constance Bennett) are killed in a car crash. They come back as ghosts to help their bank manager friend, Cosmo Topper (Roland Young), break out of his stuffy little rut and find happiness. I first saw this years ago and I remember being disappointed that Cary Grant isn't really the star of it, Roland Young is. This is probably the role Young is best remembered for, although it's very similar to some of his other roles. Namely that of a meek little man who mumbles and has funny deadpan reactions to things. He's likable and easy to root for. For their parts, Grant and Bennett are a lot of fun. They sing "Old Man Moon" with Hoagy Carmichael in one delightful scene. The supporting cast includes Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, and a very funny Eugene Palette. The film was a success and led to two sequels and a TV series. It's a light screwball comedy with enjoyable performances and a good script. People expecting it to be a vehicle for Cary Grant might be disappointed but hopefully they'll give it a shot anyway.

Ghostly Encounters--Act One

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 28 June 2004]

Cosmo TOPPER has his stuffy, henpecked life turned upside down by the interference of two recently deceased friends.

The folks at Hal Roach Studios fashioned this popular supernatural comedy. Intended to be at the opposite extreme from the typical ghost thriller, there are no sudden chills or eerie ectoplasms here--just lots of good humor and a few (well done) special effects.

Owlish Roland Young plays the bemused recipient of his dead friends' good deeds. No matter how drastically the intentions backfire, leading to arrest & scandal, Young remains a decent chap bent on regaining some equanimity in his life. (What is most impressive about his performance are his hilarious physical contortions when under the invisible influence of the ghosts.) Dear Billie Burke is wonderful, as usual, as Young's slightly bewildered wife, who has relinquished the role of lover to be mother hen to her husband -- hoping her control over him assures their acceptance by high society.

As the Kerbys--living and dead-- Constance Bennett & Cary Grant have plenty of star power & charm to spare and their spirits are certainly blithe, but a frank examination of their characters reveals some flaws. There is nothing funny about alcoholism or reckless driving, both of which contribute to their demise, and they are fortunate they kill only their own silly selves and not anyone else. That being said, they certainly do make a pair of great-looking spooks.

The rest of the cast adds to the fun: Alan Mowbray once again plays a butler with an attitude; young Arthur Lake appears as a hapless hotel employee; elegant Hedda Hopper does well with her single scene as an unstuffy society doyenne; J. Farrell MacDonald plays a no-nonsense cop; and corpulent Eugene Pallette has fun with his role as a suspicious hotel detective.

Composer Hoagy Carmichael appears as himself and Ward Bond plays a taxi driver, both uncredited.

This was the first of a 3-film series and was followed by TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (1939) and TOPPER RETURNS (1941).

Cary the friendly ghost

[Lejink · 7/10 · 23 December 2016]

When better than Christmas-time to watch a classic Hollywood fantasy feature, especially as it stars the great Cary Grant and sexy, sophisticated Constance Bennett. The film makes one obvious mistake in not naming the film after them, as the live-on-the-edge 24-hour-party-people couple who finally crash, literally, over to the other side when their car (and what a car it is!) hits a tree, leaving them as two disembodied spirits requiring to do a good deed before they can quit their earthly ties completely.

This then, they decide, is to be the emancipation of their middle-aged, henpecked bank manager friend, the only mildly rebellious thing about whom is his name, Cosmo Topper, played by Roland Young. Ordered about by his dull wife and domineering butler, Topper's worm gradually turns due to the influence of alcohol, Grant and in particular Bennett's coaxing but finally his own suppressed natural spirit coming to the surface.

A great screwball comedy, directed at high speed by Norman Z MacLeod, "Topper" is great fun from start to finish. The two separate lengthy opening scenes perfectly encapsulate the contrast between the high-flying Kerbys and the low-lying Toppers and it's no great surprise as to who changes who for the better by the final reel.

With the usual 30's comedy mix of sharp dialogue, slapstick and fine-for-the-time special effects to suggest ghostly comings and goings, the film entertains from first to last. Most surprising is the prominence given to a racy pair of lady's drawers not only in clearing a fashion store of its occupants but in later proving the catalyst for Topper's wife to go from strait-laced to frilly-laced and put the fire back into their staid marriage.

Grant and Bennett are great as the high-society duo who aren't on the screen enough (and I don't just mean when they're invisible in spirit form). Shame they didn't make another movie together, they're well-matched here. Young is fine too as the mousy manager who finally learns to roar.

