Rating: NR
Genre:
Comedy
Release Date: 11/27/2001
Run Time: 88 Minutes
Flags: Suitable for Children
Distributor/Studio: Alpha Video
The third of producer
Hal Roach's
Topper films,
Topper Returns eschews the frothy "
screwball" format of the first two in favor of an "old dark house"
comedy-
mystery.
Roland Young returns as banker
Cosmo Topper, who gallantly offers a lift to pretty hitchhikers
Gail Richards (
Joan Blondell) and
Ann Carrington (
Carole Landis). This results in a few baleful glances from
Topper's wife,
Clara (
Billie Burke), but the worst is still to come. It seems that
Gail and
Ann are en route to a chilly old mansion, recently inherited by
Ann and populated by all manner of sinister types, including old reliable menaces
Dr. Jeris (
George Zucco) and
Lillian (
Rafaela Ottiano). The only person whom the girls can trust -- or can they? -- is
Ann' father (
H.B. Warner). Unable to sleep in the creepy mansion,
Gail suggests that she and
Ann exchange bedrooms. This proves to be a major mistake when a mysterious, hooded assailant, intending to murder
Ann, kills
Gail instead. Seconds later,
Gail's ghost arises from her body and heads to the nearby summer house where Mr. and Mrs. Topper are staying. Having had his fill of ghosts in the first two
Topper films,
Topper wants nothing to do with
Gail's spirit, but she finally convinces him to help her identity her killer, and to rescue
Ann from a similar fate. Some of the film's best moments belong to
Eddie "Rochester" Anderson as
Young's eternally frightened chauffeur (at one point,
Anderson threatens to quit the Toppers and go back to
Jack Benny)! More contrived and
slapstick-oriented than the earlier
Toppers,
Topper Returns still works as a neat and entertaining
comedy, even in its dreadful computer-colorized version. A decade later,
Thorne Smith's "
Topper" characters would be revived for a popular TV series, starring
Leo G. Carroll,
Anne Jeffreys, and
Robert Sterling.
~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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