‘Pink’s’ ghost an echo of Cary Grant

In the 1937 comedy classic “Topper,” Cary Grant played a mischievous, debonair ghost wreaking havoc on the life of a timid banker.

In “Touch of Pink,” a new comedy opening in limited release Friday, the ghost of Grant is a confidante, Greek chorus and guardian angel to a gay Canadian Muslim.

The comedy -- the title is a takeoff on the 1962 Grant farce “That Touch of Mink” -- arrives in theaters during Grant’s centenary. Born Archibald Leach to a lower-middle-class British family in 1904, Grant went on to become one of Hollywood’s most popular stars who was equally at home in screwball comedy (“Bringing Up Baby”), drama (“None but the Lonely Heart”) and mystery thrillers (“North by Northwest”).

Unlike a lot of his peers, Grant wasn’t afraid to make a fool of himself in such comedies as “I Was a Male War Bride” and “Monkey Business” or show a darker side under the guidance of Alfred Hitchcock in “Suspicion” and “Notorious.”

“Touch of Pink” finds former “Twin Peaks” star Kyle MacLachlan playing Grant’s ghost. And before you can say “Judy, Judy, Judy,” Grant pops up to offer advice to Alim (Jimi Mistry of the underrated 2002 comedy “The Guru”), a gay man living in London with his British boyfriend (Kristen Holden-Reid), a charmer with a wandering eye.

But even Grant can’t help Alim when Alim’s judgmental, estranged mother (Suleka Mathew) shows up in London for a visit. Complicating matters further, his mother informs Alim that she doesn’t like Grant’s movies.

MacLachlan doesn’t really capture the “spirit” of Grant. He seems more to be channeling Tony Curtis’ broad imitation of the screen legend from “Some Like It Hot” than offering a genuine reflection of Grant.

Although it was often speculated that the five-times-married Grant was gay, writer-director Ian Iqbal Rashid doesn’t address that issue in “Touch of Pink,” which was an official selection at the 2004 Sundance and Seattle film festivals.