Topper is a 1937 Americansupernaturalcomedy film starringConstance Bennett andCary Grant, and featuringRoland Young,Billie Burke,Alan Mowbray, andEugene Pallette in support. Directed byNorman Z. McLeod, it tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. The film was adapted byEric Hatch,Jack Jevne and Eddie Moran from the 1926 novel byThorne Smith. It was produced byHal Roach and distributed byMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer.Topper was a huge hit with film audiences in the summer of 1937.Topper was the first black-and-white film to be digitallycolorized, re-released in 1985 by Hal Roach Studios.^[3]

Topper
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Norman Z. McLeod
Screenplay by	Jack Jevne Eric Hatch Eddie Moran
Based on	Topper (1926 novel) byThorne Smith
Produced by	Hal Roach
Starring	Constance Bennett Cary Grant Roland Young
Cinematography	Norbert Brodine
Edited by	William H. Terhune
Music by	Marvin Hatley
Production company	Hal Roach Studios
Distributed by	Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Release date	July 16, 1937 (1937-07-16) (U.S.)
Running time	97 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$500,000(proposed)[1]
Box office	$2 million (U.S. and Canada rentals)[2]

George and Marion Kerby are as irresponsible as they are rich. When George wrecks their flashy custom roadster, they wake up from the accident as ghosts. Realizing they are neither in Heaven nor Hell because they have never been responsible enough to do good deeds nor sufficiently venal to do bad, they decide that freeing their old friend Cosmo Topper from his suffocatingly regimented lifestyle will be their ticket into Heaven.

Topper, a wealthy bank president, is oppressed by boredom and routine, compounded by his social-climbing wife Clara’s obsession with presenting a respectable façade. On a whim, he buys the late Kerbys’ car. Soon he meets the ghosts of his dead friends, and immediately they begin to liven up his dull life with drinking, dancing, flirting, and fun.

The escapades lead quickly to Cosmo's arrest, and the ensuing scandal alienates his wife. To her astonishment, some of New York New York City’s upper crust she has been desperate to socialize with are piqued by the incident and cozy up.

Cosmo moves out into a hotel with Marion, who claims she is no longer married since she is dead. Clara fears she has lost Cosmo forever. The Toppers' loyal butler suggests that she lighten up a bit; she decides he's right and dons the lingerie and other attire of "a forward woman".

After Cosmo has a near-death experience and nearly joins George and Marion in the afterlife, the Toppers are happily reunited, and George and Marion, their good deed done, gladly depart for Heaven.

Cast notes

• Early on in the film, songwriter and pianistHoagy Carmichael makes an uncredited cameo appearance—his debut acting role—as the piano player in the sequence where George and Marion are on the town the night before the meeting at the bank. He introduces the song "Old Man Moon," which is sung by Grant and Bennett. It's also sung later byThree Hits and a Miss.^[4] As the couple leave the bar, George (Grant) says, "(Good)night Hoagy!" and Carmichael replies, "So long, see ya next time".
• Lana Turner makes her second film appearance, uncredited, as a nightclub patron.

•  
  Constance Bennett
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  Cary Grant
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  Roland Young
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  Billie Burke
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  Alan Mowbray
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  Eugene Pallette

After a long career producing comedy shorts, producerHal Roach was looking to expand into long-form films to complement hisLaurel and Hardy features, and found a property inTopper, a risqué 1926 novel byThorne Smith. Roach immediately wanted Cary Grant to play George Kerby, but he had difficulty getting the actor to agree to play the part, since Grant was concerned that the supernatural aspects of the story would not work. Roach was successfully able to pitch the film to Grant as ascrewball comedy instead—and a $50,000 payday.^[5]

For Grant's opposite number, Roach was interested inJean Harlow, andW. C. Fields as Topper, but Harlow was on the brink of death, and Fields turned down the offer. When Roach reached out toConstance Bennett, she was impressed enough with the property that she agreed to be paid less than her usual $40,000 fee.^[6]

