This is my favorite film of the "Topper" series. Nothing against Constance Bennett (or Cary Grant), but Joan Blondell as the wisecracking ghost who takes off where Ms. Bennett left off after the second film is so much fun. She is surrounded by an excellent cast of comics, ghoul men and the returning Roland Young and Billie Burke (as Mr. and Mrs. Topper). First seen very much alive (like Bennett and Cary Grant were at the beginning of the first film), Ms. Blondell is murdered after switching bedrooms with heiress Carole Landis after Ms. Landis meets her ailing father (H.B. Warner) who left her to be raised in the far east per her late mother's wishes. Who raised her there is never broached, but it doesn't spoil the mystery surrounding the murder with Landis as the intended victim.
This is more of a spoof than other old dark house comedies (1939's "The Cat & the Canary", 1939's "The Gorilla", and 1942's "The Black Cat") in that there are subtle references to other films and radio shows of the time. Eddie Anderson's chauffeur makes a threat to go back to work for Mr. Benny (Jack, that is), while Rafaela Ottianos' housekeeper, Lillian, is a parody of Judith Anderson's Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca". In fact, she is once referred to as "Rebecca" by a dimwitted investigator. Watch Ottiano's out of the blue reference to the waves after dramatically opening Landis's bedroom window. It highly spoofs Anderson's scene in "Rebecca" where she keeps telling Joan Fontaine to "listen to the sea". There's also a gag lifted straight out of "It Happened One Night" that has a hilarious outcome.
While some may guess the identity of the villain long before it is revealed, it is still fun to watch everything going on, particularly Anderson's constant plunge into a murky water filled cave where he encounters a playful seal. Then, there are Billie Burke's scenes with maid Patsy Kelly (screaming much like she did in "The Gorilla") as she goes to the spooky old house to find her missing husband who has been coerced by the ghostly Blondell to help her solve her own murder. All of these great comics make the romance of Landis and cab driver Dennis O'Keefe seem secondary. Add on mysterious servants of the old dark house and a spooky doctor (George Zucco), and there's plenty to entertain you. The special effects are extremely good, particularly in a scene where the ghostly Blondell actually gets drunk while drinking champagne, makes herself disappear to Topper in various ways, and when she encounters the darkly cloaked killer in panels behind the mansion wall.
While the character of Cosmo Topper remains the same from the previous two films, I found that Mrs. Topper (Billie Burke) was altered to reflect Ms. Burke's typecasting of a scatterbrained bird-like matron who is filled with Gracie Allen like observations that offer both laughs and groans. Gracie's observations somehow made sense in spite of the silly way she explained herself. Burke's are down right dimwitted, something she avoided in the first two films in spite of the character's flightiness. Those who look at film series for consistencies will notice this right off, although she is still amusing.
Easy to find on video because of its public domain status, "Topper Returns" is a film worth purchasing because it deserves repeat viewings. Even with the public domain status, the print I found on DVD on an obscure label at a $.99 store was actually quite good.
This is more of a spoof than other old dark house comedies (1939's "The Cat & the Canary", 1939's "The Gorilla", and 1942's "The Black Cat") in that there are subtle references to other films and radio shows of the time. Eddie Anderson's chauffeur makes a threat to go back to work for Mr. Benny (Jack, that is), while Rafaela Ottianos' housekeeper, Lillian, is a parody of Judith Anderson's Mrs. Danvers in "Rebecca". In fact, she is once referred to as "Rebecca" by a dimwitted investigator. Watch Ottiano's out of the blue reference to the waves after dramatically opening Landis's bedroom window. It highly spoofs Anderson's scene in "Rebecca" where she keeps telling Joan Fontaine to "listen to the sea". There's also a gag lifted straight out of "It Happened One Night" that has a hilarious outcome.
While some may guess the identity of the villain long before it is revealed, it is still fun to watch everything going on, particularly Anderson's constant plunge into a murky water filled cave where he encounters a playful seal. Then, there are Billie Burke's scenes with maid Patsy Kelly (screaming much like she did in "The Gorilla") as she goes to the spooky old house to find her missing husband who has been coerced by the ghostly Blondell to help her solve her own murder. All of these great comics make the romance of Landis and cab driver Dennis O'Keefe seem secondary. Add on mysterious servants of the old dark house and a spooky doctor (George Zucco), and there's plenty to entertain you. The special effects are extremely good, particularly in a scene where the ghostly Blondell actually gets drunk while drinking champagne, makes herself disappear to Topper in various ways, and when she encounters the darkly cloaked killer in panels behind the mansion wall.
While the character of Cosmo Topper remains the same from the previous two films, I found that Mrs. Topper (Billie Burke) was altered to reflect Ms. Burke's typecasting of a scatterbrained bird-like matron who is filled with Gracie Allen like observations that offer both laughs and groans. Gracie's observations somehow made sense in spite of the silly way she explained herself. Burke's are down right dimwitted, something she avoided in the first two films in spite of the character's flightiness. Those who look at film series for consistencies will notice this right off, although she is still amusing.
Easy to find on video because of its public domain status, "Topper Returns" is a film worth purchasing because it deserves repeat viewings. Even with the public domain status, the print I found on DVD on an obscure label at a $.99 store was actually quite good.