Topper (1937)

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod. Starring Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, Eugene Pallette, Hedda Ropper.

Happy-go-lucky socialites Grant and Bennett die in a car accident, stick around on Earth as spirits and decide to “haunt” a stuffy bank president named Topper (Young), who has to learn to loosen up or risk losing the affections of his bored wife (Burke). Slight but endearing comedy full of whimsical ghostly shenanigans and amusing special effects; Grant and Bennett are in good relaxed comic form, and Young proves surprisingly agile in the wishy-washy drip role. Jack Jevne, Eric Hatch, and Eddie Moran developed the script, based on a novel by Thorne Smith, but when the writing runs low on invention and sparkle, the doldrums do start setting in (the clumsy suggestion of a possible romance between material Young and ethereal Bennett while ol’ Topper’s on the outs with the missus simply doesn’t work). Became the first black & white film to get the “colorized treatment” when it was re-released in 1985. Inspired two sequels—Topper Takes a Trip and Topper Returns (neither of them featuring Grant)—plus a TV series and TV-movie remake. Lana Turner makes an uncredited appearance as an extra in a nightclub scene.

70/100