Grade: C+
Synopsis: The ghosts (Constance Bennett and Cary Grant) of a fun-loving couple help a stuffy banker break out of his shell.
Topper is an agreeable enough film, despite its somewhat morbid moments.
The film opens with Constance Bennett and Cary Grant’s characters very much alive and partying till dawn, when Grant’s character is due at a board meeting. After the meeting, they drive out to the country, collide with a tree and die. This sequence is quick, but it’s nonetheless unsettling to see the lifeless bodies of Bennett and Grant lying clumped in front of their car as their spirits rise up.
Fortunately, the script keeps things going so you don’t dwell on that image for long, but it’s still a downer in what is otherwise a pretty fun comedy.
Roland Young is great as the titular character, a stuffy but timid banker afraid to live his own life. The majority of the film revolves around Bennett’s character’s attempts to coax Young’s character out of his shell. Grant, who has second billing, disappears for much of the film’s second act, but Bennett is charming enough to carry the movie when he’s gone.
Then there’s the finale, which sees a return to the very same tree from the film’s beginning, and in just as unsettling a situation. It’s a very, very, odd choice but somehow, the filmmakers pull it off.
If you’re thinking this sounds more than a little bit like Beetle Juice (1988) you’re right. Tim Burton’s film has a very similar premise, but where Burton aimed to exploit the unsettling moments as great black comedy, Topper just glosses over them.
Bottom Line: Despite a few unsettling scenes, Topper is a fun, lighthearted comedy carried by the charisma of its leads.
