Topper

Review by Laurence Marcus

The first fantasy series to appear on US television found its way to the small screen from a 1930's novel, The Jovial Ghosts, by Thorne Smith, via a big screen production by the legendary Hal Roach Studios starring Cary Grant (Topper-1937), two subsequent sequels (Topper Takes a Trip-1938, Topper Returns-1941), and an NBC radio series The Adventures of Topper).

The story centred around ageing bank vice president Cosmo Topper, who, at the beginning of the tale was considering the purchase of a house previously owned by George and Marion Kerby; a fun loving couple that had been tragically killed by an avalanche whilst on a skiing holiday in Switzerland three months previously. As they passed to the other side, the two of them, accompanied by a St Bernard dog who tried to rescue them (named Neil by Marion because it looked like George’s cousin Neil), returned to their home in spirit form making themselves visible to Cosmo in order to convince him to stay. And stay he did for 78 episodes between 1953 and 1955 as the dull and grumpy banker who gradually discovered a lighter side to life under the influence and company of George and Marion.

British born actor Leo G. Carroll starred as Topper, years before returning to television as Mr Waverly in The Man from U.N.C.L.E., Robert Sterling and Anne Jeffreys (real-life newlyweds as the series started) appeared as the fun-loving and sometimes mischievous ghosts. Lee Patrick was Cosmo's poor and sometimes bemused wife, Henrietta, whilst bank manager Mr Schuyler (Thurston Hall), and maids Katie (Kathleen Freeman) and Maggie (Edna Skinner) all had occasion to question Topper's sanity.

The Broadway composer and lyricist Stephen Sondheim wrote a number of episodes for Topper's first season with Hollywood screenwriter, playwright and journalist George Oppenheimer. The show was sponsored by Camel cigarettes and as a result, the Kerbys and Cosmo were obliged to be seen smoking in every episode before promoting the product at the end.

The early use of trick camera techniques gave George, Marion and Neil ghostly effects and objects moved seemingly of their own accord. The series was a hit with viewers even earning an Emmy nomination for Best Situation Comedy in 1954. It was shown in Britain in the early days of ITV, although only 36 episodes were purchased. There have been several attempts to revive the series on TV, all unsuccessful.

However, never to waste a decent format, television would revisit the premise of the dead and living interacting with each other under the same roof for comic effect. The US produced The Ghost and Mrs Muir and the UK had The Ghosts of Motley Hall and Rentaghost years before it revisited the Genre with Ghosts which had both UK and US versions. For a tongue-in-cheek drama series there’s always Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and other series blending everyday life with the fantastical may well have been influenced by Topper as well. Bewitched was a classic sitcom about a witch who marries a mortal and I Dream of Jeannie swapped the witch for – as the title suggests, a Genie.

With a number of new series such as Upload and The Good Place produced in recent years for streaming on subscription services, it would seem that television is in no hurry to give up the ghost.