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Topper (1937
1937 in film

The year 1937 in film involved some significant events....
) is a comedy film
Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on Humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies....
 which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne
Jack Jevne

Jack Jevne was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 58 films between 1919 in film and 1956 in film.He was born in Provo, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California....
 and Eddie Moran from the novel
Topper (novel series)

Topper is a series of comedy fantasy novels written by Thorne Smith. The novels are about a respectable banker called Cosmo Topper and his misadventures with a couple of ghosts, Marion and George Kerby....
 by Thorne Smith
Thorne Smith

James Thorne Smith Jr. , was an United States writer of humorous supernaturnal fantasy fiction.Best known today for his creation of Topper , Smith's comic fantasy fiction sold millions of copies in the early 1930s....
. The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Norman Z. McLeod

Norman Zenos McLeod was an United States film director, cartoonist and writer. He is widely considered one of the best directors of comedy films of all time, and to be a total badass....
, produced by Hal Roach
Hal Roach

Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an United States film producer and television producer from the 1910s to the 1990s....
, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The movie stars Constance Bennett
Constance Bennett

Constance Campbell Bennett was an United States actor. Known as much for her elegant persona as for her acting career, Bennett was one of Hollywood's most luminous stars, delivering amusing, madcap, and occasionally arch performances that belie her ornamental reputation....
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
, Roland Young
Roland Young

Roland Young was an England actor....
, and Billie Burke
Billie Burke

Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an Academy Awards-nominated United States actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz ....
. Topper was a huge hit with movie audiences in the summer of 1937 and Cary Grant had a percentage deal on the film.






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Topper (1937
1937 in film

The year 1937 in film involved some significant events....
) is a comedy film
Comedy film

Comedy film is a genre of film in which the main emphasis is on Humour. Also, films in this style typically have a happy ending . One of the oldest genres in film, some of the very first silent movies were comedies....
 which tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple. It was adapted by Eric Hatch, Jack Jevne
Jack Jevne

Jack Jevne was an American screenwriter. He wrote for 58 films between 1919 in film and 1956 in film.He was born in Provo, Utah and died in Los Angeles, California....
 and Eddie Moran from the novel
Topper (novel series)

Topper is a series of comedy fantasy novels written by Thorne Smith. The novels are about a respectable banker called Cosmo Topper and his misadventures with a couple of ghosts, Marion and George Kerby....
 by Thorne Smith
Thorne Smith

James Thorne Smith Jr. , was an United States writer of humorous supernaturnal fantasy fiction.Best known today for his creation of Topper , Smith's comic fantasy fiction sold millions of copies in the early 1930s....
. The film was directed by Norman Z. McLeod
Norman Z. McLeod

Norman Zenos McLeod was an United States film director, cartoonist and writer. He is widely considered one of the best directors of comedy films of all time, and to be a total badass....
, produced by Hal Roach
Hal Roach

Harold Eugene "Hal" Roach, Sr. was an United States film producer and television producer from the 1910s to the 1990s....
, and distributed by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. The movie stars Constance Bennett
Constance Bennett

Constance Campbell Bennett was an United States actor. Known as much for her elegant persona as for her acting career, Bennett was one of Hollywood's most luminous stars, delivering amusing, madcap, and occasionally arch performances that belie her ornamental reputation....
, Cary Grant
Cary Grant

Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
, Roland Young
Roland Young

Roland Young was an England actor....
, and Billie Burke
Billie Burke

Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an Academy Awards-nominated United States actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz ....
. Topper was a huge hit with movie audiences in the summer of 1937 and Cary Grant had a percentage deal on the film. He made quite a bit of money on the successful film.

It was nominated for Academy Awards
Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, popularly known as the Oscars, are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers....
 for Best Actor in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor

Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Award presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry....
 (Young) and Best Sound, Recording
Academy Award for Sound

The Academy Award for Sound Mixing is an Academy Awards that recognizes the finest or most euphonic Audio mixing or recording, and is generally awarded to the production sound mixers and re-recording mixers of the winning film....
.

Topper was followed by the sequels Topper Takes a Trip
Topper Takes a Trip

Topper Takes a Trip is a 1938 in film film sequel of Topper . Constance Bennett, Roland Young, Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray reprised their roles from the earlier movie; only Cary Grant was missing ....
 (1938) and Topper Returns
Topper Returns

Topper Returns is the third and final entry in the initial series of films inspired by the novels of Thorne Smith. It followed Topper and Topper Takes a Trip ....
 (1941). There was a television series of the same name
Topper (TV series)

Topper was a television situation comedy series based on the 1930s film series Topper .The thrust of the story is that the sophisticated Cosmo Topper is vice-president of a bank....
, which premiered in 1953 and ran for two seasons, starring Leo G. Carroll
Leo G. Carroll

