Thorne Smith and the American Ghost

How do you prefer your ghosts? Do you like them spooky and atmospheric? Maybe you fancy something gothic, laced with fear and darkness. Perhaps you’re more the romantic type, savoring a good tale where the supernatural explores the human psyche. If any of those descriptions float your boat, I’ll direct you to Washington Irving, Edgar Allan Poe, or Nathaniel Hawthorne. But if (like me) you prefer the sort of ghost who eagerly urges you to have a drink or two (or twenty), then you’ll want to spend an evening with Thorne Smith.

James Thorne Smith Jr. was born on March 27, 1892 at the Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. His father was a Navy commodore, his mother the granddaughter of Maxwell House Coffee namesake Don Jose Maxwell. Thorne was an indifferent boarding school student, enjoying only his English classes, and he eventually dropped out of Dartmouth to take a job writing advertising copy. While advertising would help support his family, his true love was writing. He was prolific, too, turning out thirteen novels, poetry, a children’s book, short stories, and a few screenplays, all in the space of seventeen years. He achieved immediate success in 1926 with the publication of his most well-known work, Topper (also known as The Jovial Ghosts), a comic fantasy novel involving ghosts who think nothing of helping their chosen human break several laws and commandments in search for the meaning of life.

Reprobate-in-training or not, it’s easy to identify with a Thorne Smith protagonist He’s usually under-appreciated and stifled, trapped in a thankless existence by a combination of societal expectations and overbearing relatives. He needs help learning to enjoy life, and the supernatural meddling that helps him along this path comes in the form of comical circumstances and clever dialogue. Our protagonist emerges a happier–though thoroughly tainted–soul by the end of the story, ready to reject the world’s hypocrisy. Although the storylines are inviting (who wouldn’t want to spend a little time “falling” through no fault of their own?), it’s Smith’s voice that’s the real draw. He’s witty and dry, and his humorous observations about human nature remain as spot-on now as when first written almost a century ago.

Thorne Smith died of a heart attack in 1934 at the age of 42, well before many of his books (including both Topper books, Nightlife of the Gods, Turnabout, and I Married a Witch) hit the big screen. But even if his name is no longer well-known, his impact on popular culture continues. Various iterations of very human ghosts in movies such as Heaven Can Wait, Beetlejuice, and Ghost owe him a debt. Before Thorne Smith, most supernatural beings arrived to scare, plague, or redeem you. Smith’s entities would far rather corrupt your morals with an abundance of selfish charm.

But perhaps the ghost should speak for himself. Here’s a visit from Topper‘s ghostly George Kerby, materializing before the stunned Cosmo Topper with a customary bottle of Prohibition hooch in each hand:

Kerby cut him short with a laugh and moved over to the fireplace.

“You still believe in ghost stories, I see,” he said, good-humouredly. “Well, I’m all here, every inch of me. Never felt better in my life. Shake. I’m glad you see me.”

“I’m overjoyed I do,” replied Mr. Topper, gingerly accepting the proffered hand. “Would you mind opening one or both of those bottles? A drop of something would help a lot.”

“Topper, I love you,” whispered Kerby, hurrying away in the gloom.

Considered ribald back when written, but kind of quaint now.