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By 1937, producer Hal Roach was hoping to wean himself away from the Laurel & Hardy-Our Gang slapstick on which he had built his studio's reputation by delving into the "screwball comedy" genre. Roach selected the racy Thorne Smith fantasy novel Topper for adaptation, and the result was one of the most endearingly funny films of the decade. Constance Bennett and Cary Grant play Marion and George Kerby, a wealthy, freewheeling young married couple whose uninhibited lifestyle is the talk of the town. After a particularly bibulous evening on the town, the Kerbys race homeward in their gleaming new roadster. George fails to negotiate a curve, and the car plows into a tree, killing both its occupants. Seconds later, the ghosts of George and Marion emerge from the wreckage, behaving as frivolously as if nothing had happened. Upon realizing that they're dead, the Kerbys also realize that they haven't been immediately snatched up into Heaven. Determining that they're required to perform one good deed before being allowed past the Pearly Gates, George and Marion set about to "liberate" stuffy, sedate, henpecked banker Cosmo Topper (Roland Young). At first resistant to the charms of his invisible benefactors, Topper begins to loosen up and truly enjoy life for the first time. Naturally, this doesn't sit well with Topper's supercilious wife (Billie Burke) nor his long-suffering butler (Alan Mobray), especially during a climactic free-for-all at a vacation resort. Though special effects abound in Topper, most of the humor derives from the embarrassed reactions of Roland Young as he tries to fend off the flirtatious advances of the ghostly Marion and the benignly strongman tactics of the spectral George. Adding to the fun are Eugene Pallette as a flustered house detective and Arthur Lake as a pratfalling bellboy. The musical score by longtime Hal Roach composer Marvin Hatley is perfectly attuned to the zany goings-on (including snatches of background music from Roach's earlier Laurel and Hardy comedies), while Hoagy Carmichael appears briefly on screen to introduce the film's signature tune, "Old Man Moon." Topper proved successful enough to warrant two sequels, as well as a popular TV series of the early 1950s.Cary Grant - George KerbyConstance Bennett - Marion KerbyBillie Burke - Mrs. TopperRoland Young - Cosmo TopperAlan Mowbray - WilkinsEugene Pallette - CaseyArthur Lake - Elevator BoyHedda Hopper - Mrs. StuyvesantVirginia Sale - Miss JohnsonTheodore Von Eltz - Hotel ManagerElaine Shepard - SecretaryDoodles Weaver - RusticSi Jenks - RusticsIrving Bacon - Hotel clerkBetty Blythe - LadyWard Bond - Car mechanic/salesmanHoagy Carmichael - Bill, the Piano PlayerDonna Dax - Hat Check Girl at Rainbow NightclubJohn Farrell MacDonald - PolicemanMartha Tilton - Lounge singerClaire Windsor
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This film is essentially the original pilot for the popular 1960s television series The Man from U.N.C.L.E. It was expanded to 92 minutes and shot in color for theatrical release. Robert Vaughn plays the master spy and adept action hero Napoleon Solo. He works for a shadowy supra-governmental enforcement agency called U.N.C.L.E. His partner is the suave Russian secret agent Illya Kuryakin (David McCallum). In this pilot, a sinister organization called W.A.S.P. assassinates the president of an African republic and his assistants. Solo is enlisted to stop W.A.S.P.'s plans to take over the country and turn it into a dictatorship. The plot and action proceed at lightning speed against the backdrop of a brewing Cold War superpower confrontation. Through a series of mishaps, a housewife, Elaine May Donaldson (Pat Crowley) is dragged into the fight and helps Solo thwart the coup attempt. Also released as a film in 1966 was another expanded episode from the TV series, The Spy with My Face.Robert Vaughn - Napoleon SoloLuciana Paluzzi - AngelaPat Crowley - Elaine May DonaldsonFritz Weaver - VulcanWill Kuluva - Mr. AllisonWilliam Marshall - AshumenDavid McCallum - Illya KuryakinIvan Dixon - SoumarinVictoria Shaw - Gracie LadovanEric Berry - Alfred GhistMario Siletti - Del FloriaRupert Crosse - NobukLeo G. Carroll
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