Topper - 1937

[moviejoe79]

After recently reading a post about "The High and the Mighty," and its copyright problems, I was reminded of the great 1937 comedy "Topper," starring Cary Grant, Constance Bennett, and Roland Young. Like "Mighty" this film has not been around for years, and is not currently available on any form of media, and is never seen on T.V. I know that years ago the company "Nostalgia Merchant" released the film on video, and after that a colorized version came out, but it hasn't been available for awhile now. I was lucky enough to see this hysterical film at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, here in New York (which, by the way is part of the old Kaufman-Astoria Studios, where many of the Marx Brothers movies were made, as well as other early Paramount films - visit it sometime). I made a point of going to see the film, since I know I can't see it anywhere else, and I'll be damned if I'll watch it colorized!

So, to make a long post short (too late) - does anyone know why the film is not around? It would be great if TCM could showcase it sometime. I know that Hal Roach produced the film, but as far as I know MGM released it, so I would think that TCM would have the rights to it - does anyone have any information?

[nedlato]

I remember seeing this film on television as a child. It was not colorised then (c.1984),but I have not seen it since. I enjoyed it a great deal and would like to compare my response to the film now that I am an adult.

[bradf519]

Amazon shows TOPPER and TOPPER RETURNS up for pre-order for a June 17th release. Both films on the same disc and at a good price. No word on whether any restoration took place or any supplements are included.

[moviejoe79]

Thanks Brad for the information. I am going to look it up on Amazon.com. Even though I already own "Topper Returns," I would gladly buy the set just to have "Topper." And considering that this film is available, I hope that TCM will show it sometime. It would be nice to see a "Topper" night, with all three films in the series - the aforementioned, as well as "Topper Takes a Trip."