This was a fun romp of a movie, with just a gentle live-for-today (but not too fast!) moral at its heart.

A wonderful movie

[richard-1787 · 8/10 · 19 February 2014]

This is a faultlessly wonderful movie. The chemistry between Grant and Bennett is captivating. But even more captivating is Roland Young as the middle-aged man trapped in a boring life and yearning to be free. It's hard not to envy the Kirbys their wonderful, carefree and madcap life, and to sympathize with Topper and his feeling of having lost his life. So, of course, you root for him - and against the wonderful Billie Burke - in his efforts to recover his freedom and LIVE. Yes, it's not unlike another great comedy, Auntie Mame, the story of the magical woman who frees young Patrick Dennis, and those who will listen, from their routine world of Babcocks.

If you've never seen this movie, treat yourself. Like the Kaufman and Hart classic "You can't take it with you," you will feel better for having watched it.

Not quite the screwball comedy classic that I remembered...

[Doylenf · 6/10 · 13 April 2006]

Considering that this was made in 1937, the special effects are amazingly well done throughout...and the fact that CARY GRANT is billed beneath CONSTANCE BENNETT in the credits is a reminder that this was made long before Grant emerged as a superstar.

But there's a stale quality to the whole screwball comedy that has ROLAND YOUNG as a henpecked husband of BILLIE BURKE who gets a chance at becoming less stuffy due to the machinations of two friendly spirits who were recently killed in a fancy sports car. That about sums up the plot--and nothing much happens that can be considered memorable--nor is it any kind of morality fable.

Interesting too is to note some of the key players among the supporting cast--Eugene Palette as a bumbling hotel detective, Arthur Lake (who became Dagwood Bumstead) as an equally bumbling hotel porter, Alan Mobray as a butler who sometimes forgets his place in society, and an uncredited Ward Bond who shows up in just about every film made in the '30s.

The art deco sets are very handsome and modern looking, but the whole film has the feel of a late night movie that's been shown too often to have any lasting effect now. As the two spirits, Constance Bennett is just a wee bit too frivolous to be believable as the ultimate playgirl and Cary Grant has little opportunity to be more than a decoy for Roland Young--who, in the title role, manages to steal the film from both of them. As his wife, Billie Burke is her usual fluttery self.

Don't overthink it, and you'll enjoy this one

[gbill-74877 · 8/10 · 29 November 2017]

'Topper' is a fun and playful movie which has several things going for it, starting with Cary Grant and Constance Bennett, who play a sophisticated married couple who enjoy staying out all night carousing. They are both delightful. Grant gets a little too reckless behind the wheel of his expensive sports car, and they end up ghosts, but there's no sadness here, and the only difference seems to be that they can now become invisible. They still have appetites (e.g. for alcohol) and can make physical contact with things. Does that make sense? I don't know, but who cares. The film works as a romantic comedy and relationship film, as Grant and Bennett are contrasted by a wealthy banker (Roland Young) who is stifled by his prim wife (Billie Burke), who has him on a tight leash and schedule. She needs to loosen up, and he needs to assert himself, and Grant and Bennett help that along in their own odd ways.

There are solid performances all around, and you'll recognize Burke from her role as Glinda the Good Witch in 'The Wizard of Oz'. The special effects are nice, including seeing Grant and Bennett fade in and out, and float various objects in the air (the tire changing scene is brilliant). It's also nice to see Hoagy Carmichael perform a catchy song, 'Old Man Moon'. Don't overthink it, and you'll enjoy this one.

OK, it's silly and formulaic but it a brilliant formula

[1930s_Time_Machine · 7/10 · 3 June 2023]

This was Hal Roach Studios first attempt at a so-called 'sophisticated comedy' and they do a brilliant job at it. This is an absolutely perfect example of this type of film, it's great fun.

By the late thirties sophisticated comedies had come of age. These relied not just on jokes but on having likeable, endearing and amusing characters - as wonderfully expounded by Richard Curtis many years later. This film got that just right - everyone in TOPPER is instantly engaging, you want to know them personally. Roland Young's character, Mr Topper like you, the viewer doesn't just want to be friends with Carey Grant and Constance Bennett, he wants to be like them too. That's what makes this picture so good. They're your friends, not just people in a story.

