Product Details

• Actors: Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray
• Directors: Norman Z. McLeod
• Writers: Eddie Moran, Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne, Thorne Smith
• Producers: Hal Roach, Milton H. Bren
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Language: English
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Anchor Bay/Starz
• VHS Release Date: August 13, 1987
• Run Time: 97 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6301231783
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #13,969 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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  Video > Comedy > By Year > 1930-1939

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A classic screwball comedy with a supernatural twist, Topper stars the incomparable Cary Grant and sparkling Constance Bennett as George and Marion Kirby, a fun-loving couple who cap an evening of jazz and champagne by running their car into a tree. They return as ghosts with a mandate to liven up the straight-laced hen-pecked life of bank president Cosmo Topper (Roland Young), who's hungry for just such a shake-up. Before long he's boozing, dancing, and getting into fights, all of which gives him a rakish reputation--much to the consternation of his wife (Billie Burke, best known as Glinda the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz). --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars OF GHOSTS AND HOSTS, May 16, 2000

By	"scotsladdie" (GLENDALE, CALIFORNIA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)

A delightfully zany excursion into screwball lunacy, this fantasy comedy was so popular, it was a hit T.V. series nearly 20 years later. Marion Kirby (the svelte and sophisticated Constance Bennett) and her husband George (debonair Cary) playfully haunt Cosmo Topper a stuffy, dull and wealthy banker who's married to domineering yet fluttery wife (the effervescent Billie Burke). This was the original and best of the Topper series and it's a witty delight! This was Hal Roach's first venture into sophisticated comedy and it was a solid hit. Hoagy Carmichael couldn't claim that his OLD MAN MOON was sending Cary and Connie out of this world: they were already! Here, they play ghosts awaiting acceptance into the next world who had to perform a good deep; and decided it would be to teach henpecked Mr. Topper (Roland Young) how to live life to the full. Thorne Smith's fantastic novel was smartly adapted by Jack Jevne, Eddie Moran and Eric Hatch; Milton Bren produced for Roach. Norman Z. McLeod's bubbly direction was enhanced by Roy Seawright's photographic tricks, fading the star ghosts in and out. Fun!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Cary Grant Step-Up, July 10, 2004

By A Customer

More than any other this was the film that made Cary Grant a certifiable star and vindicated his decision to free-lance in Hollywood rather than sign a studio contract. His light-hearted turn as the ghostly George Kirby, other-wordly pal and helpmate to banker Cosmo Topper, proved to be a box-office hit and Grant was shortly thereafter working with directors of the caliber of Howard Hawks, George Marshall and Alfred Hitchcock. Roland Young does some fine reaction comedy here; not easy, remembering he was often reacting to an empty set and the effects were put in later.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My all time favorite comedy, February 1, 2000

By A Customer

This movie has it all -- wonderful humor, social commentary, and noone can beat the comedic skills of the incredible cast. Please check out the scene of Roland Young being carried out of the hotel by the ghosts. The movie really asks the question, "What's life all about?" and comes up with a terribly unPC answer.