Topper is a 1937 American supernatural comedy film starring Constance Bennett and Cary Grant, and featuring Roland Young, Billie Burke, Alan Mowbray, and Eugene Pallette in support.

Directed by Norman Z. McLeod, it tells the story of a stuffy, stuck-in-his-ways man who is haunted by the ghosts of a fun-loving married couple.

Topper, a wealthy bank president, is oppressed by boredom and routine, compounded by his social-climbing wife Clara’s obsession with presenting a respectable façade.

Soon he meets the ghosts of his dead friends, and immediately they begin to liven up his dull life with drinking, dancing, flirting, and fun.

The Toppers' loyal butler suggests that she lighten up a bit; she decides he's right and dons the lingerie and other attire of "a forward woman".

[8][9] Topper was a box-office hit, and gave a boost to the careers of all the lead actors, in particular Cary Grant, who moved from this film into a sequence of classic screwball comedies such as The Awful Truth (1937), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and Holiday (1938).

[10] Constance Bennett, previously known as more of a "clothes-horse" than an actress, received very good notices, and Roach reunited her with director McLeod and screenwriters Jevne and Moran, as well as Billie Burke and Alan Mowbray, in Merrily We Live (1938).

It stars Roddy McDowall as the nephew of Cosmo Topper (now deceased) and Stefanie Powers and John Fink as the Kerbys, who have transferred their attention to a younger generation.

[16] According to the article on Nearly Departed, a short-lived American TV series of the 1980s starring Eric Idle of Monty Python fame, it was based on the same premise.