After years of trying to find his perfect idiom, Carey Grant finally struck gold with this - it was a role that could have been made for him. Similarly Constance Bennett who'd been a massive star since the silent days - without, in my opinion, much particular justification, was surprisingly marvellous in this. She and Carey Grant made the ideal couple, the wildest , craziest and nicest people you could ever wish to go to a party with.

There's also a lovely touch of nostalgia you might notice: the music playing in the hotel in last scene is that same old incidental music you will recognise from loads of Hal Roach's old Laurel and Hardy two reelers. Little touches like that help to give this a lovely warm feeling. And yes, even eighty years later, it's actually still funny!

Get a load of that fur bearing dame!

[mark.waltz · 9/10 · 18 May 2015]

Champagne swilling Constance Bennett has been out all night partying with her husband (Cary Grant), and when he stops into the bank (but doesn't come back to their limousine right away), Bennett saunters right into the office of Cosmo Topper (Roland Young), with one of the clerks saying my above comment to a co-worker to hilarious delight. Marian and George Kirby are a fun-loving Nick and Nora type who probably couldn't hold down day jobs, but in spite of their free-for-all lifestyle, you can't help but love them. Tragedy occurs one day when the speeding George ends up crashing their car, killing them instantly. Having lead a frivolous life, they find that they are "left behind" and must perform some good deeds to move onto the after life. They are definitely not bad people, so it is obvious where they are going, but their mission on earth has not been completed, hence their remaining around in limbo.

One day, naive Cosmo Topper crashes through the newly replaced fence which George and Marian had previously crashed through. "Would you take your hand off my wife's leg?", Grant's voice bellows to Young, sitting on a log, as he reappears so only Young can see him, soon afterwards followed by his wife. It comes their duty to help reconcile Cosmo and his suspicious, jealous wife (Billie Burke), and that's what occurs in the next 90 minutes as Grant and Bennett do their best to perform one good deed to move on. Special effects had been used in science fiction or fantasy movies before, but this was perhaps the first comedy to utilize it so wonderfully. Ironically, the very same year, Young had his own dramatic fantasy with "The Man Who Could Work Miracles", but his light-hearted character here is obviously having much more fun even though he's extremely perplexed by being befriended by two ghosts.

The first of three "Topper" movies (and one of half a dozen pairings of Billie Burke and Roland Young as flibberty-gibbit spouses) is one of the classic screwball comedy's of all time. Grant and Bennett appear to be having a perfectly marvelous time as they seem more alive as ghosts than some live people do on a normal basis. However, it is Young's performance, reacting to everything around him, that wins attention here, with Burke a close second. She's not the bird-like stereotype that she would be in the last film or her many other roles (just see her in "Dinner at Eight" to see her being truly dramatic as a downright ridiculous woman), and for those who know her only from "The Wizard of Oz" will be delighted to see her out of her good witches' uniform and in some wonderful gowns. She has a great chemistry with droll Alan Mowbray who would play her butler and companion in the first two films. The screenplay is practically perfect, the art deco sets fantastic to look at, and the pace delightfully speedy.

underrated

[KyleFurr2 · 7/10 · 12 September 2005]

This movie doesn't seem to be as well known as some of other Cary Grant films and the other screwball comedies in the late 30s. This is from a good comedy director who also directed a Marx brothers and a W.C. Fields film. This was made before Grant was a main star and Constance Bennett has as much screen time as him. Bennett and Grant play a young married couple who are friends with Roland Young, who is Grant's boss at the bank and he is very shy and that is because of his wife, played by Billie Burke. Grant is driving down the road too fast and he and Bennett are killed immediately. They both became ghosts and they can become invisible anytime they want. They decide to help Young and wind up making his life better. It's a pretty good comedy and should be more well known.

Either it hasn't aged well or I'm missing something

[irishm · 4/10 · 10 February 2017]

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.

Ghosts in purgatory try to save souls by corrupting prudish banker.

[STD · 30 July 1998]

Hysterical movie, great characters, and watch for ghosts carrying Roland Young through lobby of hotel. Plenty of social commentary -- totally politically incorrect. My all-time favorite comedy.

