Considering that this film supposedly starred Cary Grant, I sure was expecting a lot more from the film. That's because during the later 30s and early 40s, he was the best screwball comedy actor--period. These movies such as THE AWFUL TRUTH, BRINGING UP BABY, MY FAVORITE WIFE, ARSENIC AND OLD LACE and HIS GIRL Friday are all classics and I expected TOPPER to be in the same league as these other wonderful films. However, being a HUGE Cary Grant fan, I was very disappointed to see that special effects and Roland Winters as well as Constance Bennett strongly overshadowed his performance--not just because the focus was mostly on them but because they also got a lot more screen time. It's odd, as the movie began with plenty of Grant, but midway through it seemed as if he got sick or went on vacation and they finished the movie by including him only here and there. Now Winters and Bennett were kind of amusing, but using them instead of Grant is sort of like eating Spaghetti-Os instead of Fillet Mignon! Now as for the plot, I am sure that many found it funny. However, I was NOT one of them. After a short time, all the ghost gags and hi-jinx just seemed forced and dopey--sort of like a movie just for kids. Seeing Bennett and Grant as ghosts was funny for a little while (though very contrived) but just wasn't enough to sustain a film. So, overall it's a mildly amusing film and that is really all. Fans of Grant will no doubt feel a little let down.

My main reason for seeing 'Topper' was Cary Grant, have always liked him a lot and he was one of his generation's most re-watchable actors because of his smooth charm and elegance, also one of the best at urbane. The rest of the cast, with other leads being Constance Bennett and Roland Young and with the likes of Eugene Pallette, Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray in support, are also talented. Like supernatural film and screwball comedies, and films that balance both really perks interest.

'Topper' immediately perked interest with so much going for it. Watching it, it didn't leave me disappointed at all and of the three 'Topper' films it is the best. Had no doubt it would be at least an enjoyable film and 'Topper' turned out to be more than that, found it to be great and a standout recent first time viewing. There will be debate as to whether it has held up well, to me it has and surprisingly so and anybody who loves any of the above actors and when the supernatural and screwball comedies are balanced together are likely to really like it though of course it is all dependent on taste.

Some of the pace is a little on the slow side, but there is very little wrong with 'Topper' in my view.

Grant is typically elegant and even if he is a little underused the role plays to his strengths and allows his sophisticated comic timing and intensity to come through. Even better is Bennett, for me this is one of her best performances and she was clearly having a lot of fun in her part, she also looks divine. Young is a very likeable lead, this is hardly a case of the two biggest stars in high billing upstaging the lead when he holds his own. Of the supporting cast, all great, a very funny Pallette is the standout. The direction is not heavy-handed and keeps things light without sugar-coating.

It is a great looking film, with sumptuous art direction and it is just amazing at how good the special effects look. Ones that were done long before effects technology significantly advanced in terms of expense and such yet manage to look a lot better and have more soul than most from today. It's beautifully shot too, some of the camera angles and such being surprisingly imaginative which stops things from becoming stage bound. The film's whimsical tone is matched in the music.

As for the script, it has elegant sophistication and a playful wit which is what screwball comedy in my mind should be like. The story is kept simple and doesn't try to be too ambitious, a good thing, but it's generally lively and has a real charm and sometimes eeriness.

On the whole, great. 9/10

Roland Young's portrayal of stuffy banker Cosmo Topper was so well received that it spawned two sequel films and a television series during the Fifties. It's a great example of that genre that was done best in the Thirties, the screwball comedy.

Cary Grant and Constance Bennett are George and Marion Kerby, a pair of rich dizzy socialites for who life is a non-stop party. Every now and then we have to tend to business, such as Cary showing up for Board of Directors meeting of the bank where Roland Young is president.

One find day while driving at a high speed Cary totals his car and he and Constance wind up ectoplasm. Stuck between this world and the next Connie concludes that a good deed must be done if they're to gain entrance through the pearly gates. Who to bestow this good deed on, but Roland Young.

Though this is now classified as a Cary Grant film, Cary has a lot less to do here than either Bennett or Young. He has his moments, but it's really their show. Though physical consummation is impossible, Bennett and Young run off to a resort hotel for a wild fling. That sets the stage for a lot of physical type comedy which Bennett does well and Young is properly maintaining dignity at all costs.

Billie Burke plays Young's wife who doesn't quite know what to make of her husband's rebellion against their well ordered life. Butler Alan Mowbray is equally nonplussed. However the best performances here among the supporting cast are Eugene Palette as the house detective and Arthur Lake as a bellboy at that resort.

Topper is one of those films that probably could do with a remake. I can see Julia Roberts in Connie Bennett's part and possibly Tom Hanks in the Cary Grant role.

But they'd have to go some to beat this one.