Year of Release: 1937Country of Origin: USA
Director: Norman Z. McLeod
Cast: Constance Bennett, Cary Grant, Roland Young, Billie Burke
Plot outline: A fun-loving couple returns from the dead to help a henpecked husband (IMDb).
Fun, light and funny, Topper is a delightful screwball comedy. It shares the style of, and comes a year or two after, the classic My Man Godfrey. Though not as good as that movie, it excels in many ways, not the least of which is a very good cast. While Cary Grant is in it, the real star is Constance Bennett. There are a lot of wonderful moments in the movie, including numerous sexually suggestive jokes that would likely not be allowed in later years. They are not overt, brazen moments (as you would likely get today), but deliciously suggestive - making them funnier and more sexy. Bennett plays her role with delightful coyness and flirtatiousness. The interaction with Roland Young as the henpecked husband is great fun to watch. In Topper, you get to see Cosmo Topper come out of his shell and develop into the man he wants to be. (One of the best scenes, howlingly funny, is a drunk Topper being helped down stairs, through a hotel lobby by invisible ghosts.) You also see his wife develop from icy social climber to a more loving woman. (BW)
My judgement: *** out of 4 stars
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