The Frolicking Dead

[nycritic · 7/10 · 13 April 2006]

It lay the groundwork for Tim Burton's 1987 film BEETLEJUICE. The story caused its own controversy back when it was released in 1937 because those concerned thought that the subject matter was too occult-friendly for its own good. The truth of the matter is, TOPPER is a movie as heavy-handed as a feather and a visual feast in the way it blends the effects of the leads -- who are ghosts -- on the physical world.

TOPPER is a screwball comedy from first to last scene. Forget the ghost elements -- it's precisely this that makes it one funny movie to watch. Constance Bennett and Cary Grant play the Kerby's, Marion and George, who are irrepressible and seem to be living in the previous decade's hedonism. After a night of drinking pink ladies like they were water, they race home in his snazzy new car, he misses a turn, and they smash into the embankment.

They emerge from the wreck without a scratch and wonder about their situation. Then it seems that they can see through each other. Of course, neither of them can believe such a thing, but it dawns on them: they're dead. Do they go to Heaven? Not really. Reaching a conclusion that they have to do One More Thing before they're allowed to go back up to meet their Maker they decide to rattle up the life of Cosmo Topper, a stuffed shirt of a man.

Topper, the title character of the movie, at first is horrified that they're dead, but eventually begins to live life at its fullest while his wife mopes around. Here is when the movie really takes off, playing with its special effects with a crackle. Who would have guessed it was made with 1937 technology? Seeing Topper's world go to pot as Marion and George blithely make their presences (pun intended) known to everyone who has eyes and can see is what makes Topper such a fun ride of a movie. It's never mean spirited, or dark like Tim Burton's BEETLEJUICE is, but a great 90-plus minutes well spent in front of the television set.

TOPPER generated two sequels, one with Constance Bennett returning as Marion Kerby (Cary Grant by this time was a top star and only loaned out archive footage of himself from this film) in TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (1939) and TOPPER RETURNS, sans Bennett. It would also generate a television series in the 1950s.

From ghost to ghost

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 8 July 2020]

My main reason for seeing 'Topper' was Cary Grant, have always liked him a lot and he was one of his generation's most re-watchable actors because of his smooth charm and elegance, also one of the best at urbane. The rest of the cast, with other leads being Constance Bennett and Roland Young and with the likes of Eugene Pallette, Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray in support, are also talented. Like supernatural film and screwball comedies, and films that balance both really perks interest.

'Topper' immediately perked interest with so much going for it. Watching it, it didn't leave me disappointed at all and of the three 'Topper' films it is the best. Had no doubt it would be at least an enjoyable film and 'Topper' turned out to be more than that, found it to be great and a standout recent first time viewing. There will be debate as to whether it has held up well, to me it has and surprisingly so and anybody who loves any of the above actors and when the supernatural and screwball comedies are balanced together are likely to really like it though of course it is all dependent on taste.

Some of the pace is a little on the slow side, but there is very little wrong with 'Topper' in my view.

Grant is typically elegant and even if he is a little underused the role plays to his strengths and allows his sophisticated comic timing and intensity to come through. Even better is Bennett, for me this is one of her best performances and she was clearly having a lot of fun in her part, she also looks divine. Young is a very likeable lead, this is hardly a case of the two biggest stars in high billing upstaging the lead when he holds his own. Of the supporting cast, all great, a very funny Pallette is the standout. The direction is not heavy-handed and keeps things light without sugar-coating.

It is a great looking film, with sumptuous art direction and it is just amazing at how good the special effects look. Ones that were done long before effects technology significantly advanced in terms of expense and such yet manage to look a lot better and have more soul than most from today. It's beautifully shot too, some of the camera angles and such being surprisingly imaginative which stops things from becoming stage bound. The film's whimsical tone is matched in the music.

As for the script, it has elegant sophistication and a playful wit which is what screwball comedy in my mind should be like. The story is kept simple and doesn't try to be too ambitious, a good thing, but it's generally lively and has a real charm and sometimes eeriness.

