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.
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.