There are few types of films that bring me as much joy as screwball comedies, and I have yet to encounter one I did not like. Their blend of perfectly-balanced humor, endearing romance, and masterful storytelling make them frequent films of comfort for me, with films such as The Awful Truth and The Philadelphia Story being personal favorites of mine. Both of these films had one actor in common, who is also featured in the film that I am reviewing here, the legendary Cary Grant. Admittedly, I took longer than normal to warm up to Grant, and I sometimes viewed him more as a cinematic institution rather than a great performer. However, looking into some of his earlier work has allowed me to see Grant in a brand new light, and not only do I find him delightful, I can finally admit that I understand his appeal, as very few actors are us effortlessly charming and dastardly suave as him. One of his lesser-known pictures is Topper, a film that I will note from the outset is not his finest performance, but rather another in a wide range of wonderful screwball comedies to which Grant lends his remarkable talents. Topper may not be my favorite of the great screwball comedies (that distinction will probably always go to It Happened One Night or the aforementioned The Awful Truth), but it is certainly a jolly good time, and an endearing comedy of manners (or lack thereof), with great performances and a terrific sense of humor.

Topper is focused on three main characters. George Kerby (Cary Grant) is a reckless but somehow extremely wealthy man who has a lot invested financially but prefers to live a life of pleasure with his wife, Marion (Constance Bennett), which brings them into the path of the third character quite often. This character is the titular Cosmo Topper (Roland Young), a stuffy and uptight middle-aged bank manager who feels like his life is constrained to a set of annoying habits, which are not assisted by his paranoid wife (Billie Burke) and his persnickety butler (Alan Mowbray), both of which do their very best to keep Topper on-schedule, but ignore his frequent cries for liberation from the tedious routine he is subjected to daily. When George’s reckless lust for life becomes a tad too real, his past-paced life becomes an even faster death, when he and Marion die in a car wreck. However, this is not the end for our duo, as they almost instantly appear as ghosts, able to materialize and dematerialize on a whim, which gives them certain advantages, and they are very soon drawn back to Topper, who they insist on helping lead a more exciting life, and for better or worse, they certainly do achieve just that. Topper and the ghosts go on a series of misadventures, which may lead Topper into trouble, but it gives him the rejuvenated, youthful joie de vivre that he had been striving to regain for years, and all it took was some helpful intervention from some particularly cheerful ghosts.

As I mentioned previously, Cary Grant was a terrific actor, and the rare breed of star who is both charismatic and talented, able to give spirited, energetic performances while retaining their esteemed mystique. Topper doesn’t give him anything to do that he didn’t do in other films (but it did launch him into his well-regarded career in a series of screwball comedies that defined his career), but in a film such as this, all the character of George Kerby needs to be is charismatic and mischievous, which Grant provides most graciously. It is not the definitive performance of Grant’s career, but it is one of several films that constituted an iconic career. His co-star for much of this film was the undeniably charming Constance Bennett, with the duo having palpable chemistry. Screwball comedies are great for a number of reasons, but the way these films manage to cast actors who are able to effortlessly play off each other and deliver great results never fails to astonish me. Bennett is wonderful, and playing the defiant and feisty Marion is a welcome departure from the traditional romantic comedy heroine, and despite not being akin to Tracey Lord, Jean Harrington or Ellie Andrews in terms of being strong and willful representations of feminine characters, Bennett’s characterization is really wonderful. The pair is great together, as well as individually, which is always a good sign for a pair of actors, being able to forge distinctive performances on their own as well as working together to elevate the film to a point of near-perfection.

However, as brilliant as Grant and Bennett are, Topper is a film that is deservedly focused on the titular character, who steals every scene he is in (and luckily, there are an abundance of scenes featuring this character, which is odd considering the stars in the leading roles). Roland Young is absolutely astonishing, and I will be so bold as to call his performance one of the finest comedic portrayals ever committed to film. His elegant control of the character, playing him as both straight-laced and eccentric was astounding, and he had the unenviable task of often acting across from nothing at all, and his superb ability to create a quirky but realistic portrayal of a man undergoing a midlife crisis was extraordinary. I was not expecting such a nuanced and complex performance, especially from an actor who has given a character who served to be the patsy for the main characters, the straight man to their mischievous antics. Young makes the best out of every moment he is on screen, and whether it be in his more quiet moments, conveying a sense of being a helpless milquetoast, or in his more broadly comedic moments, Young manages something really great here. Topper is not the greatest screwball comedy of its time, but Young gives one of the best performances in the history of the genre, showing a rare but unsurprisingly strong comedic streak that is not often reached with such sophisticated fragility and unhinged humor.

Something else that struck me as particularly noteworthy about Topper is exactly how ahead of its time it was. For a film released in 1937, there were some themes that were quite audacious, particularly its concept. I have yet to see a film deal with a massive tragedy such as the untimely death of people in an awful accident be quite as hilarious as this, and while this film doesn’t make light of the issue, it also does not take itself too seriously, with some otherwise bleak ideas being played for laughs, which is oddly risky considering the era in which this film was made, with the execution (pun absolutely intended) seeming bold and daring, even by contemporary standards. I admire screwball comedies because they are able to deal with serious issues with such tremendous skill, balancing gravity with levity. The Awful Truth dealt with divorce, The Lady Eve dealt with deception, and The Philadelphia Story focused on integrity, both professional and personal. Topper looks at the concept of death with almost hopeful joy, seeing it as something youthful, and serving as a reminder that we are here for such a short time (as our protagonist says), so why not make the best out of it? Its unrelenting in its keen and direct observations on death, and as cliche as it is to say, this film celebrates life by looking at those who have lost it.

Yet, we aren’t even considering the best part of Topper, the aspect that really defines it as being far ahead of its time – its visual effects. There are practical effects used in this film that seem to be out of place for a film made eighty years ago, and while they are undeniably artificial and flawed, they have massive charms and are groundbreaking considering the era they were made in. Topper is much more than just a screwball comedy – it is one of the first (and finest) comedy films that dealt with supernatural elements, and this film manages to balance the creative storyline with a more traditional one, and it comes across as delightfully fun and effectively entertaining. Topper is a film that cannot really be compared to current films in terms of its execution, but it somehow managed to impress me more than the most advanced filmmaking techniques the industry has access to now, because whereas many contemporary films build their stories around these groundbreaking techniques, Topper rather uses it to support the story it has already, and the results are a charming and heartwarming comedy that made the best of its resources and comes out as a bold and lovably scrappy film.

Topper helps reaffirm my belief that screwball comedies were some of the greatest films, and a genre of cinema contained within a particular period of time, one that cannot be replicated (nor should anyone attempt to). They simply do not make films like Topper anymore – a free-wheeling, liberating comedy about life, death, and romance, filled with terrific performances from the ever-charming Constance Bennett, the deceptively suave Cary Grant, and the wonderful Roland Young, who turns in a fantastically complex performance that has stuck with me ever since watching this film. Topper is not a perfect film, and it may suffer from some narrative inconsistencies, as well as not having the flawless flows of other similar films, but the ultimate result is a marvelously magical madcap comedy that has a lot of substance and a terrific execution. Definitely one of the most unheralded screwball comedies, and one that deserves another look, because this one is a real gem.