On the whole, great. 9/10

Mildly amusing,...but it should have been a lot better

[planktonrules · 6/10 · 9 October 2006]

Considering that this film supposedly starred Cary Grant, I sure was expecting a lot more from the film. That's because during the later 30s and early 40s, he was the best screwball comedy actor--period. These movies such as THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY, MY FAVORITE WIFE, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and HIS GIRL Friday are all classics and I expected TOPPER to be in the same league as these other wonderful films. However, being a HUGE Cary Grant fan, I was very disappointed to see that special effects and Roland Winters as well as Constance Bennett strongly overshadowed his performance--not just because the focus was mostly on them but because they also got a lot more screen time. It's odd, as the movie began with plenty of Grant, but midway through it seemed as if he got sick or went on vacation and they finished the movie by including him only here and there. Now Winters and Bennett were kind of amusing, but using them instead of Grant is sort of like eating Spaghetti-Os instead of Fillet Mignon! Now as for the plot, I am sure that many found it funny. However, I was NOT one of them. After a short time, all the ghost gags and hi-jinx just seemed forced and dopey--sort of like a movie just for kids. Seeing Bennett and Grant as ghosts was funny for a little while (though very contrived) but just wasn't enough to sustain a film. So, overall it's a mildly amusing film and that is really all. Fans of Grant will no doubt feel a little let down.

The MADCAP antic's of one Cosmo P. Topper Stuffy Banker "I Loved It"

[alphaspace · 10/10 · 18 August 2001]

Two stock holders in a bank that loved living it up, real posh social folk used to living the life in the fast lane snag the BIG Detour, as their car misses a hairpin turn and crashes killing both of them. They having committed no particularly good or bad deed are in purgatory limbo caught between heaven and, earth thus existing as ghosts here.

They are charged to do one good deed. With that the object on their road to salvation becomes their former banker and friend Cosmo P. Topper. Cosmo a quiet shy hen pecked little man of respect and dignity in social circles that count in his community has a trappy motherly sort of wife who has a funny voice that simply cannot be duplicated in this film.

The ghosts act to make Cosmo Topper a changed man a person more real more free and open which yet he still remained plenty respectable a person given by today's measures of morality given the standards of the world when this film was made. Cosmo is thrust unwillingly into one mad cap adventure after another until the poor dear was numb. He became more free simply because these two ghost unable to give up their wild party lifestyle dragged poor topper with them wherever they went.

That's not to say Topper was a hostage. Oh no far from it Cosmo Topper genuinely enjoyed his new found party life drinking pink ladies, a alcoholic drink swooshing down sliding boards to enter trendy night spots, watching floor shows oh Topper was living it up. Oh yes Topper was a reluctant but willing accomplice in his own undoing. As the party life went on a more and more disturbed Mrs. Cosmo P. Topper grew concerned as she watched her mouse of a grow in self confidence. I could tell you more of the plot but won't get it on VHS or DVD yourself its awesome.

I will say that the music is so totally hot in this movie providing you like big band music. Old Man Moon is Particularly good. The whole movie is sweet. It has a little mystery in it some intrigue but its always light and gay. The movie has what I consider a sweet tearjerker ending that is only really meaningful if you watch the film from beginning to end.

This film was a product of the HAL ROACH studios and, all the trick photography you saw in this film was all done in the camera via technical means. This was a real ground breaking bit of FX technology for its day. You also get to see the actor who played Dagwood Bumstead at a very early age as the elevator dude in this film. Mergatroids the man was still a pup.

I have this one in my collection and I treasure it. I love old movies more than most of the new stuff. This movie is just good clean innocent fun. If you want sex and, naked bodies thrust so close up into your face you can see their skin cells devide this movie is not for you. If ou like a fun movie that makes you laugh at snootty upper crust posh folk of a bygone era then this movie is all that. The time is set in the distant past by todays standards but zanny people never change see this movie for yourself to see why.

Like a Sitcom

[kenjha · 7/10 · 26 January 2008]

Enjoyable fluff about a stuffy banker who loosens up a bit after meeting the freshly-minted ghosts of a couple of fun-loving bank stockholders. Grant and Bennett (in her most notable role) seem to be having fun as the ghostly couple who don't let death cramp their style and Young is perfectly cast in the title role of the banker. Burke, the good witch from "The Wizard of Oz," plays Topper's overbearing wife. The cast also features Palette as a hotel detective and Lake, who would go on to play Dagwood Bumstead in "Blondie" films, as an elevator boy. While the antics of the invisible ghosts lead to some amusing scenes, the film rarely rises above the level of a sitcom.

