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Topper Returns (1941) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   884 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Writers:
Thorne Smith (characters)
Jonathan Latimer (original screenplay) ...
(more)
Contact:
View company contact information for Topper Returns on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
21 March 1941 (USA) more
Tagline:
Topper's having girl trouble again!
Plot:
Topper is once again tormented by a fun-loving spirit. This time, it's Joan Blondell, who was accidentally... more | full synopsis
Plot Keywords:
Awards:
Nominated for 2 Oscars. more
User Comments:
Sprightly ghost play more (29 total)

Cast

  (in credits order) (verified as complete)
Joan Blondell ... Gail Richards
Roland Young ... Cosmo Topper
Carole Landis ... Ann Carrington

Billie Burke ... Mrs. Clara Topper
Dennis O'Keefe ... Bob
Patsy Kelly ... Emily - Maid
H.B. Warner ... Mr. Henry Carrington
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson ... Eddie - Chauffeur
George Zucco ... Dr. Jeris
Donald MacBride ... Police Sgt. Roberts
Rafaela Ottiano ... Lillian
Trevor Bardette ... Rama - Butler
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Eddy Chandler ... Jim - Police Sergeant (uncredited)
John Kelly ... Engine Room Sailor-Henchman in Striped Shirt (uncredited)
George Lloyd ... Boat Captain (uncredited)
William H. O'Brien ... Second Butler (uncredited)
Brick Sullivan ... Darryl - Police Officer (uncredited)
Duke York ... Engine Room Sailor-Henchman in Black (uncredited)
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Directed by
Roy Del Ruth 
 
Writing credits
Thorne Smith (characters)

Jonathan Latimer (original screenplay) &
Gordon Douglas (original screenplay)

Paul Girard Smith (additional dialogue) (as Paul Gerard Smith)

Produced by
Hal Roach .... producer (uncredited)
 
Original Music by
Werner R. Heymann 
 
Cinematography by
Norbert Brodine 
 
Film Editing by
James E. Newcom  (as James Newcom)
 
Art Direction by
Nicolai Remisoff 
 
Set Decoration by
William Stevens  (as W.L. Stevens)
 
Costume Design by
Royer (gowns)
 
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Bernard Carr .... assistant director
 
Sound Department
William Randall .... sound recordist
Elmer Raguse .... sound recordist (uncredited)
 
Special Effects by
Roy Seawright .... photographic effects
 
Music Department
Irvin Talbot .... conductor
 
Other crew
Hal Roach .... presenter
Irene Martin .... stand-in: Joan Blondell (uncredited)
H.W. Winston .... animal trainer: Slicker the seal (uncredited)
 
Crew verified as complete


Production CompaniesDistributors
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Additional Details

Runtime:
88 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
In the film, Eddie (played by Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson) says that he's going back to "Mr. Benny", an in-joke reference to the fact that Anderson played Rochester, the valet, on Jack Benny's radio program and later TV show. more
Goofs:
Continuity: When Gail is driving the Toppers' car with Eddie sitting prominently in the back seat, he is missing in the long shots and some close-ups. more
Quotes:
Eddie, the Chauffeur: Doors opening by themselves. People talkin' to nuthin' and gettin' answers. I'm going back.
Clara Topper: Back where?
Eddie, the Chauffeur: To Mr. Benny. Ain't nuthin' like this ever happened there.
more
Movie Connections:
Featured in Penny Dreadful (2005) more

FAQ

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16 out of 20 people found the following comment useful.
Sprightly ghost play, 22 August 1999
10/10
Author: adam jezard from Sunninghill, Ascot, England

Unusual among films in the "old dark house" style for being about a ghost who comes back to solve her own murder. Disguised as a Topper film, and with Roland Young and Billie Burke again cast as Mr and Mrs Topper, this is really a clever murder mystery in reverse, a sort of "why he done it". Praise must be lavished on the script, co-written by murder-mystery novelist Jonathan Latimer (who also wrote some of the better Peter Falk Columbo episodes in the 1970s) and on the playing of Young, Burke and Eddie "Rochester" Anderson, who steal the film from headliners Carole Landis and Joan Blondell -- it is Topper's film after all. More inspired by the late Thorne Smith's characters than based on anything he wrote, the film nonetheless will appeal to fans of this extraordinary novelist's humorous works. A must for anyone who like horror send-ups, Topper or Smith!

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A fun movie Bflogal11
what's the third movie in trilogy? rennogsd1996
Cosmo's House is Tara! oliverboren
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