Topper's Having Girl Trouble Again!

As the third and final entry in Hal Roach's famed Topper trilogy, one might expect Topper Returns to be of a lesser quality than the previous two films, Topper (1937) and Topper Takes A Trip (1939). In fact, it may very well be the best of the lot.

Returning for their third portrayal of Mr. & Mrs. Cosmo Topper, Roland Young and Billie Burke are consistently upstaged by a sparkling new addition to the Topper Troupe, Jack Benny's famed manservant, the lovable and irascible Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, fresh from his brilliant performance in Cabin In The Sky. His antics and surefire comedic delivery steal the picture from a cast of cinematic veterans.

This time around there is a "new" ghostly presence haunting our hero in the shapely form of Joan Blondell, who is unceremoniously dispatched by a cloaked knife murderer shortly after arriving with her gorgeous friend, Carole Landis, at Carole's stately castle. It seems Carole hasn't seen her father since childhood, and in as much as she turns twenty-one the following day, she's due to come into her late mother's fortune. Naturally, Joan floats over to the Topper's quiet abode and nags Cosmo into investigating her death. Back they trek to the spooky scene of the crime, where Topper finds himself accused of the murder by a houseful of creeps headed by ghoulmeister George Zucco. And who else should be the lead detective on the case but the uproarious Donald McBride of Room Service fame, thoroughly bungling everything in sight! Throughout the entire ordeal, Rochester shines as the put-upon Topper assistant, whose naturally superstitious nature is rattled by all the brilliant Hal Roach special effects (achieved "in the camera") depicting the ghostly comings and goings. A rare mixture of belly laughs and suspense, Topper Returns was directed by Roy Del Ruth, who was to achieve his most lasting fame for his helmsmanship of the splendid Basil Rathbone "Sherlock Holmes" series. A fitting farewell to the pre-war comedic innocence of Hal Roach Studios and one of the great suspense comedies of all time, Topper Returns really shines due to the brilliant special effects genius of Roy Seawright and his top crew of ghostmaking cinematic magicians.