Customer Reviews

Topper [VHS]

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

Cary Grant is above all one of the best actors ever. This is one of his best movies. It is funny, cute, and sweet. Even if you aren't a big fan of Grant, this movie is great for everyone!

Add a star (****) for the picture; subtract a star (**) for the lousy colorization. Whatever happened to the original b&w version?

Cary Grant and Constance Bennett are two recently deceased fun-loving, rich party-goers who come back to haunt the life of straight-laced banker Cosmo Topper (played by Roland Young). Bennett turns Topper's life so upside-down that he leaves his wife to have a good time with her. Of course it's all made right again before too much damage is done. The first 1/3 and the last 1/3 are the best parts; the middle part sort of drags. The picture is lots of fun. Worth a watch.

Cary Grant and Constance Bennett go out for a drive when suddenly a tire blows out and they go off the side of the road. When they come to, they both realize they individually have turned into a ghost. They decide to cause all kinds of havoc with the people around them. Billie Burke is in this film. Two years later she played The Good Witch (the one who appeared in the big pink bubble) in The Wizard Of Oz (1939). Hedda Hopper, who spoke of celebrity gossip on radio and newsreel, plays "Mrs. Stuyvestant". Arthur Lake has funny scenes as a nervous Elevator Boy and then later as a Bellhop. The next year, Arthur Lake became "Dagwood Bumstead" and played that character for the next 12 years in the "Blondie" film series from 1938-1950. This was the first film to be computer-colorized, a horrible technique that was used in the 1980's. This was Not restoration. The computer only had pale colors, such as, yellow, brown, green, pink, light blue, light green. The computer would chase the colors onto an item or person. This is why you see the flesh tone of someones face moving around. Which may not be the true flesh tone of the actor. It is like putting tinted plastic wrap on the screen itself. Computer-colorization did improved somewhat with other black & white films and some are quite watchable. There is more interest and detail in watching a computer-colorized film that was originally black & white. However, let me make something perfectly clear, When you see on VHS or DVD that a film has been RESTORED and DIGITALLY REMASTERED, that is a different process. That means the actual negetive or master of the film has been carefully restored to its original deep, rich colors and brightness. The film has been preserved for many more years. All scratches and pops are gone. But to get back to this version of TOPPER, this is only the computer-colorized version that I have written this review for.