God Bless Their Happy Home

[theowinthrop · 10/10 · 1 November 2007]

Thorne Smith is one of those novelists who were really popular for a decade or so and then either prematurely died (like Smith) or faded with their popularity. Today he is recalled for the creation of banker Cosmo Topper, and the ghostly couple of George and Marion Kirby, but they are remembered (probably) more for the movies and television series where they appeared, then for the actual novels. I'm not even sure if the original TOPPER or TOPPER TAKES A TRIP or THE NIGHT LIFE OF THE GODS is still in print.

Basically Smith took normal sex and twisted it by adding the supernatural to it - such as the original story to I MARRIED A WITCH. In TOPPER the Kirbys are a fun-loving young couple who are the wealthiest depositors in Topper's bank. George has stock in the bank too, and at the start we see him attend a stockholder's meeting of the Board of Directors. As Topper drones on about banking matters we see George writing down something in front of him. When he gives up at last he explains it is impossible for a person to write his signature backwards and upside down at the same time. The director sitting next to him starts trying to do the same thing, and them remembers why he and the others are still there and throws down his pencil in disgust.

That situation is what is developed in TOPPER. Cosmo (Roland Young - possibly in his signature role, as he repeated it twice afterward) is married to Clara (Billie Burke) and they are a staid, childless couple, whose only other "family member" (to stretch a term) is their butler Wilkins (Alan Mowbray). Cosmo's wife organizes his life around an unbreakable timetable, and Cosmo (although following it) is reaching a midlife crisis.

George and Marion (Cary Grant and Constance Bennett) try to encourage him to experiment with some occasional fun. But they get killed in a car accident, and Cosmo feels that that is the conclusion of their influence. But after an argument with Clara (she feels the Kirbys got what they deserved), Cosmo buys the car they got wrecked in, and takes it for a drive. He gets into a minor accident, and while recovering discovers that the ghosts of the Kirbys are still around - and they are determined to rescue Cosmo from his middle aged rut. It seems that the Kirbys have never helped anybody, and to enter heaven they have to rescue someone.

The comedy of the film follows how the two ghosts get Topper into a series of odd circumstances and adventures, including a visit to night court for causing a public disturbance (Topper punches a cab driver in the nose - the driver is Ward Bond, by the way - and causes a massive fight). As he is reported as being accompanied by a pretty woman (Marion, before she dematerializes), Clara gets upset about the scandal. Subsequently she gets upset that Cosmo is flaunting his infidelities in their home. And then he flees to just get away from it all.

It's a weird tightrope, with Topper trying to enjoy himself with Marion (and hide the fact he is accompanied by a woman who is not his wife), and also avoid a jealous George who is threatening to break his neck. The supporting characters are as good as the four leads, with special notice for Mowbray as a staid, proper butler who finally does break character to push Clara into a more proper frame of mind towards her husband. Also note Arthur Lake as a befuddled elevator operator, and later a hotel bellboy, bedeviled by Topper and "those crazy Kirbys", and the marvelous Eugene Palette as a good hotel detective who just cannot get the goods on Topper and his two friends.

TOPPER was interesting for another reason. It was one of the films that producer Hal Roach Sr. created in the late 1930s in his attempt to expand from just being the producers of Laurel & Hardy, the Little Rascals, and several other comedians in short subjects. It was a great success for him, leading him to produce two sequels, but it helped create the frictions that led to his eventual split with Laurel & Hardy by 1940. As the only non-TOPPER film that he produced of note was ONE MILLION B.C. it looks like Roach made a tactical mistake here, even if the TOPPER films were pretty good ones.

Two Ghosts Are Better Than One

[BaronBl00d · 7/10 · 19 April 2006]

They sure don't make 'em like this anymore. Cary Grant and Constance Bennett are two rich,elite party-goers that meet their untimely end in a car crash(drunkenness)and find that even though dead they are bound to be ghosts until they have done some kind of charitable deed. They decide to help their banker Cosmo Topper and try to bring him out of his dull, hen-pecked existence. Topper is one of those unique films where the stars actually play second banana to - I am sure what was seen as a more supporting role despite being the titular character. Roland Young plays Cosmo for all he is worth and accentuates his secret desires, his sardonic albeit quiet wit, his "fun" side that gets hidden away, etc... Young received an Academy Award nomination most deservedly. He breathes a lot of life in this film. What is his strongest asset is his ability to control language the way that he does. Topper's dialog is a lot of fun and seeing/hearing him trade quips with wife Billie Burke are some of the film's finest moments. Burke is in rare form with her ear-piercing voice. What about Grant and Bennett? Don't get me wrong, they are both very good. Grant is very suave and charming and a master of light comedy. Bennet is funny too but exudes a healthy sex appeal. But it's Young's show all the way. He is ably assisted by a host of very funny, competent character types with Alan Mowbry, Eugene Palette, and an incredibly young Arthur Lake vigorously lending out a helping hand. This is a fun film not meant to be taken too terribly seriously. I mean where is the logic in two ghosts who die from their own carelessness teaching a responsible man to let caution to the wind and kick up his heels?

