Topper (1937) - October 31, 2017

[Akijama]

Coming from VCI Entertainment

Cosmo Topper, shy, stuffed-shirt banker, finds his humdrum, stuck-in-a-rut life turned topsy-turvy when his path crosses that of two very fun-loving ghosts, George and Marian Kirby. The wacky ghosts, killed in an automobile accident, are earth-bound until they perform a good deed. They've decided on Topper as the object of their assistance, setting out to bring some excitement and zip into his life. The result is bedlam, a near-end to Topper's marriage and utter hilarity for the viewer. Cary Grant and Constance Bennett are the mad-cap Kirby's, while Roland Young created a masterful characterization as the bewildered and haunted Topper, a role he would repeat in two more films. Look for Hedda Hopper and Hoagy Carmichael among the players in this classic comedy-fantasy spiced with the special Hal Roach touch.

https://mvdb2b.com/s/Topper/VCI9031

[xxnomad]

Great. Certainly a product of it's time and the type of light hearted hollywood film made before WW2. Ghost film if I remember correctly. In tone close to something like 'I Married a Witch'.

Worth getting for Cary Grant alone. I think they made a sequel or a tv show or something, but without Cary.

[javi92]

Damn, why did it have to be VCI?

[Jack Webb]

How the hell did VCI get rights to this?!

[Ned Brainard]

Excellent news! One of my all time favorite movies! This news doesn't surprise me because I saw the announcement the other day of VCI releasing One Million Years BC (1940) and wondered if VCI would be releasing other Hal Roach films. If it's the UCLA restoration that TCM has shown in the past, this disc should be pretty good. I hope other Hal Roach offerings will be made available (more Laurel and Hardy would be great, but I would also be eager to see the Charley Chase sound shorts released). For that matter, let's see the two Topper sequels (Topper Takes a Trip and Topper Returns)!

[movieben1138]

I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about this. It's great that it's coming to blu!

[gkolb]

I'm in !!

At least it isn't a bd-r from the Sony Choice corruption.

[John_Drake]

Let's just hope it isn't another mpeg-2 encoding.

[javi92]

Originally Posted by John_Drake

Let's just hope it isn't another mpeg-2 encoding.

MPEG-2 is pretty much all they've been putting out lately.

[Questjonmark]

I couldn't even find a pre-release post on amazon.com, but plenty of memory foam mattress toppers. On .ca there is also this in dvd format, beggin' the question, "Why wouldn't they include these on the blu-ray as a less-than-special feature?"

https://www.amazon.ca/Topper-Collect...eywords=topper

All this adding further frustration, since whenever it airs on TCM, it is blocked from showing in Canada. Same with "Foreign Correspondent."

[russkie]

Rats! I was really looking forward to getting this release. However I have received an email from Amazon that my order has been cancelled. Their reason given: "Due to a lack of availability, we will not be able to obtain the following item(s) from your order"

[Todd Tomorrow]

Originally Posted by xxnomad

Great. Certainly a product of it's time and the type of light hearted hollywood film made before WW2. Ghost film if I remember correctly. In tone close to something like 'I Married a Witch'.

Worth getting for Cary Grant alone. I think they made a sequel or a tv show or something, but without Cary.

Topper kicked of an entire genre of mostly light hearted fantasy films starring supernatural beings like ghosts, angels and witches which went on till the late 40s. The most famous is It's a Wonderful Life, my favourite is The Ghost and Mrs Muir. The French called the genre Film Blanc, the opposite of Film Noir.

Topper was followed by two sequels and a TV show.

[thatguamguy]

Originally Posted by Jack Webb

How the hell did VCI get rights to this?!

The film is public domain, isn't it?

[WaverBoy]

Originally Posted by russkie

Rats! I was really looking forward to getting this release. However I have received an email from Amazon that my order has been cancelled. Their reason given: "Due to a lack of availability, we will not be able to obtain the following item(s) from your order"

Not a good sign...

I'd love a Blu-ray pack of all three TOPPER films.

[Ned Brainard]

I got the cancellation notice from Amazon as well. I'm hoping that this is just a minor issue that will soon be resolved. Even though the release itself will not likely be perfect, it will certainly be better than that craptastic Hallmark DVD (to this day, I refuse to purchase Hallmark products because of the disdain that the company showed to the Hal Roach catalog when it was its steward).

[russkie]

On a whim, I checked Barnes & Noble and they show Topper available to pre-order with an Oct. 31 release date. Price is $20.53

[hammer99]

I just read the Robert Harris review on HTF...this is in stock for $21 at Amazon now (via fulfillment).

https://www.amazon.com/Topper-Blu-ray/dp/B071XF65NF?SubscriptionId=AKIAIY4YSQJMFDJATNBA&tag =bluray-027-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creative ASIN=B071XF65NF&m=

[thatguamguy]

From the comments at HTF, that sounds like a bit more than the disc is worth, but I am glad it is finally released at least.

[bigshot]

Has there been any comment from them on the replacement for One Million BC? I'm holding off ordering more from them until I see how they handle this one.

[TravisTylerBlack]

Site review finally up 2 years later. I purchased this disc with high hopes shortly after release date but unfortunately the transfer, although watchable, is quite a misfire.

Sad that this charming film has never received a properly mastered home video release.