Topper was produced atHal Roach Studios inCulver City,^[7] with location shooting at the entrance to theBullock's Wilshire department store onWilshire Boulevard - as the entrance to the "Seabreeze Hotel"^[1] - and at a location on San Rafael Avenue inPasadena, California.^[7]

The automobile used by George and Marion Kerby, before they become ghosts, and later by Cosmo Topper - whose own car is a 1936Lincoln Model K - is a custom-made vehicle with a resemblance toCord andDuesenberg automobiles of the 1930s. Production models of a Cord were too small to use, so the custom body was built on the chassis of a 1936Buick Roadmaster byBohman & Schwartz and the external exhaust pipes characteristic of asupercharged Cord are non-functional; the Buick Roadmaster of the time used an eight-in-line ("straight eight") engine whereas the Cord used a V-8 engine - so external exhaust pipes on both sides of the hood (as per the Cord arrangement) would have meant that at least one side of the car (and probably both) used dummy external pipes. The Buick trunk had special compartments for camera equipment. Afterwards, the car was purchased by the Gilmore Oil Co., who used it for many years for promotional purposes. In 1954, the vehicle was updated utilizing aChrysler Imperial chassis and drive train.^[8][9]

Topper was a box-office hit, and gave a boost to the careers of all the lead actors, in particular Cary Grant, who moved from this film into a sequence of classicscrewball comedies such asThe Awful Truth (1937),Bringing Up Baby (1938), andHoliday (1938).^[10] Constance Bennett, previously known as more of a "clothes-horse" than an actress, received very good notices, and Roach reunited her with director McLeod and screenwriters Jevne and Moran, as well as Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray, inMerrily We Live (1938).^[10]

Topper was nominated forAcademy Awards forBest Actor in a Supporting Role for Roland Young - his only nomination - andBest Sound, Recording forElmer Raguse.^[11]

The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in these lists:

• 2000:AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs - #60^[12]
• 2008:AFI's 10 Top 10:
  • Nominated Fantasy Film^[13]

Topper was followed by the sequelsTopper Takes a Trip (1938) andTopper Returns (1941).^[14]

Atelevision series premiered in 1953 and ran for two seasons (78 episodes). It starredLeo G. Carroll as Topper andRobert Sterling andAnne Jeffreys as the ghosts, who died in an avalanche while skiing. They are accompanied by the ghost of Neil, a St. Bernard dog who died trying to rescue them.

Atelevision pilot for a proposed new series,Topper Returns, was produced in 1973. It starsRoddy McDowall as the nephew of Cosmo Topper (now deceased) andStefanie Powers andJohn Fink as the Kerbys, who have transferred their attention to a younger generation.^[15] ATV movie remake (and pilot for a new TV series),Topper (1979) was also produced starringKate Jackson,Jack Warden andAndrew Stevens.^[16] According to the article onNearly Departed, a short-lived American TV series of the 1980s starringEric Idle ofMonty Python fame, it was based on the same premise.John Landis directed anotherTopper pilot forCBS in 1992, starringTim Curry as Cosmo Topper,Courteney Cox as Marion Kerby, andBen Cross as George Kirby, which was not picked up.^[17][18] In 1999,Hugh Wilson was in talks with producerJohn Davis to direct a remake ofTopper^[19] but the film was never produced.

Topper was the first black-and-white film to be digitallycolorized, re-released in 1985 by Hal Roach Studios, with color by Colorization, Inc.^[3] The film was chosen because its original 1937 release represented Hal Roach's entry into major feature film production. According to the studio: "In light of this history, it seems fitting thatTopper should again be on the cutting edge of change, this time heralding the age of colorization as the first completed color version of a classic black and white motion picture".^[20]

• List of ghost films

• Topper atIMDb
• Topper at theAFI Catalog of Feature Films
• Topper atTurner Classic Movies
• Topper at AllMovie
• Topper review at TVGuide.comArchived 2012-02-22 at theWayback Machine
• Topper historic reviews, photo gallery at CaryGrant.net
• Hemmings Daily blog:SIA Flashback – The Topper Buick's Many Metamorphoses^[usurped]