Topper Returns (1941)

Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Absolutely Brilliant!

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

The 3rd and final instalment of the Topper series of ghostly films, produced by Universal in 1937,'38, and '41. These were all inspired by several books written by Thorne Smith. The related film "I Married a Witch", filmed at Paramount, was also based on a Thorne Smith novel. The Topper series all involved one or more ghosts of a recently deceased person, who alternate between visible(mostly to Topper)and invisible. They may exert physical effects, as if they had a physical body. This provides the basis for mysterious and sometimes comical happenings. All these films were photographed in B&W, although a colorized version of the present film is available at YouTube. B&W may be preferable for murder mysteries of this era, providing a more sinister atmosphere. Unlike the first 2 Topper installments, this is a ghostly murder mystery. It's not billed as a comical mystery, although there is some humor here and there. Roland Young returns as the middle-aged Topper, and Billie Burke returns as his neurotic befuddled wife. But, Joan Blondell takes the place of Constance Bennet, as the main ghost. Also, there is no one comparable to Cary Grant's role in the first of this series. Joan, as the main ghost, helps solve the disappearance of her body, and who was responsible for her murder. Ann Carrington(Carole Landis) and her friend Gail Richards(Joan Blondell) arrive at the Carrington mansion after a near fatal crash of their taxi, caused by a gunman shooting out one of their tires. They had journeyed from the Far East, where Ann had spent her whole life, and where her mother, estranged from her father, had recently died from an accident. She had come in response to a letter saying her father was very ill, and she was the heir apparent of his estate. The girls met a sinister-looking collection of functionaries at the mansion, including Lilian: the housekeeper, Dr. Jeris: Mr. Carrington's personal physician, and Rama: the butler. Later arrivals include Cosmo Topper, his chauffeur: Rochester Anderson, his wife, his maid, and Bob: the cab driver. Also, several police spend much time trying to solve the murder case. Upon arrival, the massive central chandelier crashes, nearly hitting Ann. The girls are assigned their respective bedrooms, but Gail much prefers Ann's room, so Ann allows her to switch rooms the first night. This will prove fateful for Gail, as a man in all black enters her room and stabs her fatally during the night, escaping out her window. Gail's ghost travels to the nearby Topper residence and gets in Cosmo's bed, initially in invisible form. She asks Topper to accompany her to the Carrington's, to try to determine who killed her. Cosmo does this, and they find the body as before. However, when Cosmo goes downstairs to use the phone, various inhabitants converge on him. When he takes them to show the body, it's gone.Later, a man looking like the one that killed Gail, enters Ann's room at night and nearly knifed her, but screams brought a savior. Still later, the same person grabs Ann and takes her behind a secret panel. Again, someone saves her....I leave you to discover the remainder of this tale....Gail's killing may have been a random event. However, several happenings suggest probably someone was targeting Ann, and killed Gail by mistake, not knowing they had switched bedrooms for the night.The murder mystery itself, is fairly interesting, with a 'surprise' resolution. Joan and Rochester try to inject some humor there and there, with only modest success. Billie Burke, no doubt, comes across as more irritating than funny. To me, she's moderately amusing, with her inimical speech and frequent airhead remarks. Carole Landis serves mainly as eye candy, in one of her many supporting movie roles in the '40s. Ultimately, she was disappointed in the way her life was playing out, and took an overdose of pills, when not quite 30. Some of you may be uncomfortable with the idea that the spirits of the dead can appear in bodily or invisible form, manifesting physical abilities when invisible. In this respect, these ghosts are infringing on the characteristics of The Invisible Man, or Woman, who are not ghosts, but living people who have achieved reversible invisibility through special potions or electronics. They also exhibit physical capabilities, when invisible. The object of these fantasies is to imagine their unlikely existence, and the fun or sinister things these ghosts or people could do to drive the rest of us crazy.

I have to say that I never thought of murder mysteries as fun to watch. In this case, this all-star cast featuring Billie Burke, Roland Young, and Carole Landis are great in this comedic twist about murder, mayhem, and secrets at the Carrington home in the country. When two young beautiful women need a lift to Carrington place, they are picked up by Topper and his driver played by the wonderful Eddie Anderson. The Carrington home is spooky and creepy like any haunted mansion. Anyway, a mistaken identity ends up when Gail is killed instead of Ann Carrington, the heiress to the estate. Gail's ghost comes to Topper to get help in solving her murder and helping her friend, Ann, from meeting the same fate. Despite the seriousness of murder, this film is quite comically funny at times when slapstick humor is introduced. I love Billie Burke as Topper's jealous wife. It's a great cast and it's a lot of fun to watch too!

Most of the film takes place in a spooky mansion with secret doors, hidden passageways and a creepy knife-wielding killer lurking in the shadows.Roland Young reprises his role as Cosmo Topper, the straight-laced, bespectacled banker. In the original, Cary Grant and Constance Bennet were the ghosts who only Topper could see. This time it's Joan Blondell who is accidentally murdered.Billie Burke is the hysterical and somewhat dotty Mrs. Topper. Donald MacBride is a flustered police sergeant straight out of keystone cops.Check out Joan Blondell's friend, Carole Landis, as the rich girl who was the intended murder victim. Landis was in her early 20's and committed suicide at 29. She was an absolutely gorgeous woman who, unfortunately, is not remembered.The actor who steals the film is Eddie "Rochester" Anderson as the chauffeur. He played Jack Benny's sidekick Rochester on radio and TV. He has the movie's best lines and was an extremely talented comedian.This was the final film in the series after TOPPER (1937) and TOPPER TAKES A TRIP (1939). If you want to see one of the original haunted house mysteries with lots of darkness, sound effects and screams this is it.

I must I admit that the other two installments are very funny screwball comedies, but this one tops them all.The mainstays of Roland Young and Billie Burke are back as the tentative couple who are always one-part bumbler and the other-part clueless. Their scenes are always funny as Young tries so hard not to let on to his clueless wife what is really going on! But the star who carries this one is none other than that bombshell comedienne herself, JOAN BLONDELL. Just when you think she is only going to be a sidekick, she turns into THE kick. Her comic flair and range serve her well. As do the talents of the Donald MacBride as the Police Captain. (It's amazing how many defenders of the law he actually played during his long career - which by the way goes all the way back to the silents.) [1914]. The other star in his own right is Eddie "Rochester" Anderson. He shines numerous times in this outing as the Topper driver. Every comedy needs a great last scene or last line. And this time, it belongs to Rochester. Many people do not know that he became a wealthy man and lived in the "Hills" alongside many of the film star greats of the time. No mean feat for a "man of color" in those days. What a great talent he was! All in all, so many others also bring this ensemble work to work...notably the always underused Patsy Kelley, whose frumpish comedic gifts rounded out this wonderfully funny movie.Sit back and enjoy this ghostly screwball gem!