Leo Gratten Carroll was an England actor, best known for his roles in several Alfred Hitchcock films and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.....
, Robert Sterling
Robert Sterling

Robert Sterling, born William Sterling Hart , was an American film and television actor....
 and Anne Jeffreys
Anne Jeffreys

Anne Jeffreys is an United States actor and singer....
. In 1973, a television pilot
Television pilot

A television pilot is a test episode of an intended television series. It is an early step in the development of a television series, much like pilot lights or pilot serve as precursors to the start of larger activity, or pilot holes prepare the way for larger holes....
 for a proposed new series Topper Returns (1973) was produced, starring Roddy McDowall
Roddy McDowall

Roderick Andrew Anthony Jude "Roddy" McDowall was an English-born actor and photographer....
, Stefanie Powers
Stefanie Powers

Stefanie Powers is an Emmy Award-nominated United States actress and singer, who's best known for her role as Robert Wagner's wife and crime-fighting partner, Jennifer Hart, on the popular 1980s crime drama, Hart to Hart....
 and John Fink
John Fink

John Fink is an United States actor.In the 1970-1971 season, Fink was cast as an Iowa veterinarian, Dr. Adam Hudson, who marries the daughter of the President of the United States in the National Broadcasting Company sitcom Nancy ....
. A TV movie remake, Topper (1979) was also produced starring Kate Jackson
Kate Jackson

Kate Jackson is an American actress, television director, and Television producer. She is a three-time Emmy Award nominee, twice in the "Best Actress" category and once in the "Best Supporting Actress" category....
, Jack Warden
Jack Warden

Jack Warden was an Emmy Award-winning, Academy Awards-nominated United States character actor....
 and Andrew Stevens
Andrew Stevens

Andrew Stevens is an United States film film producer and film director and a former actor. He is the only child of actress Stella Stevens and her former husband Noble Herman Stephens, both natives of Mississippi....
.

In 1985, Topper (1937) was one of the first films to be re-released in color using a controversial process known as film colorization
Film colorization

Film colorization is any process that involves adding color to black and white, sepia tone or monochrome moving-picture images. The earliest examples date back to the early 20th century, but it has become easier and more common since the development of digital image processing....
.

Honors

American Film Institute
American Film Institute

The American Film Institute is an independent non-profit organization created by the National Endowment for the Arts, which was established in 1967 when President Lyndon B....
 recognition
  • 2000: AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs
    AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs

    Part of the AFI 100 Years... series, AFI's 100 Years... 100 Laughs is a list of the top 100 comedy movies in American cinema. The list was unveiled by the American Film Institute on June 14, 2000....
     #60


Cast

  • Constance Bennett
    Constance Bennett

    Constance Campbell Bennett was an United States actor. Known as much for her elegant persona as for her acting career, Bennett was one of Hollywood's most luminous stars, delivering amusing, madcap, and occasionally arch performances that belie her ornamental reputation....
     as Marion Kerby
  • Cary Grant
    Cary Grant

    Archibald Alec Leach , better known by his stage name, Cary Grant, was a British-born American actor. With his distinctive yet not quite placeable accent, he was noted as perhaps the foremost exemplar of the debonair leading man, handsome, virile, charismatic and charming....
     as George Kerby
  • Roland Young
    Roland Young

    Roland Young was an England actor....
     as Cosmo Topper
  • Billie Burke
    Billie Burke

    Mary William Ethelbert Appleton "Billie" Burke was an Academy Awards-nominated United States actress primarily known to modern audiences for her role as Glinda the Good Witch of the North in the musical film The Wizard of Oz ....
     as Mrs. Clara Topper
  • Alan Mowbray
    Alan Mowbray

    Alan Mowbray Military Medal, , was an England stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood.Born Alfred Ernest Allen in London, England, he served with distinction the British Army in World War I, reaching the rank of major and being awarded the Military Medal for bravery....
     as Wilkins
  • Eugene Pallette
    Eugene Pallette

    Eugene Pallette was an United States actor who appeared in over 240 films....
     as Casey
  • Arthur Lake
    Arthur Lake (actor)

    Arthur Lake was an United States actor known best for bringing Dagwood Bumstead, the bumbling husband of Blondie to life in film, radio, and television....
     as Elevator Boy
  • Hedda Hopper
    Hedda Hopper

    Hedda Hopper was an United States actor and gossip columnist, whose long-running feud with friend turned arch-rival Louella Parsons became at least as notorious as many of Hopper's columns....
     as Mrs. Grace Stuyvesant
  • Virginia Sale as Miss Johnson


External links

  • at Turner Classic Movies
    Turner Classic Movies

    Turner Classic Movies is a cable television channel featuring television commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and Warner Bros....