Jovial ghosts in pleasant purgatory.

[hitchcockthelegend · 8/10 · 22 March 2008]

George & Marion Kerby like to live life to the max, they party hard and pursue the good time with carefree abandon. During one devil may care drive home fuelled with excess, they crash into a tree and are instantly killed, yet strangely their spirits are still on earth, and it would seem they need to achieve something of value before they can hit the big house in the sky. Enter regimental prig Cosmo Topper, a friend and colleague of the Kerby's, and someone who is about to become their pet make over project!

Based on Thorne Smith's novel, "The Jovial Ghosts", this is a truly delightful picture, it steams along at a fair old clip, and clocking in at just one and half hours in length, it never outstays its welcome. It would have been very sad if this had become a one joke movie, I mean just how many ghost gags can you pull off before it gets tiresome? Thankfully the makers of this breezy romp have pulled it all together to consistently tickle the ribs. The spooky effects for 1937 certainly hold up well, for sure they are far from perfect, but with the tone of this particular piece being one of mirth and cheekiness, one finds that the effects carry a decidedly uplifting charm.

The film boasts a wonderful turn from Roland Young as Cosmo Topper, as he lurches from one incredulous situation to another, he carries the film with consummate ease. As the Kerby's we get the bright Constance Bennett and the irrepressible comic talent of Cary Grant, with Bennett only bagging the role of Marion when the already cast Jean Harlow sadly passed away a month before the shoot. Grant stepped into the role of George after W.C. Fields vacated it, and we can only guess what sort of picture we would have got with the original cast choices. Yet I simply can't envisage the film being improved upon because Grant & Bennett literally do bounce of each other with cracking results.

From one spooky set up to the next, Topper is a cure for the blues, be it fisticuffs with cops, or turning a hotel inside out, it is quite simply a delicious piece of 30s comedy pie. 8/10

good light screwball fun

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 24 January 2021]

Fun-loving married couple George (Cary Grant) and Marion Kerby (Constance Bennett) die in a car crash. They can't go up or down. They decide to help their stuffy banker friend Cosmo Topper to find some joy.

This is good light screwball fun. I'm of two minds about the ghost mechanics. On the one hand, it's fun to do the 'invisible-man' antics. On the other hand, the movie loses the great charms of Cary Grant if he's invisible. He would still reach new heights from this movie and Constance Bennett seems to be a fun babe on the big screen. This is a generally fun movie. As for visualizing ghost this way, there is some logic problems but one can overlook them.

Drive carefully

[AAdaSC · 5/10 · 4 December 2022]

Cary Grant (George) and Constance Bennett (Marion) are a cocky, wealthy couple. They are unlikeably arrogant but for the purposes of this film, these traits are meant to make them endearing and loveable. Always looking for a party (nothing wrong in that) but portraying themselves as superior and unaffected by the cares and sensitivities of others, they come across as patronizing and superior. Anyway, they die. Once they realize they are dead, they decide to do something good so they can move on up to Heaven. Cue bank owner Roland Young (Topper) and his fussy wife Billie Burke.

I'm not quite sure what the good deed is that they have in mind by interfering in Young's life as they do. It's just a continuation of their selfish earthly nonsense. The film is a screwball comedy, ie, not ever funny. However, the cast are all familiar and there is a good idea for the premise of a film even if it never develops its potential. The film gets dull and drags seeming to go way on longer than its actual running time. It's a shame - a real wasted opportunity in terms of storyline and comedic opportunities. Should have been better.

What is interesting is the ghostly element to the story and this film describes what it is really like when you die. Who knows, eh? Another bonus is the appearance of Hoagy Carmichael singing one of his songs and the criminally forgotten Martha Tilton singing as part of a group called "Three Hits and a Miss."