Topper

George and Marion Kerby are a rich, entertaining, irresponsible couple; they drink at night, drive fast and take nothing seriously. One morning they are killed in a car crash. They die and do not leave; they appear as ghosts and decide there is a rule: if they do a good deed they can pass over. They choose a candidate. Cosmo Topper is a bank manager; his life is timetabled to the minute, his wife wants it that way, and the man has done nothing for years. The Kerbys decide to change him. Norman Z. McLeod directs. Cary Grant, Constance Bennett and Roland Young are in the cast. The source is Thorne Smith's novel. Its visual tricks were advanced for the period; the scenes in which invisible characters move objects were made with wires and double exposure. It was nominated for the sound Oscar and remembered for its technical side. The matter it works at is order wearing a person out; Topper is happy nowhere and the film builds that as comedy. Cary Grant was moving into comic parts in this period and the film is one example of that move. At the end what became of the Kerbys is left uncertain. Sequels were made and the character was used in several more films. Who it is for: viewers who like classic Hollywood comedy and fantastical plots. Who it is not for: the humour has dated, the effects are old, and the plot is simple.